One day in Paris........

We kicked off our Easter trip to France in style by sitting back and enjoying a bottle of French Red on the Eurostar..... we had been told it was the best way to ensure our 'French experience' started as soon as possible!! We arrived late - and were fortunate to find a cab - which took us to our accommodation in Montmartre- which happened to be just off the Red Light district..... Crumpy had arranged our hotel - but he assured us this was just a coincidence..... hmm. As it turned out, it was a great base to explore from.

We only had one day in Paris - so were up early and into the day. We enjoyed a french breakfast in the sun, while watching the stereotypical images we had of France wander by... the man in a beret and neck scarf with a cigarette, carrying a baguette. Very cool.

It was a beautiful day, so we spent the morning exploring the area around Montmartre including the spectacular Sacre Coeur perched on the hill overlooking Paris. We had our work cut out for us in the afternoon with the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and of course the Eiffel Tower all on our list. We were in no real rush though and just enjoyed walking around the streets of Paris. The views from the top of the Arc de Triomphe were spectacular - and it was hilarious watching the chaos in the traffic circling below. From there we wandered down Ave des Champs' Elysees towards Notre Dame. Notre Dame was packed full of people - but was very beautiful. The architecture of the building - especially the many gargoyles on its exterior.

In the evening we caught up with Han and Jamie (yes... another holiday they had organised!) and Catherine (one of Michelle's workmates from Welly) joined us for a beautiful meal at the Crump's favourite Parisian restaurant.


Our time in Paris was brief - but it was filled with beautiful buildings, parks and monuments. It was probably one of the more picturesque cities we have been to, the locals we met were friendly and we will be back sometime soon to see the rest of it.

Off to the home of Happy Juice!

The next day we took a train 2hrs east of Paris to Reims in the Champagne region. Most famous for its Champagne houses, Reims is also were the Nazis surrendered to end World War II.

Before long we were into our work and that day we enjoyed a tour of Taittenger and Verve Clicquot. The Verve tour was very good - and girls especially enjoyed its history - a young widow left to run the business at a time when woman were unheard of in business. It seems she was very successful - and they continue to use her image as a symbol of the house today.

The wine tours include a walk through the underground cellars. These are pretty amazing. 30m below the surface of Reims (and nearby Epernay) is a vast network of tunnels - hundreds of kilometres - many of which date back to Roman times when they were created through the mining of chalk. Through history they have been used for wine, as hospitals in the war - and one even hosted a car rally! Today they are home to literally hundreds of millions of bottles of aging bubbly. Yum!

The next day we celebrated Mr Crump's 30th Birthday with a cycle tour out of Epernay. I was a little unwell (unfortunately it was not self-inflicted) so we didn't get too far - but enjoyed a bottle of champagne and a picnic on a the side of a hill overlooking the vines. A great way to pass the time!!

In between champagne houses there was much eating - and the food was incredible! A great intro to France!