mmm-yoso!!!

Reims - Brasserie du Boulingrin

After spending the day touring the Champagne Region and having had two dinners at fairly modern bistros, I thought having a nice "old school" dinner would be a change of pace. So we walked on over near the Porte du Mars and the area we had checked out the day before, to an Reims institution, established in 1925, Brasserie du Boulingrin.

Decked out in art deco style, with a menu to match Entrecote Roti, Tete de Veau, Ris de Veau…...

We started with some wine.....we let the Server pick and he did a nice job.

We decided to go with the one dish I was looking forward to trying here and the Missus got a simple salad.

I ordered the Pieds de porc panes rotis au four et lentilles de Champagne......figure it out yet? It's roasted breaded pig trotters with local lentils.

At first our kind Server wasn't sure we knew what we had ordered....so he asked again.....and we repeated what we wanted. "Monseur, are you sure?" We nodded in the positive.

The Missus really enjoyed the perfectly cooked lentils; tender but still holding its shape. She basically went at it like a hot knife thru butter.

As for the trotters...well, they were perfectly roasted; the breading gave the exterior a bit of a crunch. The seasoning was simple, but spot on. Nice tender bits of meat and wonderful collagenic connective tissue.

I think you can figure out how much we enjoyed this, right?

Sorry about the photos; there were red neon lights right above us that pretty much killed the photos.

We enjoyed this hearty dinner. It was a fine last meal in Reims, nothing fancy, but quite satisfying.

Brasserie du Boulingrin
29 rue de Mars
51100, Reims, France

After dinner we took our time getting back to our hotel room. Like I mentioned; there was quite a bit of road and other work going on around Hôtel de Ville (City Hall).

Compared to Paris, things were quite quiet on this Wednesday evening.

We walked on over to the usually busy shopping street; Rue Condorset, which was very quiet this evening, and enjoyed watching Le Carrousel Vénitien.

Then headed back to our hotel for a nice night of sleep.

Our train wasn't leaving until 1245pm, so we had some time to kill in Reims. We decided to head on back to the Cathedral, which I covered in an earlier post.

And enjoyed the stained glass.

And reminded myself of the stories of Joan of Arc. And how, after the French victory at the Battle of Patay, Joan convinced the Heir Apparent (Dauphin), Charles to be crowned in Reims. Thus began what is called "the March to Reims". On July 17th, 1429, Dauphine Charles, was the 12th ruler crowned in Reims and became Charles VII.

Another interesting story is how Charles VII's estranged son Louis heard of his father's impending demise and rushed to Reims to ensure that he and not his brother Charles of Valois, would be crowned king. Ah yes.....such drama and intrigue.

We enjoyed our time in Reims and perhaps we'll return someday.

Reims is close enough to be a day trip; but if you plan to visit, you may want to at least stay one night. It seems that as day turns to evening in Reims, at least during the week, the day trippers sail off into the sunset and Reims becomes a peaceful, laid-back, city, with so much history....and yes, Champagne everywhere.

Some folks will even bend over backwards for you!

The Great Champagne Tour - Visits to Champagne Bauchet, Moët & Chandon, Lunch at La Table de Kobus, and a Visit to Champagne Brugnon

Our last full day in Champagne was the "big one". During previous trips to other regions of France, I drove or we found train connections. When driving I (obviously) wasn't able to taste the wonderful adult beverages produced by the places we visited. When doing the train or bus; well, I just didn't feel very comfortable partaking in said beverages. As a whole we'd kind of avoided tours as much as possible, but our experience with the Italian Days Food Tour changed our opinion on small group and private tours. I decided to go ahead and book a private tour with The Champagne Tour Company. Dealing with Larry Davis who runs the company was a pleasure and a custom tour was designed for us. We not only wanted to visit a large Champagne house; but also smaller producers and learn a bit about the process.

Our driver arrived on time and we were quickly whisked away to Bisseuil and Champagne Bauchet, where we were introduced to the amazing process of Champagne making.

From the making of the wine. To the blending and ageing......in underground cellars.

To the age old process of "riddling" where the bottles are slowly tilted down over time, while turning occasionally, this is still sometimes done by hand.

To the process called disgorgement.

It was interesting to see the process in a Champagne House like Bauchet, which produces 300,000 bottles a year.

Because on our next stop; we were back in Epernay, on Avenue de Champagne at probably the most well known Champagne House in the World; Moët & Chandon, which by the way also produces Dom Perignon, and is part owner of Louis Vuitton.

We kind of expected what we got at M&C, a polished, professional, and somewhat sterile tour of the cellars and history of Moët & Chandon. You know the deal, "we're walking....we're walking"....

Everything fits within the brand and the image of luxury that Champagne is associated with. That is not to say that the tour wasn't interesting; it was.

The cellars are quite a sight to see; the cellars of Moët & Chandon spans 17 miles  under Epernay; the most in the Champagne region.

There are some locked off areas which we were told hold some of the rarest and most expensive Champagne in the world.

At the end; we had a tasting of several variations and vintages.

And of course no tour is complete without a visit to the gift shop afterwards.....

In case you just needed to get that (those) bottle(s) of Dom Perignon.

I'm glad we did Bauchet first as we could really see the stark contrast in marketing and branding.

We were running a bit late, so we were dropped off for lunch at a place Larry Davis had said we'd enjoy; La Table Kobus.

Since we hadn't walked very much on this day; we weren't super hungry. So, even though "Le Menu de l’Ardoise", basically the pre fixe menu for lunch looked great; we decided to share two appetizers and one main for lunch. The staff here are amazing; the service is top notch. And they even split all the dishes for us!

Frog Legs with Favas.

Tender frog legs, very nicely seasoned. The beans had a nice firm texture with a nice, mildly sweet-grassiness to it.

The Foie Gras.....

Beautifully split as you can see. Very smooth, earthy flavors.

And the mushroom "ravioli".

Loved the acidity of what seemed to be a wonderful confit tomato. The mushrooms were wonderful, earthy in flavor, very nice. Not a big fan of the rather brittle wrapper, but this was a nice dish overall.

The Missus had all the confections for dessert.

And a nice stiff espresso got us back on our feet.

A nice lunch. If we'd stayed in Epernay, I'm sure we'd eat here again.

La Table de Kobus
3 Rue Dr Rousseau
51200 Épernay, France

From here we were taken on a short drive uphill to view the vineyards.

And then off to the village of Hautvillers.

And to the Abbey in the village.

Why, you may ask? Well, in this former Benedictine Monastery lived a monk named Dom Perignon. And while sparkling wine existed before Dom Perignon, it surely would not have been Champagne as we know it without his contributions.

You can see the relics (bones) of Saint Nivard who founded the Abbey. But what most people come to see is the burial site of Dom Perignon.

It was an interesting stop....so much history here.

As we were running late; we couldn't make our designated time at our last stop. Instead, arrangements were made to visit a small producer in Rilly La Montagne named Brugnon. It would turn out to be our favorite stop on the tour.

Phillippe Brugnon met us in front of his house; there were no signs that we could see. What followed was an amazing personal tour of his family's production facility.

It was a wonderful excursion. We also found that Monsieur Brugnon is an expert at Sabrage; opening a bottle of Champagne with a saber!

We enjoyed the personal touches and the stories....like how they managed to get all of the equipment and facilities underneath the house. He explained that the peeled away what is the parking lot to get everything in place; then rebuilt and repaved the parking lot above!

We also found out that Champagne Brugnon is not exported to the States......so we bought two bottles...which were delicious by the way. We'd drink one later on during the trip and the other back home on New Year's Eve.

We were dropped back at the hotel after quite a full day. I highly recommend the Champagne Tour Company if you'd like a private, custom tour in Champagne. It was worth every penny and we had a blast.

Thanks for stopping by!

Reims - The Significance of 10 Rue President Franklin Roosevelt, Cimetière du Nord, and Dinner at Anna-S - La Table Amoureuse

After having a nice drive around Champagne, we returned to Reims and dropped the rental car off at Gare de Reims. We took a roundabout way back to the hotel, mainly because there was once place I wanted see. Around the back of the train station is a street named Rue President Franklin Roosevelt. There is a red brick building that still functions as a schoolhouse to this day. You'll see the flags of the UK, US, France, and the Soviet Union flying out front.

Walk up to the doorway and you'll see this sign.....

The top sign basically says: “It is here that on 7 May 1945, was signed the act that ended the Second World War in Europe.” Yes, this is the spot where Germany surrendered. You can read Ralph Morse's first hand account here. This street was renamed for Franklin Roosevelt as was the school it houses which still operates.

Nearby is the War Memorial of Reims (Monument aux Morts de Reims).

And right across the way is the Cimetière du Nord, which had a quite haunting look to us as we walked through it.

From here we walked past some of the more important locales in the city like Place Royale.....

There was quite a bit of road and other work going on so I didn't take many photos.

And the sun seemed to set quite rapidly......

We returned to the hotel, freshened up, changed, and headed off to dinner. I'd made reservations at a contemporary bistro named Anna-S - La Table Amoureuse, which seemed quite low-keyed, had an interesting menu, and seemed just right for this evening.

Of course things started off some Champagne.

We weren't very hungry, so we decided to share an appetizer, the Missus ordered another appetizer as Her main and I got one of the entrees, to share with Her of course.

The service was wonderful and accommodating.

We started with, well, the Foie Gras of course, two ways, the terrine was wonderful, rich and creamy, the fig compote and the brioche proved to be a wonderful foil for the richness.

The Missus ordered the Noix de Petoncles dans son Mini Potirron.

Basically, sautéed scallops served in a pumpkin. The scallops were very sweet and tender, I was a bit leery about the fennel sauce, but the strong anise flavor had been decently tempered and the acidity lifted the dish as did the rather sweet flesh of the pumpkin.

I ordered the Magret de Canard, the Duck Breast.

I was concerned when this arrived as the duck seemed to be cooked a bit past where I prefer, but it was very tender, slightly gamey, the jus had a nice balance of richness, sweetness, and acidity. We both really loved the potato galette.

The dessert was a game-changer for the Missus. It was a cheese course. Over time we've really forgotten what we chose; but we won't forget this specific cheese course.

First off, all the cheese on the cart, which was sliced tableside were at the perfect serving temperature....the flavors were amazing. Second, the Missus had always avoided having the sweet compote with the cheese; but since this was served at room temperature, all the wonderful complex flavors came through and the compote just helped to elevate things. So thank you AnnaS, for setting the Missus off on the interesting "cheese ride" we're on.

The service was fantastic, professional, polished, but not stuffy. This was a very nice meal and we'd gladly eat here again!

Anna-S - La Table Amoureuse
6 Rue Gambetta
51100 Reims, France

Like the previous evening, we took a pleasant little stroll after dinner, in the peace and quiet of Reims.

Thanks for stopping by!

Champagne - Driving to Bouzy and Epernay, Lunch at Café le Progrès

While the Missus was enjoying our stay in Reims, She was already itching to do some additional exploring the following morning. Even though we had a private tour of the area the next day (so I could actually sample some champagne), She convinced me to rent a car to do some impromptu exploring.

But first, we decided to walk around a bit, and grab some breakfast. I also wanted to find the location of the restaurant we had reservations for that evening. So we headed down Rue Chanzy and almost right next to AnnaS our dinner destination was a bakery named Le Four à Bois. And the Missus was really excited to see that in addition to our typical Croissant au Buerre, they sold gougeres!

So we got a croissant and a half dozen gougeres. The gougeres were too bready and dense, not light and airy like we enjoy them. The flavor was decent though.

The croissant was a bit too chewy, didn't have enough butteriness, and wasn't flakey enough for our taste.

Le Four à Bois
100 Rue Chanzy
51100 Reims, France

From here we walked across town to the train station and found that Enterprise Rent-A-Car had a nice compact available, which we rented for the day.

And so we headed off through the beautiful countryside.

We stopped at few towns on the way and eventually stopped and walked around the most appropriately named Bouzy. Where we stopped and stretched our legs a bit.

There were a few Champagne houses along the way, but I think many of them are by appointment only. And since I was driving anyway, we thought we'd just wander around a bit.

From Bouzy it was Bisseuil, Ay, and another wonderfully named town, Dizy, before we made our way to the city that is home to what is considered to be the "real" capital of Champange, Epernay. We decided to park at the southern side of town and walk in.

Basically across the street we passed a really nice looking church...

Turns out that this is the chapel of the Auban-Moet Hospital...….if you recognize the name; it's "that" Moet. Apparently, one of the conditions of financing the hospital was that a Catholic chapel would have to be built. Another being that the care was to be provided by Nuns.

We enjoyed the walk into town....the houses were wonderful; each different and original.

As we got to the first major roundabout before getting to the heart of the city we came across this very distinctive structure.

This is the Chateau de la Lune ("House of the Moon"), built in the Art Nouveau style, designed by Architect Henri Clouet.

Near the center of town is the Portail Saint-Martin which dates back to 1540 and is all that remains of the Abbey of Saint Martin.

We did a bit of window shopping, but since we'd be coming back the next day, decided to not visit Avenue de Champagne, where all the Champagne Houses are located.

After doing a bit of shopping we decided to stop for lunch. We just wanted something easy and not fancy and this place seemed to fit the bill.

We enjoyed the al fresco sitting arrangement; Le Progres is what I'd basically describe as a "diner". We just wanted something simple and got the charcuterie and an order of frites.

The baguette was pretty good, crusty and yeasty. The Pate de Campagne was pretty good; the rest rather routine, but really, not bad for the price.

The Missus enjoyed the frites which were nicely fried, crisp on the outside, moist and light inside.

And pretty much what we wanted....

Café le Progrès
5 Place de la République
51200 Épernay, France

What was kind of interesting about this place was that it is located on Place de la Republique, which is the roundabout that I would consider to be the center of the city is.

After resting for a bit, we headed back to the car. We took a different route back. This one along Avenue Paul Chandon. Which we really enjoyed.

The street ended at Église Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul.....

A soon enough we were back at the car. It was time to head back to Reims...…

We'd had a fun, yet relaxing time exploring Champagne on our own.

Thanks for stopping by!

Reims - Reims Cathedral and Dinner at Restaurant L’Alambic

The Missus and I mulled through several travel options during our last trip to France. As you might gather from our posts; I enjoy train travel in Europe and especially Japan. I find it low stress, minimal hassle (though trains in Europe aren't nearly as prompt as Japan), and basically a rather relaxing way to travel. The Missus shares the same thoughts....except....She gets really bored and really does not want to do more than 3 - 3 1/2 hours on a train. So, while doing some research for this trip; we had decided to just do France, I was rather surprised to find out that Reims, the Capital of Champagne was basically a 45 minute train ride from Paris! And so our plans started coming together.....

We arrived promptly at Gare de Reims and walked....it was a lot shorter than it looked on my map to our hotel; the Ibis Styles.

Our room was ready when we arrived; so we dropped our bags off and decided to explore a bit. Reims was very laid back in comparison to Paris. And the walk to the rather grand Reims Cathedral is a straight shot down Rue Libergier.

It was mid-November and we could see all the booths being set-up for the upcoming Christmas Market as we approached the Cathedral.

The Cathedral itself is very impressive; built in the Gothic style.

And from the time the first stone was laid in 1211; it has had quite a history; Clovis I, who united the Franks, was baptized at Reims Cathedral in 496. From 1027 to 1825, a total of 30 Kings of France were coronated at Reims Cathedral!

Being such an important symbol made the cathedral a major target during World War I where it sustained major damage. Several of the 13th century stained glass windows were saved however, as glass makers removed the stained glass piece by piece and stored them. And many of those destroyed were replaced by works of Marc Chagall.

There's a lot to see here; in fact we'd return one more time before leaving Reims.

That's the Chapelle du Rosaire (Chapel of the Rosary) above.

On this visit; I was fascinated by first this statue.....

And then this one outside the Cathedral.

Yes, it's Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc). So what's the story of Joan of Arc and Reims Cathedral? Well, in 1415 Henry V and his English Army defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt and Northern France fell into the hands of the English. In January of 1429, a 17 year old girl from Domrémy who saw visions and received divine orders to liberate the French. Joan of Arc. She managed to convince Charles VII of her divine mission and over the course of 5 months the French fought it's way to Reims. After Reims decided to ally itself with Charles VII and Charles was crowned in the Cathedral where 16 kings were coronated before him; sealing his claim as the rightful King.

And the rest, like they say....is history.

We walked out of the Cathedral and down Cours Jean-Baptiste Langlet. We needed to buy some gift for folks and I knew just the thing. Biscuit Roses de Reims is the classic snack of Reims, in fact it is said that the origin of the word "biscuit" ("bis-cuit" - "twice cooked") originated here. And the classic place to get these are at Fossier.

Which is what we did.

Maison Fossier
25 Cours Jean-Baptiste Langlet
51100 Reims, France

From here we explored a bit more.

And then headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before dinner.

I had made dinner reservations at a place a few blocks away named L'Alambic, a place that serves regional cuisine and booked a table in the "caveau" (the cellar)downstairs.

The customers were a combination of locals and visitors. A group of Spanish ladies in a nearby table were having a great time. The atmosphere seemed celebratory and festive....and this was Champagne, so of course we had our Server recommend and get us a bottle of bubbly.

We started with two appetizers; the escargot....in trendy "foam" was fine.

Decent richness and pungency, with a touch of decent acidity. The snails were a bit tough though and nothing like our favorites in Burgundy. This was not bad though.

The Portefeuille de Magret de Canard au Foie Gras, in spite of the temperature being a bit too cold for our tastes was quite good.

The rich, smooth foie gras, folded into a duck breast. I could have used a tad more sweetness to balance out the richness, but the duck, in spite of looks was pleasantly toothsome, and the dressing had the requisite acidity.

The Missus ordered the Filet d'Agneau, a filet of lamb.

Man, that lamb was wonderfully gamey and it went so well with the romarin gastrique; rosemary sauce, not too much rosemary, just enough red wine in the sauce. The herb topping had just enough pungency and chlorophyllic flavors to balance things out. The potatoes were wonderfully flavored, but the tops were a bit too hard for us. The vegetables were so delicious.

And, for some reason, it's the wonderful veggies I remember the most about my Pave de Cerf, basically venison. I believe a cut from the rear thigh.

Very tender, pleasantly gamey; the sweetness balanced things out nicely. But those seasonal vegetables....man, it was good!

Overall a nice meal. The service was warm and friendly.

L'Alambic
63 B rue de Chativesle
51100, Reims, France

After dinner we took a nice walk around the quiet streets of Reims. It drizzled a bit; which just added to the atmosphere.

It was a nice change of pace from Paris.

Thanks for stopping by!