CHAMPAGNE TO BOURGONE

30th August, 2105 (Sally)

We felt sad in a way, leaving the Somme — it was such a pretty river with its region so steeped in bloody history of WW1.  But with September on its way we are definitely heading for home. The very first colour in the Virginia Creeper is the herald of coming Autumn and the sign for us to start thinking of beach walks, summer barbeques and lots of family and friendship catch-ups. We have enjoyed our visitors in the last month, sister Myra joined us at Pont L’Eveque, a little port at the junction of the Canal du Nord and the Canal L’Aisne à L’Oise and within walking distance of the train station at Noyon. We walked in to meet her expecting to catch a taxi home with her luggage. Typical French, the FOUR taxi’s we called were all unavailable. Sunday lunch or annual holiday — who would know? Not to worry, it’s a reasonable walk, Tony set off at his usual pace, with the suitcase, we two followed at more leisurely pace. From Anizy-Pinon we caught a train to the hill top town of Laon with its intact fortified walls and impressive cathedral, one of the earliest built in France. We made a two day deviation down the Aisne to Soissons where Myra left us. We were taken with Soissons in 2011 but this visit presented depressing evidence of France’s declining economy. Many shops were closed, few seemed to be attracting customers and the quayside was filthy, despite a kid’s beach playground set up for the summer holidays, so we returned to Bourge et Comin where we stopped for a few days.  A chance for us to take the motor bikes off and go for a ride up and along the Chemin des Dames. This is the high ground that was held for so long by the Germans in WW1. It was attacked repeatedly by the French and British as is obvious by the vast cemeteries that one passes. We had been here before and visited the Caverne du Dragon, the underground quarry that was a base, hospital and quarters for both armies at different stages of the war. This time we passed it by, drove to the very end to explore the village of Craonne. Pre-war this had been a thriving community, with a 47ha zoo owned by the Pommery Champagne house. It was in the wrong place to survive, today there is barely a sign of the original village, a variety of trees have been planted to cover the damage and a few kilometres away is a new village, same name but a shadow of its former self. Above the old village a huge timber tower has been built as a sort of memorial, a remarkable piece of architecture featuring big beams of laminated oak. The view from the top expands across a vast area of farm land all the way to Reims.

Our last stop before Reims was a chance to take the bikes for another spin. This time through Northern Champagne, all the wheat had been harvested early as a result of the hot dry summer and the grapes are now starting to ripen. Just need that rain to put some body in them. The villages here are pretty and well-kept but as it’s August, holiday time, there is no one around. About 10kms from home my bike spluttered to a stop, out of petrol. I settled under a tree prepared for a long wait while Tony went back to Sable and then attempted to find a service station; 15 minutes later he was back. In the midst of deserted villages he had found one kind man who not only spoke perfect English but had a motor bike at home and was able to give him 1.5l of the right mixture.

Reims is always a favourite stop, and no matter how many time we have visited there is always something we haven’t previously seen. This time I managed to find the Roman Crypt, now an exhibition space under the town square. The cathedral in Reims is always worth a visit and every time we marvel at the restoration work which is ongoing and never ending. This year the scaffolding has moved to the centre front so hopefully the full front façade will be revealed in all its glory next time we visit.

We learnt this time that during WW1 the cathedral suffered damage from 358 shells, and at one stage when the roof caught fire the gargoyles were flowing molten lead.  The photos of the damage are horrific but fortunately, the will to restore it was there, helped in no small part by a generous donation from the Rockerfellers in America.

At Reims we collected our next visitors, sister Fran and husband Lester. They had been on a tour of Gallipoli and had a few days to fill in before joining another boat cruise at Amsterdam. A chance for them to relax among the vines of Champagne as we took the very familiar route, Sillery, Conde sur Marne, Mareuil sur Ay and Epernay. Every village has a favourite much visited Champagne house and so nice that we are recognized at some of them. We noticed that paying for tastings has now become common, the payment deducted off the price if you buy. However that hasn’t started at the one Champagne house at Conde where I took Fran and Lester to buy a couple of bottles. Our hostess insisted we try a tasting and we were given a full glass of each of her three varieties. Fortunately it was a walk back to the boat. I would not have wanted to have been on my bike after that.

At Epernay we said goodbye to one lot of visitors and hullo to the next.  Suellen and her friend Jenny joined us for a week while we retraced our steps and champagne stops of the week before. Both keen cyclists, it was easy to put them off at the base of the hills and let them ride to Hautvillers, the home of Dom Perignon and find us later somewhere down the canal. Bouzy required two journeys.

At one spot on the canal we saw a lovely growth of blackberries, Sable was pulled to a halt and it was all hands on deck as we pruned off branches laden with fruit. The haul was two huge basins-full, and a hurried scrub down of the purple stained decks. I made blackberry chutney to have with duck brochettes, blackberry and peaches flavoured with Grand Marnier for desert, blackberries for breakfast and the last of the harvest went into an apple and blackberry almond tart. I can now look at the fruit going to waste on the sides of the canal with no regrets. 

As there is nothing happening in the vineyards before harvest most of the growers have taken the chance to have a break before the rush. Understandable, but disappointing for tourists. However the girls found enough stops to satisfy the tasting buds without getting into too much trouble on their credit cards. Not so with the shoe shops of Chalons en Champagne. After lunch in the square Tony and I went back to Sable while they had a last look around town. A baguette for dinner I said, three hours later they arrived home, laden with parcels, five pairs of shoe among other things and no baguette. They left the next day for a final night in Paris and the long trip home.

We have now left Chalons en Champagne and are on the delightfully named Canal Entre Champagne et Bourgogne. We are traveling up the Marne Valley, 73 locks to the summit at Langres, through a 4.8km tunnel and then another 43 down to the Saône. St Dizier is a lovely city that seems to remain robust and busy. As well as two huge factories that manufacture farm machinery and excavating equipment it is a base for the French Air Force. Fighter jets take-off and land from the aerodrome close to town and then practise dog-fight manoeuvrers overhead. How the locals can bear the constant screaming of their engines is a mystery. They are much noisier than any commercial planes. It’s a very pretty stretch of country and since we last came this way three years ago some of the towns have put in lovely facilities for cruising boats. At St Dizier there is a whole new quay which will be great when finished and the next little town had a brand new deck with power, water and picnic tables. We had it all to ourselves. We can only hope it attracts a few people to the town. At Joinville, once home to the Dukes of Guise, we could see where the magnificent Chateau stood overlooking the town. The walls on the way up remain but the chateau was completely destroyed in the Revolution. However the hunting lodge and lovely gardens that he built for his wife to appease her after she discovered he had a mistress, remain. We have arrived at Froncles, another port with excellent facilities, where yesterday it was over 30C — too hot to do anything but sit in the shade and read. Today we hope to take the motorbikes off and explore some of the beautiful countryside.