A FRENCH KISS

There’s a world of Champagne lovers who adore the famous bubbly without ever realizing that the region—where the grapes are grown, and the wine produced—is a bucket-list destination and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here’s why. 

The region’s capital, Reims, is only 45-minutes from Paris via the TGV high-speed train and can be toured on a day trip, including a cellar tour and a meal paired with Champagne. I recommend staying two or three nights, or more, if possible, to have time to visit small producers and grand Maisons, dine, and spa remarkably well and, perhaps, go ballooning, river cruising, hiking, golfing, or even zip-lining.

REIMS
In Reims, there’s a Roman triumphal arch, a Romanesque 11th century Basilique St. Remi, and a Gothic 13th-century Cathédrale Notre Dame, the site where 25 kings have been crowned since 816. The Cathedral, tragically, was bombed daily from 1914-1918 during World War I; Americans, including Ford, Rockefeller, and Carnegie, funded its restoration and Marc Chagall designed its magnificent, biblically-themed, stained-glass windows. The tunnels under the church also date from Roman times. For centuries, these fantastic, vast, underground, multi-level crayères (chalk cellars) have stored wines from some of the city’s major Champagne houses. 

Thomas Jefferson was a fan of Ruinart, the oldest Maison; it dates from 1729 when King Louis XV legalized bottles to transport Champagne and started serving it to his noble guests. On a cellar tour at Veuve Clicquot, visitors learn that Barbe Nicole Ponsardin became a Veuve (widow) of M. Clicquot at 27 (1805); she created the still-celebrated golden-orange-labeled brand at 30. The huge Pommery Maison is notable for typical regional architecture—with brick-trimmed doors—and an art-filled visitor center and exhibit space that attracts 130,000 annual visitors.

STAY
La Caserne Chanzy, Reims
A Marriott Autograph Collection newcomer opened in Reims in 2021; it’s a new, modern, and well-located hotel built within a fire station building between 1926-1993. One fire truck, La Grande Georgette, nods to the Fire Captain’s wife as the restaurant’s name. Julie Fuillet designed the contemporary look—from the lobby to rooms and the Deep Nature Spa. With exceptional views of the Cathedral, it is also near the Opera, Tau Palace, Carnegie Library, restaurants, and shops.

Manoir Henri Giraud, Aÿ
This is a fantastic, art-filled, five-suite, five-star retreat in Aÿ, just outside Epernay. Claude Giraud, the 12th generation of a family that dates to 1625 and head of Champagne Henri Giraud, reconfigured a neighboring three-story, stone-fronted, traditional 19th-century manor house and added the spa’s indoor, heated swimming pool inside a modern, wood-faced, window-walled addition. He welcomes guests to his Domaine with food, wine, and wellness experiences, including Forest Bathing, a walk through the oaks that source the barrels, and Craÿothérapie, a chalk wrap, a soak in a hydrotherapy tub, and body massage. Even day-trippers can reserve a private Table Experience dinner with paired wines or a cellar tour and tasting. 

Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa, Champillon 
A spacious, semi-circular, contemporary wood and stone structure houses Royal Champagne, an exquisite, modern, 49-room, ultra-luxe, tri-level hotel attached to the historic 19th century, Relais de Poste, Coach Stop inn. Terraces outside Bellevue, the all-day restaurant with its mural of Napoleon on horseback, all rooms, the expansive Biologique Recherche spa, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools overlook Moët & Chandon vineyards stretching towards Epernay. Sybille de Margerie, of the Taittinger Champagne family, designed the elegant interior spaces with tributes to Napoleon. The Le Royal is a gastronomic pleasure.