Rayni Risher

Delighting in the Vineyards of Champagne

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“Too much of anything is bad, but too much champagne is just right.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald

Last spring Joel and I drove 100 miles east of Paris to stay for several days in the Champagne region of France. We both quickly fell in love with the area!

We stayed in a lovely gîte overlooking the vineyards in the small and charming village of Hautvillers. This village was home to Dom Pérignon in the 17th century, the now-famous monk who was one of the fathers of the method in which champagne is made.

There was a conviviality and joy that seemed to fill the air!

Most people tend to drink champagne only at celebrations and parties, although I personally think anytime is the right time to drink champagne! (In fact I’m currently drinking a glass as I write this).

Even though there are more than 300 champagne villages in the region with several thousand champagne producers and 84,000 acres of vineyards, it feels as if everyone is united under the common banner of making quality champagne to be shared in people’s happiest life moments.

We enjoyed visiting several champagne houses and their vineyards. One of those was Lasseaux & Fils. Vincent Lasseaux was so gracious to spend the whole morning with us as we tasted their range of champagnes and journeyed out into their vineyards.

The small, family owned champagne house was established in 1970. We drove through lush green forest trees and field after field of vibrant yellow flowers as we made the short drive from Hautvillers to La Neuville-aux-Larris, the tiny village (only 200 inhabitants) where they’re located.

The Lasseauxs share that “the limestone subsoil and south facing vineyards provide us ideal conditions to produce some of the best pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay grapes necessary to our limited production.” It was a wonderful morning exploring one of the many talented family champagne houses who produce small batch, high quality champagnes.

Champagne felt like home. I can’t wait to return!

Did you know...

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced from grape varietals in the Champagne region of France; the main grapes used being pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay.

Some use the term champagne as a generic term for sparkling wine, but in most countries, it is illegal to officially label any product champagne unless it comes from the Champagne region and is produced under the strict rules of the appellation using the Méthode Champenoise (Champagne Method), which includes secondary fermentation of the wine in the bottle to create carbonation.

If you’re interested in Champagne I highly recommend watching the delightful documentary A Year in Champagne.

 

Joel (in the pink shirt) in the vineyards with brothers Vincent and Baptiste Lasseaux. This is their plot of pinot meunier grapes.They gave us a lesson in spring vine pruning.

Here are some of the lovely champagnes we tasted, paired with delicious charcuterie and cheese from the local city Reims. These champagnes are (L to R) Bled Rosé (100% pinot meunier), Vintage 2011 Millésime (chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier), Brut, and Rosé Classique (100% pinot meunier),  

Joel and Vincent Lasseaux.

We brought back a bottle of their 2010 Blanc de Blancs Champagne to enjoy at our gîte. The cork was hand tied with string, a method that was used hundreds of years ago.

 

Flower fields on the way to La Neuville-aux-Larris.

And…bouncing through the Lasseaux’s vineyards in Vincent’s vintage French Army 4×4. Just a slightly bumpy ride!

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London’s Oldest Wine Bar

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Last month when Joel and I were in London, we enjoyed visiting Gordon’s Wine Bar, nestled under the streets of the city. Established in 1890 and located near Victoria Embankment Gardens, it’s thought to be the oldest wine bar in London.

Run by several generations of the same family over the years, it has a lived-in, musty atmosphere and is filled with interesting decor.

If you don’t know what you’re looking for you might miss the entrance as you’re strolling down Villiers street. Through the door we walked gingerly down a steep and narrow staircase.

It’s an enjoyable environment where you can sip and dine by candlelight in their underground vaulted cellars. It brings to mind the French cave, a cellar, vault, or cavern.

While there we drank some lovely Bordeaux, Pinot Noir and Chenin Blanc and shared a platter of Parma ham, a mild cheese, pickles and freshly baked French bread.

They have a good selection of meats, cheeses and sundry bites to customize your cheese platter. They also serve lunch and dinner year round in their cellar and on the outdoor terrace.

Peruse the wine list online here.

The staff were warm and welcoming and as they say at Gordon’s, they aim to “bring the French joie de vivre to the atmosphere and ensure our customers are well looked after.”

The bar tender was friendly and interesting to chat to; a young hip Italian with a British accent when he spoke English. At various times there were several people in the parlour speaking melodiously and loudly in Italian.

In the late 1800s Rudyard Kipling was a tenant in the building and both he and G.K. Chesterton wrote some of their works in the wine bar’s parlour.

If you’re in London it’s definitely worth a visit!

 

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The Ornate Pont Alexandre III

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Though I’ve traveled to Paris several times, I’ve never visited the Pont Alexandre III until our recent trip.

(“Pont” is the French word for “bridge”)

The famously beautiful and much photographed bridge created in the Beaux-Arts style was named after Tsar Alexander III who cemented a new diplomatic relationship between France and Russia in 1892.

Classified as an historic monument, the bridge was inaugurated at the 1900 World’s Fair. The construction is a feat of engineering with its 20 foot high single span steel arch.

Crossing over the River Seine, the bridge links the famed Champs-Élysées boulevard on the Right Bank with Les Invalides (the site of Napoleon’s tomb) on the Left Bank.

With its Art Nouveau décor you’ll find lions, nymphs, maidens, cherubs, fish, and more on the bridge. It also has a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance and of course the river with all of its boat traffic gliding underneath.

Take a moment to take it all in if you find yourself in Paris!

 

And at night…

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The Joys of Traveling Alone

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Bright Giverny Church Graveyard“I could live here” I thought, as I sat on a low stone wall, looking out past the church steeple to the sweeping green hills beyond it; tiny pebbles crunching underfoot.

Yes, I happened to be sitting all alone in a graveyard in a tiny village in northern France…but that’s a minor detail.

How did I get there?

First let me begin here…Two years ago I had the opportunity to travel to England rather last minute for a conference. I flew into London, spent the night, then took a train up to Yorkshire for several days for the conference. Then I trained back down to London where I spent a number of days enjoying the city since I was already all the way over there.

I went alone on the trip and didn’t know anyone at the conference I was going to; or in the country for that matter. But none of that bothered me.

Before I left, one of my girlfriends told me how brave I was.

Brave? Why?

What’s so brave about going on a splendid adventure to a country I’ve visited before…and where they speak English to boot?

Still, she couldn’t believe I was doing it…alone.

The first time I traveled anywhere overseas alone was during my very first trip overseas when I was in my mid-20s. I went with a friend to Ireland for a week and then I left her and jaunted over to London for a few days before taking the Eurostar through the Chunnel to Paris.

England is not exactly a scary place to travel to alone but still, it was a wonderful and enlightening experience to be there on my own. Growing up I had a big interest in British culture…England especially…and I fell in love with it on my first trip there.

To me, there’s something wonderful about arriving in a country you’ve never been to and having to figure it all out on your own.  

Transport, money exchange, finding the hotel, learning to navigate the underground, finding your way around the city to all the places you want to visit, finding places to eat. It was fantastic and I loved it!

Traveling on my own, especially to another country, reminds me that I am brave, strong, and competent. I can handle it.

Since that first trip, I’ve gotten to travel overseas a couple more times on my own and I always enjoy it. It’s great to explore new areas and find your way around a large city in another language, too, when the opportunity arises.

Now back to that graveyard…

That was my first trip to France. I was staying with a friend and her husband, who were both working during the week. So I was on my own each day to explore Paris for the first time.

I decided to take the train to the small village of Giverny to see Monet’s home and extensive gardens.

I negotiated buying my ticket, speaking solely in French, and took the hour long train trip 46 miles north west from Paris to Vernon; and from there a short bus ride to Giverny which is nestled in the Upper Normandy region. Giverny has approximately 500 residents and there are many gorgeous stone homes with so much history.

I spent the entire day in the village. Lots of time in Monet’s gardens. I also ate lunch at a small café and had the best homemade pistachio ice cream I’ve ever eaten, from a local selling it on the side of the road. And I spent plenty of time wandering around the village before heading back to Paris in the evening.

That’s how I found my way to the small church and the graveyard perched on a hill right behind it.

As I sat in that graveyard I thought to myself, I could live here; I would love to live in one of these old stone homes and become more fluent in French and get to know my neighbors.

Fast forward to today, years later. My husband and I both love France and we do want to move to the country at some point. But I quite like that fact that even though I have enjoyed trips to France with Joel, I first got to begin to discover the country on my own, before I ever knew him.

I decided on my own that I wanted to live in the French countryside long before we ever decided it together.

And that makes me smile.

So please, think twice before passing up the opportunity to travel. Even if you’re alone! You never know what you’ll discover about yourself while you’re discovering a new city.

*The picture above is from that very grave yard in Giverny. Although I have a photo just like it, this picture is one that I found online, since all of my pictures from that trip are on this very old thing called film. 😉

 

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Dunluce Castle

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Intrigue. Betrayal. Dramatic Sieges.

If only castle walls could talk!

When I visited the Causeway Coast of Northern Ireland, my stop at Dunluce Castle was the highlight for me.

Generally speaking, I’m of the opinion that “if you’ve seen one castle ruin you’ve seen them all.” But for some reason I was drawn to this one. I can’t quite articulate why I enjoyed this spot so much, other than sometimes you “just do.”

Perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in County Antrim, the remains of medieval Dunluce Castle are rugged and beautiful.

Surrounded by grassy fields dotted with yellow flowering gorse bushes, I can only imagine the feel of the icy Irish winds whipping in off the ocean and racing through the castle walkways.

Its reported that Richard de Burgh, the second Earl of Ulster, built the first castle at Dunluce around the 13th century. It was then occupied by the MacQuillan family and was later seized by the MacDonnell clan, who held it until the late 17th century.

Local legend has it that on a very stormy night in 1693 the castle’s kitchens fell into the sea. However, that’s in dispute as you can still see elements of an ancient kitchen.

In 2011 there was an interesting excavation of “Dunluce Town”, a small town established near the castle in the early 17th century. Among the many items discovered were a blacksmith’s forge, horse shoes, a wine glass stem, and “luxury items” like dress fastenings, bone combs and a bronze tuning pin used to tune harps. A cobbled street running through the town leading toward the castle was also uncovered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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