Just D.I.N.K.ing Around: I Like Bubbles!

It is never to early for Bubbles!

Staying in Paris we were a day trip away from Champagne country. Four wine junkies like ourselves, we could not be that close to the home of Champagne, Reims, without taking the train to the town and touring a Champagne house. As Tari always says "I LIKE BUBBLES!"

We took an early morning train out of Paris to connect to a train that would take us directly Reims. It was a simple train ride and soon we were in Reims walking the streets of town.

We decided before our vacation started that we had time for one tour if we wanted to relax and enjoy the Champagne house and the town of Reims. We chose G.H. Mumm since it was one that we all liked and were familiar with it from going to the Mumm winery in Napa.

Underground We Go!

The tour of Mumm starts in their grand entrance hall but soon you are descending into the depths of their champagne cellars. Mumm and it's cellars have been in use since the 1870s. Through out the tour you learn of the beginnings of Mumm, how they make their champagne and how it used to be made. There is 25 million bottles stored throughout the 25 kilometers of cellar space.

Our tour guide explains the racking process and how the bottles are stored for aging. The display of bottle sizes was cute to see... there are some very small bottles. While they may be cute, what would one do with a bottle as small as the one on the right??

Old Time Bottling Equipment

Bouzy! Well of course, we had to take a picture of that sign! It actually was a name of one of the avenues in the caves where the champagne was stored. The space in the cellars is such a large scale, they have "avenues" to keep track of everything and even have paved areas with street markings to show two directional traffic.

Bring on the Bubbly!

As part of our tour of Mumm we ended in their tasting room where we had En Noirs & Blancs Experince Tasting of their two premier champagnes.

With Bubbles in hand and sun in the sky there were plenty of reasons to smile. The Mumm makers had a wonderful area to sit outside or in with your bubbles and enjoy the idea of drinking Champagne in Champagne.

Reims is home to many Champagne houses, one could make a vacation just in touring them all. Not far from Mumm is the Krug Champagne house. We walked by them and asked their warehouse team how to find the post office that was supposed to be "right around the corner" from Mumm based on information the girl who waited on us at Mumm said.

Why the need for a post office? Because Mumm did not ship their champagne, but the girl said the post office would. Long story short, once we finally found the post office, they did not ship wine to the United States either! Because of this we had 6 bottles of Mumm to carry around that day and throughout the rest of trip until we got them home in a suitcase that we had to purchase in Paris!

Lesson Learned - if the place you are at does not ship wine, don't buy the wine, or at least don't buy 6 bottles! Although to this day the four of us still laugh at the story of lugging Champagne through Reims an Europe.

Time to Eat Well and Eat Right!

Before catching our train back to Paris, we grabbed lunch at La Brasserie Du Boulingrin. It is one of the oldest establishments in Reims, dating back to 1925. The building sits on the main corner of Reims and has two floors to give wonderful views of Riems. Stepping inside is like stepping back to the roaring 20s. The inside is decorated completely in Art Deco and stain glass.

The white paper table cloths help entertain while awaiting your meals as they are decorated with various cartoons.

While in France, you have to have typical French cuisine. At lunch this consisted of Pate', Tartar, Sancerre wine, and a lovely Cotes du Rhone wine.

Except for Duane, who for some reason had a more German lunch of sausage and root veggies.

The Eiffel Tower - A Lady Dressed in Steel and Lace

Of course, no trip to Paris would be complete without seeing and going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The sparkly lights on the Eiffel Tower go off every night on the hour starting at night fall until 1 am.

While Tari and I were not the happiest about being 905 feet off the ground, the guys had promised us bubbles from the Champagne Bar and breath taking views.

Happy to say we did get our Bubbles and the views were spectacular.

Just like most things on our trip we had reserved a time for us to go to the top of the tower. This was probably one of the smartest things we did since the French Open was also going on, tickets for the tower were selling out in three minutes when they became available to purchase. Jamie actually purchased ours at 2 am Seattle time to ensure we got the time and day we wanted to go.

The reservation was great! We walked right up to the front of the line, past all of those who did not have reserved tickets and was able to get right in. Now we still had to wait a little bit for space in the elevators to open, but it definitely was better than waiting on the ground level for a chance to buy a ticket.