The first time I visited Champagne was on a cold, dreary fall day just after harvest. It wasn’t the best time to visit, but we had the BEST time! Today is a dreary fall day in Virginia, and for some reason, I thought back to that weekend in Champagne.
Driving around tasting Champagne can make one light-headed pretty quickly… that’s when a chauffeur comes in handy! Reims-based “Routair” has chauffeured cars available for just this type of thing. Tel: 03.26.40.38.28. Fax: 03.26.97.70.78.
And for the easiest way to get to Champagne, just take the (relatively) new TGV from the Gare de l’Est. This has cut the Paris/Reims commute down to 45 minutes… and just 30 minutes from the TGV terminal at CDG airport. A first class roundtrip ticket costs roughly 110€. However, the “slow” TER train from Paris to Epernay (one hour and ten minutes) is only 39€ round-trip in second class… and the seats are roomier than those on the stream-lined TGV. Frequent rail connections between Reims and Epernay take 30 minutes and cost 6€.