Weekend in Champagne (France, not IL)

James and I joined our Belgian friends on a weekend trip to the Champagne region of France. It was a great trip. We visited 3 Champagne houses, ranging from small to one of the largest. We stayed at a bed and breakfast, which was fantastic for the rate. Below are pictures and commentary This is the group before leaving from Lieven and Inge's house. All smiles. We thought before and after pictures would be fun!!

Tasting at the first house: Henriet-Bazen
We tasted about 4 different champagnes here. I didn't know there were so many different types. Generally, champagnes are not given vintages, but are blend from various harvests. You won't see dates on these bottles. However, if its a good year, they will create a vintage and you will see dates on the bottle. These bottles typically go for more. This is were we consumed the most and bought the most!

Driving from Henriet-Bazen (which was in a very small town) to Ruinart for our tour. Ruinart is located in Reims, which is the largest city in the region. The countryside was beautiful with the colors of fall. (the pictures are a bit blurry as they were taken from the backseat of a moving vehicle)

Yes, we even found windmills in France. (pardon the spot a bird left behind. i was a backseat photographer at this point.)

At Ruinart, we had a private tour scheduled (thanks Martin). This picture is us venturing down into the caves.



A wall of champagne bottles aging at Ruinart (the picture is kind of dark, so you don't see me very well). I believe there are 3000+ bottles there.

Displays of Aging Champagne. The lighting looks cool on this picture.







This picture is in the tasting area. The bar is similar to the aging displays we saw in the caves. The Photographer (James) got a good shot through the glasses to the bar.


This is James with Lieven and Martin. They met while working Brussels.













Tasting at the small champagne house. This was very informal and cozy.













The group after dinner. Dinner was good, but LONG. It took 4 hours for dinner. I think by the time we left, we were all ready to go to sleep! It was a fun day, but long and exhausting!