We are back in the UK – a day earlier than planned, but the weather had turned consistently nasty in northern France, and we saw no point in hanging around the final camp longer than absolutely necessary. There was room on the ferry this morning, so for a small fee we changed our ticket, to be welcomed back into England by strong winds and driving rain!
But we have the story to complete since the last blog and there are tales worth telling.
We drove away from La Gagere campsite on Thursday 26th August, after a lovely week only marred by two or three days of inclement weather. We returned to St Leger as agreed, to collect our 2009 wine, only bottled by Jean-Yves Renaud two days earlier. It was a wonderful reunion, with this lovely couple so pleased to be able to share their wine with the “camping caristes”. We left much heavier than we had arrived!
Onward towards Champagne country and the delightful trio of hamlets that come together as Les Riceys. Just south of Troyes, at the very southern end of the Champagne region, Les Riceys boasts a number of excellent champagne vineyards, as well as being famous for producing a delicious Pinot Noir rosé wine called Rosé-des-Riceys, a particular favourite of Louis XIV apparently, who was introduced to it by the workmen from Riceys when they were employed to build the Palais de Versailles. We arrived a little late to taste the wines, as everyone was closing up, and many of the wine makers were actually away on their own holidays! As was our absent host at our France Passion that evening, but he had given us permission to park in his walled car park opposite his home. As this was in between two champagne producers we felt very much at home! And this was why the following morning at precisely 9.30, I found myself tasting both Brut Champagne and Rosé–des-Ricey in a very stylish tasting room at the vineyard of the Marquis de Pomereuil. The lady receptionist could not believe we wanted to drink wine at that hour! Victor had to pretty much take my word for it as he was driving, but he had no need to fear – the rosé was pure nectar! More bottles into the ever bulging van!
A couple of hours up the road and you reach Epernay, the second capital of the Champagne region, just behind Reims. Epernay boasts a long street called Avenue de Champagne, where all the major champagne houses own large beautiful buildings. We picked on the House of Mercier to visit, mainly because our guide book told us that the company has an enormous barrel in their large reception hall with an incredible history, and we were keen to see it for ourselves (see photo). We were not disappointed. This very barrel, which has a capacity of 215,000 bottles of the bubbly stuff, was taken to the World Exhibition of 1889 in Paris, aboard a cart drawn by 24 oxen and 18 horses. It took twenty days to travel there from Epernay, with bridges being reinforced and walls demolished along the way. The carving on the tun was most impressive. We enjoyed a free tasting of champagne at the Tourist Information Office (they are all at it!), and also got caught in a cloudburst!
That evening we had failed to book a night stop, and what with holidays and loads of other motor homes around the city, it took four phone calls to find a space. A little disconcerting as the weather was once again turning stormy. We found ourselves in a tiny village called Festigny, just west of Epernay at the home of the champagne maker, Guy Fournier. Where most people have gardening equipment and maybe a washing machine in their garage, this man had vats of champagne and hundreds of bottles! We had a usual tasting (as it happens the final one of the holiday), took one bottle back to the van to drink with our salad (!), and the following morning drove away with twelve more bottles!
Onto the final stretch and quite by fate, we had one more highlight to come. As we were driving along the motorway towards St Omer for our final two evenings in France, Victor and I were discussing the war graves in the area and how I had never been to Vimy and the Canadian War Memorial. I checked the map and Vimy Ridge was coming up just off the A26, in about twenty minutes time. We decided to visit. And how glad we were – in bright sunshine we drove through what appeared to be an undulating parkland which we later realised was an area of shell holes and unexploded mines! This beautiful tree-lined avenue led to a gleaming white monument stretching upwards to the sky (see photo). This was the very space where the Canadian troops had eventually beaten the German army for a tiny plot of land, and in the process lost around 11,000 men. Carved around the base of the monument are the names of those young soldiers whose bodies were never found. The artistry and emotion in the statues is indescribable. The cemetery with the rows and rows of white crosses, many simply stating, ‘Unknown Soldier’; and the recreated trenches, were humbling and thought-provoking. We finished the visit by learning more about how the monument has recently been renovated from a fascinating short film shown in the Information Centre.
By now we were later than we’d hoped to arrive in St Omer, but it had been worth it for the detour. Having shopped in the amazing hypermarket for last minute bits, we eventually found our campsite for the night. More rain, cold wind and mud made us reconsider two further nights, and the following morning packed up and headed for Calais. It was a bumpy crossing but we are now nearly home. Three nights of visiting friends and family in the south and we will head back to Norwich on Wednesday. This is our final blog for our French Adventure. It has been an incredible three months providing us with so many memories and lasting images of a fascinating and beautiful country. We have enjoyed sharing it with you and hope you found it entertaining. Thanks for being a ‘follower’.
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