2004 JOURNAL

Reims is a large city, dominated by its cathedral in which all the Kings of France were crowned from the time St Remi converted Clovis in the 9^th century. The region around it is of course famous for the wine said to be the innovation of Dom Perignon, a monk cellarmaster of the local Benedictine or Cistercians. It is a city which has much to be explored by the casual tourist including the cathedral, the abbatial church of St Remi (in which his body still lies), a major car museum, and of course, many of the most famous Champagne houses including; Mumm, Veuve Clicquot (meaning the widow Clicquot), Piper Heidsieck, Maxims, Palmer and possibly a hundred or so more.

It was here that Peter Livingstone, fresh (?) from his Masters hockey tournaments in Singapore, Dubai and Athens would join us for a week=s cruise through Champagne to Paris.

We arrived at our regular mooring place on the canal near the Port de Plaisance (which is too silted up for us) in the early afternoon and Peter arrived at the station around six. A short taxi ride had us all back at the boat and the sound of the first cork to pop was heard. Actually you are not supposed to >pop= a champagne cork, rather to ease it off with the sigh of a contented virgin. The next day was reserved for visits to the cathedral and the Mumm, then in the afternoon to Pipers and an early departure for Tours sur Marne, a small village which none the less, houses a number of very good producers of the sparkling tipple.

For those who are unaware, tours of the >caves= of the famous and not so are available every day of the year at moderate cost and include full explanations of the methode chapenoise and tasting of up to three of their range, or more at extra cost.

Most regular bottles of Champagne are made from three grape varieties blended together, chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meuniere, the first a white grape producing white juice and the other two black grapes which produce white juice. After hand picking and pressing each different variety AND area, the >must cuvees= (juices from each different area and grape type) are then fermented separately and undergo malolactic conversion. The wines produced are then blended with stocks of previous years >cuvees= to get the same taste and a liquid yeast added to create the CO2 that adds the bubbles and pressure and the bottles are then racked and shaken, rotated and their bases elevated so the sediment from the yeast / sugar second fermentation settles into plastic caps under the metal caps that seal the bottles at this times. The necks are then frozen and the caps removed to >degorge= the sediment and the bottles refilled with a mixture of champagne wine mixed with cane sugar, different amounts to determine if a wine is Brut, Demi Sec or Sec, the final corks are inserted and wires applied. The bottles are then laid down for minimum periods determined by the AOC (Appellation Origine Controllee) trustees, generally about 3 years for Brut non vintage and 5 + years for Millesime or Grand Cru.

In excellent years a Millesime can be produced, generally of a single grape variety and from Grand Cru areas only its flavour will be different from any other year. This wine can carry a year date since it is not blended with previous year=s juices. Champagnes can be made from a single variety; Blanc de Blancs for example are white juice from white grape types - ie Chardonnay while Blanc de Noir are from Pinot. Roses are made by adding Bouzy Rouge, a wine made from the Pinot grape and not really good for much else.

Our tours of the Reims Champagne houses Mumm and Piper were different since at the first you are accompanied by a tour guide through a 40 minute walk of the caves while at Pipers you embark on a little remote controlled chariot with a recorded commentary that explains the mannequins posed along the way to illustrate the >methode=. This tour is about 20 minutes and both end up in their tasting rooms and boutiques where you are encouraged to try and by at reasonable prices.

We left in the afternoon for a rendezvous with our friends Dr Amiable and his family who make a range of Champagne at Tours sur Marne under the label, L=Amiable. We have visited and bought here before and on this visit we took Bob and Carol, an English couple along as well. We tasted the Brut Grand Cru and their Standard Brut, buying cases of each for the boat. The family are wonderfully generous, opening fresh bottles at no cost, probably knowing that we will always end up staggering out under the weight of their standard six to a carton loads.

After a quiet dinner on board we retired for the night to wake the next morning ready for our voyage to Chateau Thierry, some 30km distant. Chateau Thierry boasts a ruined chateau overlooking the canal and the Halte Fluviale where we unrolled a very long series of electric cables to get shore power.

The town is another pretty town on the Marne River which cuts through the chalky soil area of Champagne and links Reims with Epernay and other such famous centres of >bulles= (bubbles). It also has a live enactment of life in the medieval times situated within the chateau walls. A medieval village has been created here with a range of mud and thatch huts, tended it seems by a family who industrially weave and thatch and bake basic bread, milk goats and for a few hours each day live the life of the serf.

Ferte sous Jouarre was our next stop along the Marne as we had elected on this trip to miss the (expensive) pleasures of Epernay. Above Ferte is Jouarre where an ancient Abbaye is situated. Tended to and occupied once again by members of the original order, the buildings have been build, destroyed, re-built and sold by the revolutionaries, re-purchased and rebuilt and re-occupied by these tenacious women. They quietly tend the museum areas and shop while I suspect many others, hidden in the main buildings, go about their daily routines as they have for hundreds of years.

We wanted to also visit the nearby crypt which holds the earthly remains of earlier luminaries. This is supposed to be undertaken with a guide from the tourist office, who seemed to be unwilling to allow us the privilege so we just walked to the place and, as a person was within conducting research or renovation we politely asked to enter and did as bidden, until discovered some time later by the harridan from the tourist office who had arrived with a (VIP?) group. We beat a hasty retreat and remounted our bikes for the trip down hill.

One of the drawbacks of exploration from rivers and canals is that the attractions are inevitably up hills, some of which are very long and steep. Great to come back to the boat from but sometimes more than the required amount of exercise to get to.

We travelled on to the lovely town of Meaux, which boats a very nice port with free power and water supplied by the Port Autonome de Paris on large floating pontoons in the centre of town. Meaux runs a very good and very big annual pageant each Friday and Saturday night during summer. We arrived in time for the final performance but unhappily all the tickets have been sold. so while we could explore the town and the performance areas we were unable to repeat our enjoyment of the show 3 years earlier.

In our tour of the town we also discovered and inspected the lovely museum which was at the time featuring a WWI exposition. Aimed at the level of the >Poilus= (French foot soldier) it contained many real exhibits and fascinating films. The gardens behind the museum, formerly the bishop=s palace, are also a delight, employing a small army of town gardeners. The range of floral displays and the variety of exotic, brightly coloured plants is really amazing by comparison with the sun drenched environment of Australia.

In making Peter=s return arrangements we discovered there is a bus direct to the Aeroport Charles de Gaulle that leaves every hour and costs peanuts by comparison with trains via Paris and takes half the time direct to terminal 1 or 2. We took the short walk from the port to the Gare on the morning of Peter=s flight and ensured he was on the right bus to arrive at the airport in plenty of time to undertake the security measures now in place for international flights.

Our English friends, Bob and Carol arrived in town on their barge (built by Bob) >Carol-Ann=. We ended up in another round of social occasions - as usual.

On to Paris as we had Lesley Wiles, a friend from Perth=s Rotary Club joining us for 10 days. We planned for her trip to retrace the voyage we had just taken, back into Champagne but with a couple of days in Paris first to get the feel of this >City of Light=. As usual we stopped at the quay at Pont Sully overnight before moving on to the Port at Grenelle the next morning. Now this is actually not allowed since the quay there is for boats waiting for the lights allowing river traffic into Paris to turn green at 25 minutes to the hour. We stayed there some years back until after a week, the town council officer and river police asked us to move as they were preparing the area for a fishing expo. We have used the area on all our visits to Paris since, before relocating to Grenelle and paying the i50 per night. The advantage of the official port is the quayside supply of power and water which is necessary in preparation for guests.

Lesley arrived early on Tuesday, fresh from the airport and unerringly made her way by RER and Metro to the Bir Hakim Metro station near to the port. I had meanwhile walked along the Seine to the Musee d=Orsay as I had found the entrance to the RER station closed. While I was walking, Lesley found Maureen who by chance was returning from the boulangerie and they made it back to the boat before I got to the station.

After a brief orientation of the boat and the operation of such necessary appliances as the vacuum operated pump toilet the girls departed for L=Open Tour of Paris followed by a visit to the d=Orsay. I elected for a view of the flesh spots of Montmartre and Pigalle. We celebrated Lesley=s arrival that afternoon with aperitifs of (of course) Champagne and then took the Metro to Rue Mouffetard, our favourite eating centre on the Left Bank behind the Sorbonne.

I also had taken the time to visit the Singapore Airlines office to buy two return tickets to Australia as this year for the first time since I left in 2001 I will enjoy summer in Perth.

The next morning we were off, direction Meaux, past the fabulous riverside sights of Paris; the Louvre, the Treasury, Notre Dame, Invalids, the Tour Eiffel, Musee d=Orsay, Isle St Louis and much more. An hour after leaving the quay at Grenelle we were out of Paris centre and by mid afternoon, tied up in the port at Meaux.

Retracing our >steps= we travelled back to Ferte sous Jouarre where the girls visited the Abbaye before departing for a couple of days at Chateau Thierry to discover the Musee, Jean de la Fontaine. Jean, a famous son of that town was best known for his hundreds of >Fables= starring animals as the protagonists. He was also >Keeper of the Forests= and as such had to entertain visiting dignitaries, which he did to the death of his wealth, ending up bankrupt. His house is now the site of his museum.

On this trip we decided to take the right turn on the Marne to visit Epernay. Bob and Carol had mentioned a silo (unused) just past the Tennis Club, the port of exorbitant price reputation so we cruised past the club and found the old silo quay perfect for our purposes and moored there to enable our visit to the town and to the very stylish Moet et Chandon caves.

Pronounced with the T if spoken as Moet et Chandon, or without if only Moe Chandon is used, this cave and its attendant buildings are very attractive. M&C was a great favourite of Napoleon who visited often enough for the proprietors to build two town houses opposite each other - one for Napoleon , the other for Josephine. They are still there, in the sumptuous gardens, used now as offices. The visit du caves at Moet et Chandon is more a wander with poetry than a serious explanation of their wine making but our Japanese guide was gorgeous and charming, spoke beautiful English and liked a drink so we were right at home with her in the private >Regatta Room= in which we had our tasting of 6 glasses of different types. On leaving we bought a demi sec for use with dinner that night and enjoyed the sweetness of it thoroughly.

Tours sur Marne was our next stop. Our timing brought us to their caves right in the middle of the >vendage= (picking) so they were extremely busy. They agreed however to my suggestion (made some time before our rendezvous) that I would buy a bottle of their very special Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs which we would be presented with to taste. We could then buy what we wanted and depart happy with the least disruption to their production schedule. Of course they were so gracious they not only followed that plan but they also presented us with juice for the current pressing (beautiful and very sweet) and refused to take payment for the Bde B. We bought serious quantities of the same and staggered under its weight back to the boat for dinner.

Reims was the next and final stop for Lesley who enjoyed further discoveries at Mumm with more champs before we explored the rest of the town and made a booking at Brasserie Flo for a final dinner. Unfortunately this was disrupted by a very rude Maitre=d who insisted on making an argument over my request for a fresh glass as the one provided was cracked. We enjoyed the meal, disliked him, warmed a little to our waiter but decided if the Maitre was to remain there we would not chose the establishment again.

All too soon it was time for Lesley to depart and we arranged for her to go direct to the airport using the limo service (a 6 seat people mover) which was the easiest and almost the least expensive method.

We were again moored canal side and in front of Renaissance, the 24m Luxemotor of New Zealander Ted Blomfield and his partner Barbara. We had provided Ted with a bad hangover before Barbara returned from a side trip away and later were on hand to witness the result of his winch cable breaking as his scooter was suspended over the canal. One drenched scooter, repaired by the owner of the boat undergoing conversion parked behind - Alain.

We all had to visit Alain=s restaurant - fantastic oysters and fish - after which we went to the Basilica St Remi for Mozart=s Requiem - spoilt a little by poor sound. M and I decided to head for Sillery for a couple of days during all of this and while there organised a winter mooring for Ted=s boat at reasonable cost as they were concerned about having to trek down to St Symphorien in just two weeks. We returned to Reims for the arrival of our next guest - Steve Beierlein, a financial marketer from Salt Lake City, USA.

It really is all go this year.

2004 JOURNAL