REIMS and VERDUN - France 2014 - page 1501

Gambetta to Place de la République, and take a left to find Avenue de Champagne. Moët
et Chandon (described below) is at #20, and the TI is at #7 (mid-April-mid-Oct Mon-Sat
9:30-12:30 & 13:30-19:00, Sun 11:00-16:00; in off-season closes at 17:30 and on Sun; tel.
03 26 53 33 00, www.ot-epernay.fr ) .
Sights in Epernay: The granddaddy of Champagne companies, Moët et Chandon
offersone-hourtourswiththreepriceytastingpossibilities(€17forsingletaste,€24-30for
two tastes, no reservation needed, kids under 18 can join the tour for €10—but no tasting,
daily April-mid-Nov 9:30-11:30 & 14:00-16:30, closed weekends off-season, closed Jan,
20 Avenue de Champagne, tel. [phone], www.moet.com , [e-mail] ) .
To sip a variety of different Champagnes from smaller producers, stop by the wine
bar C Comme Champagne (meaning “C like Champagne”). Start with a peek in the wine
cellar, then snuggle into an armchair and order by the taste, glass, or bottle. Ask about the
ever-changing flight selections—but don't expect great deals (daily 10:00-24:00, 8 Rue
Gambetta, tel. [phone]).
Verdun
While World War I was fought a hundred years ago and there are no more survivors to tell
its story, the WWI sights and memorials scattered around Europe do their best to keep the
devastation from fading from memory.
Perhaps the most powerful WWI sightseeing experience a traveler can have is at the
battlefields of Verdun, where, in 1916, roughly 300,000 lives were lost in what is called
the “Battle of 300 Days and Nights.”
Today,thelunarlandscapeleftbyWWIbattlesisburiedunderthickforests—allnew
growth. But there are plenty of rusty remnants of the battle and memorials to the carnage
left to be experienced.
A string of Verdun battlefields lines an eight-mile stretch of road outside the town of
Verdun. From here (with a tour, rental car, or taxi) you can ride through the eerie moguls
left by the incessant shelling, pause at melted-sugar-cube forts, ponder plaques marking
spots where towns once existed, and visit a vast cemetery. In as little as three hours you
can see the most important sights and appreciate the horrific scale of the battles. While
2014marksthecentennialofthestartofWorldWarI,2016willmarkthecentennialofthe
“Hell of Verdun.”