Hautvillers

From Troyes we drove north to begin hunting out the vineyards in Epernay and area. First stop was tourist info to get our bearings and some routes to follow for the Champagne trail. We were handed an obscure map and sent on our way. Luckily we were thirsty and popped into an Irish pub by the car park. Tourists as we were, we spread the map of the area on the table to discuss our next move. The lovely Irish waiter - perhaps bar owner - asked where we were off to. As we didn't know he gave us great information on where to go, how far it was, what to see and where to find hotels. That was more information than all of the Tourist Information offices we had visited to date !!! So off to Hautevillers, the most visited town in all of France. It was a lovely town, as you can see from the pictures, nestled in amongst the vineyards. The cathedral in Hautvillers is the burial place of Dom Perignon, the monk of champagne fame. His resting place is marked in the church. Before we left the town we of course picked up some bubbly for the night. We drove on to Cumières and through hectares and hectares of vineyards. The only thing that could have made the drive picture perfect would have been sunny weather, instead of the mist and drizzle we were driving through.