Have you ever had a day that you knew, before it had even begun, would be a day that you would probably always remember? Maybe you could call it anticipatory nostalgia? It's a ''remember that time next week when we had the best day ever?'' kind of feeling. A few weeks ago, a beautiful sunny Sunday was one of those days for us, and as such must be shared, so here it is. A perfect day in Champagne with Tyson.
Tyson and his amazing wife Rachael (and their fantastic boys for that matter) are truly great friends of ours whom we love dearly and when Tyson said he would be in Europe at the same time as us we definitely wanted to arrange a rendezvous. At the end of our time in Spain all we were sure of was that we wanted to go to Germany, and as geography has it, France is right in the way. Sneaky Champagne catch up scheming began!
Two carpooling trips, a night couch-surfing with a Kenyan ex-Olympic athlete, 4 days with a raw-vegan including one nude day, a night in Paris at the festival of music in the city centre with a friend we made doing yoga in India, two early metros, a train and another car pool trip later (other stories for other times...) we arrived in Champagne!
Overwhelmed at the excitement of seeing someone we actually know, my mind raced with dozens of questions all at once and couldn't decide which to send to my lips so I filled my mouth with farm fresh raspberries Tyson had bought on the way instead. He told us he had intended to buy strawberries but, due in part to Mr strawberry-struck-Stelzer's visits in previous days, the farm had run out!
Not one to do anything by halves, Tyson hadn't just sketched out a rough idea of things to do for the afternoon and evening but had carefully scheduled a wonderful day down to the hour, designed to ensure we would have the quintessential champagne experience and have plenty of fun along the way and simultaneously appearing to be making it up as he went along and surprising us every step of the way!
We caught up over lunch, swapping stories from the last few months and enjoying seafood with our first bottle of champagne for the day. Tasting pink peppers for the first time though was the highlight of the meal. I didn't know pink had a flavour!
Following lunch, we didn't need to drive far from the centre of Reims to our next appointment – a private tour and tasting at the most prestigious Taittinger (www.taittinger.com). Each moment at this exemplary Champagne house was saturated with centuries of tradition.
As we (literally) went deeper and deeper into Taittinger, or rather under it,
we learned about the processes and methods of champagne making, took in the history of the region and were swept up in the romance and mystery of the crisp 13th century cellars and below them the 4th century Roman chalk caves. Hundred year old lover’s graffiti, initials in hearts and flowers, short stair cases with overhead step guides for the hands of monks moving through the tunnels in the dark and rough marks of ancient hammers told the stories of the caves over time.
In total contrast, a ride in the elevator to a grand room just two floors above exposed the corporate modernity of the large international exporter in the tiny plastic faces of the French and Brazilian foosball players in the custom made table and the holographic soccer ball/champagne bubble labels of the limited edition bottles for the 2014 World Cup (Taittinger is the official champagne partner). Our experience of Taittinger was made complete with a tasting of the house’s specialty in a private room with our guide, Mathieu, who poured generously. Back in the car, with a bottle each for later on, we drove past the majestic cathedral and continued our adventure.
From the heights of splendour and opulence in the Champagne region, we changed pace for a while and spent a leisurely drive taking in the provincial village streets and charming vineyards of the Montagne de Reims area. We arrived at what Daniel and I thought was going to be a stroll through the forest (and it was at first – with dappled light seeping through high branches down to mossy stones and birds crooning us as somewhere nearby thrill seekers could be heard sailing down flying foxes on the ropes course). Tyson surprised us again though with a booking at the perchingbar which, as the name suggests, is a tree house style champagne bar in the canopy of the forest overlooking the vineyards and small towns of the district. It was the perfect place to watch the fields soak up the bright afternoon sun. If you happen to be in the area, this is worth the visit.
Another enchanting drive brought us to our next surprise, and a truly special place. Tyson had told us about his visits here from previous trips so the reputation preceded it, and we definitely not disappointed by dinner at Anselme Selosse's Les Avises. I can’t even describe how incredible our time at this brilliant biodynamic organic champagne house/restaurant was. We loved everything about it! The champagne was seriously incredible, with different aspects revealed as it befriended and welcomed each of the first 4 courses or so of our meal. And the food! My goodness! The chef creates a new 4-5 course menu every day, as he has done since the restaurant opened. He only uses quality fresh seasonal produce and (I hear) has never repeated an item.
That’s creativity! Everyone who books for dinner eats the same meal so other than selecting your accompanying champagne, you just sit down and enjoy the ride. And what a ride! Though there were many divine flavour combinations that kept us audibly “mmmm”ing as the night went on, the roasted goats cheese stuffed dates stand out for me as a delight. We had shared our table with another party of three. As we all chatted together after dessert we learned that we were sitting with included Jean-Laurent Vacheron (another champagne maker) who was celebrating his birthday. Jean-Laurent invited us to join him and his friend for another bottle before we all left.
At 11.30pm, driving back to our B&B Tyson announced that he had one last surprise that he was very excited about and suspected that we would be too. We pulled up on a quiet residential street in Chouilly and Tyson handed us both bags. Then, with the last light still lingering on the horizon and with the enthusiasm and glee of children, I discarded my shoes and climbed trees as we all picked white cherries! Almost every tree on the footpath of the street was a white cherry tree so there was plenty to go around and no one was awake to catch us in our midnight thievery anyway. The spontaneity and fun of it kept me grinning for days afterwards.
Back at Les Barbotines at Paul Clouet in Bouzy, the most darling B&B I can imagine, our champagne had been cooled and the sitting room prepared for us with chocolates and flowers from the garden and we settled in until the wee small hours… And so, sitting in our bathrobes, glass of champagne in hand, handful of cherries in the other, the day ended how it began; with great chats between old friends over fresh fruit.
Breakfast here deserves a mention. Do you know that seen from The Little Princess when she finds that someone has made a feast of so many wonderful different foods that she can’t even imagine and it’s just so full of joy? Well that’s what awaited us in the dining room; a banquet of freshly baked croissants, brioche, soft breads, seven different types of preserves including mango and passionfruit, champagne jelly (I don’t know if anyone else makes this but it is basically spreadable champagne – if you ever see it BUY IT!), flat white peaches and apricots, yoghurt with strawberry compote, omelettes, cured meats, cheeses, herbal teas, coffee. I honestly felt like it was Christmas.
We have so so so much gratitude to Tyson for what was one of the best days ever.
Tyson and his amazing wife Rachael (and their fantastic boys for that matter) are truly great friends of ours whom we love dearly and when Tyson said he would be in Europe at the same time as us we definitely wanted to arrange a rendezvous. At the end of our time in Spain all we were sure of was that we wanted to go to Germany, and as geography has it, France is right in the way. Sneaky Champagne catch up scheming began!
Two carpooling trips, a night couch-surfing with a Kenyan ex-Olympic athlete, 4 days with a raw-vegan including one nude day, a night in Paris at the festival of music in the city centre with a friend we made doing yoga in India, two early metros, a train and another car pool trip later (other stories for other times...) we arrived in Champagne!
Overwhelmed at the excitement of seeing someone we actually know, my mind raced with dozens of questions all at once and couldn't decide which to send to my lips so I filled my mouth with farm fresh raspberries Tyson had bought on the way instead. He told us he had intended to buy strawberries but, due in part to Mr strawberry-struck-Stelzer's visits in previous days, the farm had run out!
Not one to do anything by halves, Tyson hadn't just sketched out a rough idea of things to do for the afternoon and evening but had carefully scheduled a wonderful day down to the hour, designed to ensure we would have the quintessential champagne experience and have plenty of fun along the way and simultaneously appearing to be making it up as he went along and surprising us every step of the way!
We caught up over lunch, swapping stories from the last few months and enjoying seafood with our first bottle of champagne for the day. Tasting pink peppers for the first time though was the highlight of the meal. I didn't know pink had a flavour!
Following lunch, we didn't need to drive far from the centre of Reims to our next appointment – a private tour and tasting at the most prestigious Taittinger (www.taittinger.com). Each moment at this exemplary Champagne house was saturated with centuries of tradition.
As we (literally) went deeper and deeper into Taittinger, or rather under it,
From the heights of splendour and opulence in the Champagne region, we changed pace for a while and spent a leisurely drive taking in the provincial village streets and charming vineyards of the Montagne de Reims area. We arrived at what Daniel and I thought was going to be a stroll through the forest (and it was at first – with dappled light seeping through high branches down to mossy stones and birds crooning us as somewhere nearby thrill seekers could be heard sailing down flying foxes on the ropes course). Tyson surprised us again though with a booking at the perchingbar which, as the name suggests, is a tree house style champagne bar in the canopy of the forest overlooking the vineyards and small towns of the district. It was the perfect place to watch the fields soak up the bright afternoon sun. If you happen to be in the area, this is worth the visit.
Another enchanting drive brought us to our next surprise, and a truly special place. Tyson had told us about his visits here from previous trips so the reputation preceded it, and we definitely not disappointed by dinner at Anselme Selosse's Les Avises. I can’t even describe how incredible our time at this brilliant biodynamic organic champagne house/restaurant was. We loved everything about it! The champagne was seriously incredible, with different aspects revealed as it befriended and welcomed each of the first 4 courses or so of our meal. And the food! My goodness! The chef creates a new 4-5 course menu every day, as he has done since the restaurant opened. He only uses quality fresh seasonal produce and (I hear) has never repeated an item.
At 11.30pm, driving back to our B&B Tyson announced that he had one last surprise that he was very excited about and suspected that we would be too. We pulled up on a quiet residential street in Chouilly and Tyson handed us both bags. Then, with the last light still lingering on the horizon and with the enthusiasm and glee of children, I discarded my shoes and climbed trees as we all picked white cherries! Almost every tree on the footpath of the street was a white cherry tree so there was plenty to go around and no one was awake to catch us in our midnight thievery anyway. The spontaneity and fun of it kept me grinning for days afterwards.
We have so so so much gratitude to Tyson for what was one of the best days ever.
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