Champagne — Dom Pérignon, chalk cellars, great houses

Your adventure begins on the forecourt of Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral, Place du Cardinal Luçon, 51100 Reims, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1991. It was here that 25 kings of France were crowned, including Charles VII in 1429 in the presence of Joan of Arc, and Louis XVI in 1775. Standing before the 81-meter high towers and the 149-meter long edifice, listed as a historical monument in 1862, you feel the weight of royal history that shaped Champagne. The city of Reims, with its official motto "Fert", invites you to explore its resilience through the ages.

Continue to Place Drouet d'Erlon, developed in the 19th century on the former site of Reims' city walls. Named after Jean-Baptiste Drouet d'Erlon, a Napoleonic general born in Reims in 1765, this square is now the heart of Reims' nightlife, with over 100 shops and restaurants in 2023. Pedestrianized in 2007 to promote tourism, it represents Reims' transition from its military past to its contemporary dynamism, a testament to the urban evolution of the Grand Est.

Leaving the center of Reims, the exteriors of the Pommery and Veuve Clicquot Crayères await you. The Pommery crayères, founded in 1858 by Louise Pommery, a pioneer of Brut in 1874, offer 18 km of galleries dug in the 18th century at a depth of 30m. The Veuve Clicquot cellars, founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot and managed by Barbe Nicole Ponsardin from 1805, extend over 24 km of galleries. These sites, classified as UNESCO in 2015 along with the Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars, illustrate the ingenuity and vision of the great figures of champagne.

Your journey then takes you to Hautvillers, where the Saint-Pierre Abbey was founded around 650 by Saint-Nivard. It was here that Dom Pierre Pérignon, cellarer of the abbey from 1668 and buried in the sacristy in 1715, introduced the cork stopper and the blending of grape varieties in the 17th century. The abbey, owned by Moët & Chandon since the 19th century, is a key location for understanding the origins of champagne. The UNESCO Champagne Viewpoints over Aÿ and Hautvillers, classified in 2015, offer a panoramic view of the Côte des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims, highlighting the importance of Aÿ, a historic premier cru, with vineyards classified since 1911 and labeled as part of the Champagne Route.

The roadtrip continues to Épernay, on the Avenue de Champagne, 1 km long and lined with 24 19th-century champagne houses, also classified as UNESCO in 2015. Explore the Aÿ hillsides, UNESCO vineyards where Pinot Noir dominates on clay-limestone slopes. Aÿ has been recognized as Grand Cru since 1911, and 17 of the 21 Grands Crus are used by Dom Pérignon, whose 1921 vintage was launched in 1935 by Moët & Chandon, founded in 1743. Finally, the Verzenay Lighthouse, built in 1904 and 36 meters high, houses the Cork and Champagne Wine Museum, labeled as a Musée de France since 2006. Verzenay, a Grand Cru Pinot Noir classified as UNESCO in 2015, concludes your immersion in the wine heritage of the Grand Est, a journey into the heart of the history of the bubbles that radiate from Reims.