We continued our journey, stopping in Epernay, Tours sur Marne, Chalons-en-Champagne, then Vitry-le-Francois.
Epernay is at the heart of Champagne country, in good measure because it sits on the Marne. As we exited the Canal Lateral de la Marne we saw the muddy river flying past. Turning into it we immediately felt the strong current. We chugged the 4 kilometers to the marina to find the harbor master waiting for us at the dock to help us in. As we approached we could see why – there wasn’t much room left for the river to rise before we’d float onto the dock, meaning the fenders would easily come in above the dock so the boat itself would hit. Later that day we were told we had to leave in the morning. The regional authorities, who exercise control over the water level, were going to release more water from the reservoir.
Before the news arrived we took our guest to a Champagne house. The nearby house, Champagne de Castellane, no longer provides tours, so we found another. Last time we were here the harbor master hosted a generous Champagne happy hour, provided by Castellane. This is no longer possible as Castellane no longer provides the product free to the marina.
We departed early the next morning to beat the additional release from the reservoir. Our 7 kph speed against the current became 14 kph with it. Fortunately the comparatively small number of floating logs were swept to the outside of the curves, where the current is strongest, while we remained on the inside as much as possible. For some reason the current slowed just as we reached the lock returning us to the safe waters of the canal. Its activating mechanism is a bit down river so you have to move to it and then turn around. With the reduced current we were able to complete the maneuver.
Tours-sur-Marne came after that nail-biter on the river, offering a gorgeous setting with vineyards set behind the reflective still waters. It’s a tiny village with a single Champagne merchant. The church is from 1851. The grapes they grow were once classified as Grand Cru, the highest rating, used to set prices after a long period of price instability. The classification has long been abandoned.
View of Tours-sur-Marne from our mooring
The Canal Lateral de la Marne is lined with endless great scenery. Rolling hills and fields green with crops, potatoes, beets and more, as well as wheat. We grabbed a few plants from the fields, boiled them a bit and enjoyed some mighty fine greens along with the young and still white beets.
Chalons-en-Champagne is our next stop; we are no longer amidst the fields of grapes. The Cathedral of Saint Ettiene dates from the 12th century. Its origins are Romanesque, meaning thick walls and small windows, but it was rebuilt in the Gothic style with thin walls and large windows. Then they added a Baroque section in the 17th century. Its soaring ceiling and beautiful stained glass flood the huge chamber in light. Some of the stained glass was made in the 12th century, as seen in the photo below. You can’t help but feel a time travel sensation bringing you into the medieval mind where fantasy rules, fantasy’s limitless reach unrestricted by the limits of factuality, instead only by the rhetoric of theologians and the discipline imposed by the Church.
12th century glass
Notre Dame en Vaux is another great old church, a UNESCO World Heritage one to boot. It was built between 1157 and 1217. It had a cloister, now a garden, faced by a small museum. There are a number of other worthwhile visits in the town of just 45,000. It is on the road to Santiago de Compostela.
Soaring ceilings and beautiful light
Drawing in Notre Dame en Vaux, Chalons sur Champagne
Vitry-le-Francois has the tiniest harbor, maybe a half dozen slots with barely room for us in the narrow canal leading to the moorings, where we had to make a difficult 90 degree turn to slide into the perpendicular slot. There is a harbor master, a woman who proved to be highly attentive. The electrical outlet with a proper modern boat type connection wasn’t working. The other outlets were house types, not used in a marine environment. I had to make an adapter from an old house plug.
Nearby is the beautiful city hall, in French called either the Maire (Mayor) or Hotel d’ Ville. It’s oversized for this tiny village.
Reims is pronounced Rance, the ‘a’ is a sound we do not have in English but it’s similar the the ‘a’ in ‘band with a rather nasal pronunciation. The city boasts a Roman era triumphal arch, the Port of Mars, the only remaining of four. The port was once a part of a castle destroyed in 1595. It was then integrated into the city walls, the openings filled in, and not revealed until the mid 1800’s. It now stands by itself, nicely restored.
The Port of Mars is just one of many architectural and historical delights in this city. The most notable is the Cathedral. I posted a video of the superb laser light show they perform every Thursday-Saturday night. See Light show
The Cathedral is built upon the site of the 5th century church, in its turn erected on top of the Roman baths. I would not be surprised if one day we find all were built over some important structure built by the Gauls, the city’s founders. The Cathedral is the site of the coronation of many French kings, beginning with Louis the Debonnaire in 816 , presided over by Pope Stephen IV. Pope Leo met with Charlemagne here.
Aside from the Cathedral there is another church worth visiting. The Basilica of St Remi was officially opened in 1049, before the advent of Gothic architecture, thus its heavy walls and small windows. Construction continued for centuries. As a result the nave and transept are Gothic. Charlemagne’s brother and two early kings are buried here.
The city was founded by the Remi tribe, whence the city’s name. The Remi allied with the Romans during Caesar’s conquest of Gaul. After the Roman victory the Remi’s received favorable treatment. This did not keep the Vandals out. They captured the city in 406, executing the bishop. Atila the Hun sacked the city in 451. Paris is not all that far away, today less than an hour by train. A bit more success and Atila controls today’s capital.
Reims was part of England starting in 1420, following a failed seige in 1360. The English were then expelled by the French, led by a young woman called Joan d’Arc.
Germany occupied the city and made it the seat of the governor during the Franco Prussian war of 1870-71. The Germans were back in WWI. The city and its cathedral suffered significant damage during this armed conflict, eclipsed by the massive casualties reflected in field upon field of cemeteries.
The armistice ending WWII was signed in Reims. The building remains as a museum. It was closed the day we were there, unfortunately.
The area lies on the northern edge of the Champagne production zone. The grapes used are Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunie and Chardonnay almost exclusively. Other regions of France and elsewhere produce this naturally carbonated beverage but the term ‘champagne’ in Europe can only be used for wine produced here. In Burgandy it is called a ‘Crémant de Bourgogne, in Alsace it is called ‘Crémant de Alsace.’ In all there are 24 sparkling wine areas in France. Spain uses the same method. Prosecco uses vat fermentation as opposed to the bottle fermentation used here. The Champagne method was developed by a monk named Dom Perignon. Old Dom still makes champagne, although these days there are machines that turn the bottles. Many Champagne houses are located here, allowing for visits to the cellars where they explain the process.
Reims is not all Champagne and great old structures. It has a lively pedestrian shopping zone with eateries up the Oise. Petite Sale is a traditional dish, lentils with salted pork, although on my wanderings I did not see it on a menu.
Chaource is from this region. It is a soft cheese. If you can get a good one it’s richly flavored and creamy. Truffles are a big deal, as is a pink biscuit. There is a regional mustard and a smoked ham as well. Boudin blanc, a white sausage, is a traditional product. Andouillettes de Troyes is made from the large intestine and stomach, onions, salt and pepper. I wish I hadn’t known.
The Marne empties into the Seine, joining its journey past Paris and into the sea. We are ‘amont,” and thus uphill through many locks as we head in the direction of its source some 500 km in an easterly direction. It wobbles and weaves past small towns, villages and mere settlements as it finds its way through the Champagne region. There you can see more vineyards than you have likely ever seen in your lifetime.
The first canal on the Marne was created in 1235, making it the oldest in France. Canalization started in 1837, arriving in Eparnay some 30 years later. There were two ferocious battles along its banks in WWI. In the Battle of the Marne the German advance on Paris came to a halt.
We entered the Marne after another quiet night at the lock in Soissy sur Seine. You make a sharp right into a short channel and then immediately enter a small lock. We fit in with a barge. On the other side of the lock is a lovely shaded mooring. Then you enter a short, traffic light controlled tunnel before exiting onto the river itself.
We made our way to Bonneuil Sur Marne, which is just 13 kilometers from the center of Paris, so small and quiet that you would not guess you were so close. We are at the beginning of a large loop here, so you go many kilometers before you find yourself nearly back where you started from when you arrive at Joinville-le-Pont. This river is about as loopy as they come.
Loopy, yes, but all the more beautiful forests line our way, here in the middle of nowhere seemingly. We pass the occasional fisherman whose long lines sit out of the main channel, or if not, we see them vigorously reeling in. There’s a small craft from time to time. There were very few our size all the way to Épernay.
After a night in Lagny we moved to Meaux. There are nice docks in town with water and electricity. We can go about 5 days without electricity, depending on the sun and how many hours we run the engine. In France so far there have been copious sources for electricity as well as water.
Meaux comes from “Meldi,” the Gaulish tribe of the area. There is still a section of the medieval defensive wall. A small museum is housed in the Episcopal Palace. The Cathedral, began in 1175, is well worth a visit. The original structure was Norman in style. Due to defects in the structure it was mostly removed. A Gothic structure was built in its place.
At the docks was a lovely 16 meter barge. Two Americans from Louisiana were aboard. They own a 25% share of the boat so are here for 3 months, which is about to expire. A Dutch couple was moored on our starboard side. She came by to tell us that someone stole her husband’s handicap modified bike the night before. After a while another nice boat came in, this one occupied by a Aussie couple. We went to help them in as it looked like they needed assistance. As it turned out they did not, they were just avoiding a log that was floating next to the dock.
Meaux, with about 50,000 residents, is the home of the famous Brie de Meaux. We first tried a Brie de Meaux in 2001, when we were aboard our other Dutch boat, Caprice. We’d gone to a restaurant. The owner was serving us and provided it as one of the cheese course offerings. Not all of these are of equal flavor and overall quality, he said, even if coming from the same producer. Some are far stronger in aroma and flavor than others. He was right on the mark.
The French make a big deal of cheese. They even have a have a cheese course., it’s that important to them. That course comes toward the end of the meal that starts with Champagne, perhaps with the amuse-bouche, small mouthfuls of this and that, so delightful apparently that a dash between the two words is required. Then comes the entree. Then the main course. Then the cheese. Then the dessert. Then coffee. Then the cognac.
Mon dieu! How does anyone survive these meals?
We took our bikes up a long steep hill or two to the Meaux Air Show. Biplanes, single wing and a rocket powered jet performed tricks for the crowd sitting and standing in the increasingly hot sun. Some planes performed in duo. There was plenty of smoke in the sky as they looped and spun. The rocket zoomed from near ground level to where it became a tiny point in the sky.
The Hotel Dieu (hospital) in Chateau Thierry offered a guided tour in French. The hospital began as a nunnery endowed by a wealthy couple. Women wishing to enter had to post a dowry. They took vows of poverty, unlike the nunnery itself which was quite well off, and lived in silence in the humble chambers we visited. After the Revolution the structure was turned in a hospital, the purpose it served until the 1980’s. When it was set to close the last nun took a local to the room where the treasury was stored. A vast collection of jewels, paintings, objet d’art and more became the basis of the current collections. We also visited the impressive Bishop’s Palace, which houses a small museum.
The Aussie couple is friendly and sociable, so we all got together on the aft deck. Mixed drinks came out, as well as wine, cheese and baguette. The last of these my grand daughter kept from going bad by quickly downing what I could not get to first. Stories were told, some of mine might have been true even, once you shaved off the exaggerations and savings of face and other motivations only historians, those ferretters of truth, know about. Our new Aussie friends, we learned, got stuck over here during Covid and don’t seem quite ready to leave just yet.
On our way to the Cathedral we ran across a 5 piece band playing as they walked through the streets. We followed them to the Cathedral where they were joined by 5 other bands who then played together. It was quite festive and any deficit in musical skill was more than made up for with enthusiasm.
Band plays before the cathedral in Meaux
The construction of Cathédrale Saint-Etienne de Meaux began in 1175. It was Romanesque. Due to defects in the structure it was largely removed in the next century, then rebuilt in the Gothic style, magnificently rising to 33 meters in slender height above the choir.
The next town we came to of interest to us was Chateau Thierry. During the 8th century, King Theideriv IV was a prisoner in the castle of Otmus, as Chateau Thierry was known at the time. Thierry is a derivation of this King’s name. Before Chateau Thierry we stayed just before Lock 3, moored to Duck Poop Quay. Granddaughter made her way through the forest of duck gifts to explore the small wooded island. There’s always a weir- barrage in French- at the locks. It’s where the river descends, where there once were rapids.
It’s a weekend. Atop the cliff a few hundred steep steps at the main town’s edge a medieval fair is on-going. Birds of prey land on gloved arms, recorders play gentle songs, sausage sits on grills, and vendors sell costume jewelry imported direct from 1399 or thereabouts, I am sure.
Chateau Thierry
In the evening, when it cooled off a bit, we ate at a place called Billings or something like that, one of those strange uses of English foreigners sometimes employ to stand out, or be chic, or something. This is rather like the American restaurant term ‘Entree.’ In French it means first course, after which comes the main. It’s an appetizer, for Christ’s sake, not the main course. I figure it was someone being chic or something. Despite the odd use of English, the food was good and a far cry from Paris prices that start at 20 euros.
We visited Champagne Pannier https://www.champagnepannier.com/, atop the village but reachable by bike if you have a decent bike and good legs. It’s a typical tour. You walk through the cellars as they explain the Champagne process. It’s a complex process invented by the monk, Dom Perignon. Three grape varieties are used throughout the region: Chardonnay, Pinio Noir and Pinot Meunier. The percentages are usually equal. A varietal is normally made from 100% Chardonnay. After the wine is bottled sugar is added to increase the alcohol and carbonation. As the wine ages the bottles are turned and gradually made upside down, nowadays by machine in many Houses. After the wine has aged long enough in that position, the neck is frozen and the precipitates removed. Then the wine is corked and aged longer. These last steps have also been automated. Cava is the Spanish version and made using the same basic method. Prosecco is the Italian, however the champagne is not bottled until the very end, a much less complicated process.
View of vineyards from the boat
Vast vineyards line this section of the Marne River
In the next entry we visit Eparnay, the capitol of the Champagne region.
