Champagne & Northern France - Discover France: Experience the Best of France - page 325

Getting There & Away
Half the trains to Paris Gare de l'Est (12 to 17 daily) are TGVs (€32 to €41, 45
minutes); the rest are TERs (€24, 1¾ hours). Direct services also go to Épernay
(€6, 20 to 36 minutes, 18 daily weekdays, seven to 11 daily weekends), Laon (€9,
35 to 50 minutes, nine daily Monday to Friday, five on Saturday, three on Sunday)
and Charles de Gaulle airport (three times a day).

Épernay
POP 25,225
Épernay, self-proclaimed capitale du champagne and home to many of the world's
most celebrated Champagne houses, is the best place in Champagne for touring
cellars and sampling bubbly.
Beneath the streets in 110km of subterranean cellars, more than 200 million
bottles of Champagne, just waiting to be popped open on some sparkling occasion,
are being aged.

Sights & Activities
Several maisons offer informative and engaging cellar tours, followed by a dégusta-
tion (tasting) and a visit to the factory-outlet shop.

MOËT & CHANDON
( 03 26 51 20 20; www.moet.com ; adult incl 1/2 glasses €14.50/22, 10-18yr €9; 20
av de Champagne; tours 9.30am-noon & 2-4.30pm, closed Sat & Sun mid-
Nov-mid-Mar, also closed Jan) This prestigious maison offers frequent one-hour
tours that are among the region's most impressive.

Champagne House