May
the 1st was a National Holiday in France. It was the day Jane and John were
joining us in Chalons en Champagne. They were on an extended holiday and we
were the quiet interlude between Italy, Paris and Edinburgh.
We
were on our favourite canal and they were going to be with us while we wandered
through the Champagne country yet again! They arrived by train and in no time
we were on Matilda sharing a welcoming glass of bubbles before one of Marg’s lunches.
Next
day we were off down the Champagne Trail but not before John and Peter cycled
to the local Pecheur’s Supermarket.
John is a very keen fisherman and as he was on the water, he just needed to get
some gear.
For
John, a rod in one hand and a glass of single malt Cardhu in the other was as
good as it gets.
Jane
had other tastes and we agreed that along the canal, there were a number of
Champagne houses we would visit.
We
had originally planned to visit Reims on the Canal de l’Aisne a la Marne but
there was an unexpected closure of a connecting canal and we decided to go via
Epernay instead. Again, we visited the cellars of Mercier who was such an
entrepreneur in the champagne industry.
The
tour through their cellars is almost a show in itself. An automated train
wanders around amongst the kilometres of tunnels in the chalk below the town
where millions of bottles of champagne are stored.
The
famous wooden barrel still fascinates all who read the story.
Back
on board and another delightful meal. This one included snails prepared in the
traditional french way. They were eaten with concentrated effort!
We
were now travelling down the Marne River and some of the towns beside the river
had wonderful examples of late 19th century french architecture
All
too soon we were in Meaux and almost time for our visitors to leave. We had a
day together in the town and saw areas that we had not seen before.
This
old building is attached to the Meaux Cathedral and had been the priory for
many centuries.
The
next day we put John and Jane on a bus that took them to CDG airport to
continue their trip to Scotland.
Oh!
And John’s fishing? He caught an eel which Marg cooked as part of another good
meal. We all enjoyed it.
We
have some more visitors meeting us in Meaux so there will be more to tell.
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