Champagne - an area guide

Covering the chalk plains and hills of eastern France, between Paris and Lorraine, Champagne is home to the most famous sparkling wines in the world. A region in its own right until 2016, it is today one of the constituent areas of Great Eastern region (Grand Est) of France.

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Regional overview

Main tourist attractions

Selected hotels in Champagne

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   Champagne, lying to the east of the Paris region, is one of the great historic provinces of France. As far back as the times of the Emperor Charlemagne, in the ninth century, Champagne was one of the great regions of Europe, a rich agricultural area that was famous for its fairs. Today, thanks to a type of sparkling wine to which the region has given its name, the word Champagne is known worldwide – even if many of those who know the drink do not know exactly where it comes from.
    Champagne, that most delightful of sparkling wines, was not actually invented in the region. According to legend, it was monks who bought the method for making sparkling wine up from the Languedoc, in the south of France; but they soon discovered that the chalky soil and climatic conditions in the Champagne region produced a bright bubbly wine that was in many people's opinion better than the sparkling wines produced further south. There was of course more to the story of Champagne wine than that; commercial success over the centuries had as much to do with the fact that the Champagne region was close to Paris and other great European cities, as with the inherent qualities of the product. But there is no area in France, not even Burgundy, and perhaps no other region in the world, whose name has been made so famous by a local product.
     The former Champagne-Ardenne region, is not however one of the most  prosperous parts of France; indeed, in terms of GDP, until 2016 when it ceased to exist as an administrative region,  it came 17th out of the 21 regions of continental France - though 8th in terms of GDP per inhabitant. The difference is explained by the fact that in spite of bordering on the Paris region, Champagne is a relatively sparsely populated region - forming the north eastern end of what geographers have called the "empty diagonal" of France.
     Curiously, the former regional capital Châlons-en-Champagne is by no means the main city in the area; this honour goes to the former capital Reims (often spelt Rheims in English), one of the great historic cities of northern France, and four times the size of Châlons.
     The Champagne-Ardenne area consists of four departments - the Ardennes (08), the Aube (10), the Marne (51) and the Haute-Marne (52). The area is bordered by Belgium in the north, by Lorraine in the east, by Franche-Comté and Burgundy in the south, and by the Paris region and Picardy in the west.
     The region is made up essentially of areas of relatively flat agricultural land and areas of gently undulating hills. The hills are higher and more pronounced in the north of the region - the area of the Ardennes - and the south of the region, an area known as the Plateau de Langres. The central part of Champagne is an important agricultural area, with vast expanses of cereal production, and – in particular north of Reims – production of vegetables and sugar beet. In the north of the Ardennes department,  the landscape is characterised by wooded hills and valleys. The famous vineyards of Champagne lie on the chalky hills to the south west of Reims, and around the town of Epernay.
   Apart from the wine producing areas the Champagne region is not a particularly busy tourist destination. Its rurality, accessibility and low population density have attracted a number of second-home owners from the Paris region and from  Belgium and Holland - particularly in the hillier areas; but more often than not, it is a region that tourists pass through, rather than a destination. Lying on the main autoroutes from Paris to Germany and from  the UK or Belgium to the south of France.

Reims

Reims, a university city,  has all the feel of a bustling regional capital; the old city is dominated by the 13th century cathedral, one of the great gothic cathedrals of northern France, and a UNESCO world heritage site. Badly damaged in the first world war (see WW1 sites and map), the cathedral has been painstakingly restored to its true glory.
 Reims is  home to some of the major Champagne producers, such as Taittinger, and cellar tours are available.

Troyes

In the middle ages, Troyes was home to one of the greatest fairs in Europe, being one of the venues of the Champagne Cloth Fairs. Located since Roman times at the intersection of major routes (as it still is today, being where the A5 and A26 motorways meet), Troyes attracted merchants and buyers from all over Europe, in particular manufacturers from the Low Countries and buyers from Italy and southern or southeastern Europe.
    Troyes has a rich history, and a rich heritage to go with it; unfortunately the city has suffered from a number of disasters, including great fires and hurricanes which occasionally occur in this part of France; yet the city today has a fine historic centre, with many half-timbered houses and some fine churches, in particular the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul. The current cathedral, with its fine 16th century late gothic west facade, was begun in the 13th century, and has some beautiful  century stained glass dating from this period.
    More recently, Troyes, with its history as a textiles centre, has become the French capital of retail outlet parks.

Wine tourism and cellar visits

  While Reims is the capital of the Champagne wine industry , for perhaps the most enjoyable cellar visits and Champagne tasting, many visitors will prefer to visit the smaller town of Epernay, fifteen miles south of Reims. Lying in the heart of "Champagne country", Epernay is home to many of the most famous Champagne producers, including Moët & Chandon or Perrier-Jouët. The town being small,  it is easy to visit a number of Champagne houses or cellars on foot.
   There are in all some 450 producers and cooperatives in the Champagne wine area, many of them quite small, and to discover them and the vineyards visitors can follow signposted Champagne discovery trails. Well marked wine trails start from Reims and from Epernay, indicated by brown "route des vins" signboards for cars, and green waymarkers for cycle trails. These take visitors through the famous vineyards and through villages where – depending on the time of year – small Champagne houses, many of them family-run, may be open for champagne-tasting, direct sales and even guided tours. One such small family-run Grand Cru Champagne house is the Lamiable estate at Tours sur Marne, south of Reims, which runs guided tours and tastings. Check out the availabilities and book here.
   
   Finally, there is another small area producing champagne, which is quite distinct from the Reims-Epernay vineyard. The southern Champagne vineyard area lies in the Aube department, southeast of Troyes between the towns of  Bar sur Aube and Les Riceys.
    For a choice of vineyard tours and tastings, check out the options and book through Viator

Other highlights of Champagne

      With its great medieval cathedral, where in a bygone age the Kings of France were crowned, the city of Reims is a must-see site. Further south,  among the many historic sites in France that are less known than they ought to be, the small hill town of Langres, in the south of the area, must be near the top of the list. Sometimes referred to as the "Carcassonne of the North", the old town is a remarkable ensemble of historic stone buildings, enclosed within 3.6 kilometres of ramparts, mostly dating from the 13th and 17th centuries. But parts are much older, as Langres has been a fortified city since Roman times; and unlike Carcassonne, Langres is not jam-packed with tourists.
    The Champagne region prides itself on historic links with some of the most iconic leaders that France has ever had - and in particular Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc), who came from the village of Domrémy, now in the Aude department, and General de Gaulle, who is buried at Colombey les Deux Eglises, in the Haute Marne. Contrary to false information repeated on several websites, de Gaulle was not born here, and had no ancestral link to the region.

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