Champagne!

I admit, any occasion is good to drink champagne because it’s my favourite drink!

And I have something to celebrate with my rising celebrity, read my last article Life Changer.
Keep tuned because lots of news in the next weeks!

All this excitement makes me dizzy and not only because of bubbles ... 

(All photos are mine as usual)​

​​I put down my luggage in Reims, France, a year and a half ago. During this period, I’ve had time to enjoy this beautiful region, and especially to visit vineyards and champagne cellars! Heaven on earth exists and I found it.

Big champagne houses are mainly in Reims and Epernay. However, there are countless producers.

​The region has just over 300 champagne houses, with nearly 16,000 people, producing around 300 million bottles a year.

The big particularity of champagne cellars is its chalk pits, long tunnels dug underground, stretching over 200 km.

To visit them, you must first go down between 20 and 40 metres deep. Depending on the house, this is done by majestic stairs or a tiny spiral staircase.
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The temperature drops to 10 degrees Celsius. 

During the two world wars, these undergrounds enabled the survival of millions of people, sheltering a whole city with its school, its hospital, its bakery ...

Thus, bottles age here in this maze of chalk and history, in darkness, freshness and humidity. 

The highlight of the visit is obviously the tasting and the shop. I made some provisions because it's not every day that I'm in magazines ...

Women have had a key role in the fame and champagne that we know today.

Rosé champagne, for example, was invented by Mrs Nicole Clicquot-Ponsardin in 1818, 200 years ago… 

In 1861, another widow, Mrs Jeanne Pommery created champagne brut (unsweetened) to satisfy English tastes.

Nowadays, the United Kingdom is the largest importer of champagne in the world ahead of the United States and Japan.
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Innovative, braving male diktats and continuing to produce during the war, women of character for an exceptional drink. 

The harvest took place recently, which allowed me to better understand this expertise and the hard work that requires.

In addition, I was extremely privileged, and I was able to visit a few presses in action. 

For two weeks, the entire region and its inhabitants, all generations combined, live only for these grape harvests. Not to mention the endless ballet of trucks, tractors and buses ... 

Although marrying myself in Santorini, Greece, it was impossible for me to skip champagne.

So after visiting several producers, my choice finally turned to a delicate but powerful champagne. Pinot noir (40%), Pinot meunier (20%) and Chardonnay (40%).

​In addition, a bottle with feminine curves with the name of a famous king, the First King of France, Clovis (Champagne Batillot & Fils). It could only be my champagne for a Queen wedding, my solo wedding in Santorini. 

Finally, no need for excuse to drink a glass of champagne, enjoy life, cheers!