One Week in Paris – Suggested Itinerary, Day 6

Champagne Region Day Trip

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Take a break from the city of Paris to visit Champagne Country.

During my last visit to France, my husband and I took a day trip to Champagne Country using Viator tours – Champagne Region Day Trip from Paris by Minivan.  The best part of taking a guided tour was that we didn’t have to plan a thing.  During our trip, we visited the towns of Reims, Mutigny and Épernay.

Cathedral of Notre Dame de Reims

The tour started by picking us up at our hotel in a minivan.  We shared the guided tour with five other English-speaking people.  Our first stop was the cathedral of the city of Reims, the capital of the Champagne region.

Notre Dame de Reims (Our Lady of Reims) is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List.  This is where the kings of France were once crowned.

Visit to Local Champagne Maker

The tour continued by driving us to the town of Mutigny, Champagne where we visited the small champagne house of Zimmerlin Flamant.  The owners of Zimmerlin Flamant explained us the process of creating champagne followed by a tasting.

Following our visit to Zimmerlin Flamant, we drove to the town of Épernay, which is where most of the well-known champagne houses are located.  At the historic town of Épernay, we had a traditional French lunch at the La Cave à Champagne restaurant.

Visit to the House of Moët & Chandon

Probably my favorite part of our visit to champagne country was seeing the house of Moët & Chandon.  The house of Moët & Chandon is located in the famous Avenue de Champagne in Épernay.  Avenue de Champagne is an avenue of about one kilometer long where some of the world’s best known champagne houses are located, including Moët & Chandon, Mercier, Boizel, Perrier-Jouët, Pol Roger, De Venoge, Castellane and Demoiselle.

During our visit to Moët & Chandon, we walked through their impressive cellars while getting educated on the history of the house and the art of champagne making.  We walked through endless rows of champagne caves and even got a glance of an enormous brandy barrel donated by Napoleon I (a champagne lover) to the house of Moët & Chandon.

Another important figure you will learn while visiting the house of Moët & Chandon is Dom Pérignon.  Dom Pérignon was a French Benedictine monk who made important contributions to the making of sparkling wine and what we know as champagne nowadays.  Moët & Chandon produces a Dom Pérignon vintage, named after this important champagne pioneer.