Apparently my relatives in France have been quite busy in the past century or so.
So, Kasia and I decided to pay them a visit in Epernay, just outside of Paris.
We hopped a train from Gare de l’Est (well, not the SAME train – long story),
to the heart of the Champagne region for a tour, and well, some tasting!
France alone accounts for 1/2 of the worlds volume of champagne,
and Mercier champagne just happens to be the leader in this market.
Needless to say, I think that’s pretty darn cool, and worthy of a visit.
Heres a pic of the champagne house founder Eugene Mercier,
my great great great uncle’s cousin’s, brother’s, father’s son???
Eugene was a marketing visionary, and the Mercier Champagne House quickly became well known,
above all for its unique events and advertising stunts.
Eugene had the world’s largest wine cask made (it holds 200,000 bottles!).
He transported the cask from Epernay to Paris for the Worlds Trade Fair in 1889.
It took 8 days to travel the route (45min’s by train these days) with 24 ox pulling it.
Any structures that obstructed the path… Eugene just bought them and had them razed to make way.
Here’s a model of it sitting next to the front right wheel of the actual cask.
The thing was so massive, it was quite difficult to photograph.
Here’s the tippy top of it from the third story tasting room and gift shop:
After touring the lobby of the ‘maison’ it was time for our tour.
Check it out… people paying admission – just to see me! cool!
The tour was quite elaborate, much more so than any other vineyard I’d been to.
First, a short film on the history of ‘Mercier’:
Followed by a ride down to the caves, in a musical glass elevator;
showcasing dioramas of the vineyard in Epernay and Mercier’s wild advertising stunts,
including a famed hot air balloon ride over Paris:
Once underground, there is an electric open top train, (just like Disney World!)
which tours you through the caves:
It’s a massive tunnel system with many Frenchmen (and women) busy at work,
and thousands of bottles of champagne stored in a multitude of ways:
On the way through the tunnels we spotted a statue of ‘Miss Mercier’.
She was relegated down to the caves ages ago,
due to her bacchanalian display being a bit too ‘racy’ for public viewing.
(please, no comparisons to THIS miss Mercier… ;)
After the cave tour, we headed back upstairs for the grand finale…
The tastings.
A Brut Rose, Cuvee, and Brut Blanc.
Champagne makes you smile:
And, of course, on our way out of the ‘Maison de Mercier’,
we had to stop and peek at the fruit that makes it all possible:
Dom wanted his picture taken with the lovely Kasia.So we obliged:
Afterwards, we stepped inside to grab a few bottles of his namesake bubbly.Coooool.Chandelier of champagne glasses!Oh, this one’s a bargain:
We’ll take three.
Another incredible French adventure.And, since no adventure for Kasia and I would be complete without chocolate,we picked up a few patisseries for the train ride home:
