Alsace, Lorraine and a drop of Champagne
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Wow, we’ve gotten up to quite a bit and travelled a fair old way these last two weeks! Leaving Arbois we headed east through the Jura forests and along the border with Switzerland. Travelling through the winding countryside, we noticed a large flat plain far below us through the trees. Just out of curiosity I checked google maps and realised that somehow we had accidentally ended up crossing the Swiss border! There had been no signs or warnings of any kind, but here we were crossing this tiny spur of Switzerland between Jura and the southern Alsace.
We crossed through as quick as we could. We didn’t want to have to spend any money or more time than needed in Switzerland if it could be helped. Eventually we came across the tiny village of Hirtzbach and a free aire on the edge of the village. We took a stroll through town and the half timbered buildings backing straight onto barns and farms became immediately apparent. In stark contrast to the other regions of France, it was clear we were now in Alsace. We took a wander around the little wooded park and pond and then back to the Aire.
That evening we met a lovely couple from the U.K. who, as millennials like us had decided to build and travel in a van conversion of their own making. We had a good laugh with them and spent the evening after dinner chatting between the vans over wine. It was the first time in 5 months that we had actually met any other Brits our age and doing what we are doing. So Mina and Alex, if by some chance you read this, it was fantastic meeting you and we hope to catch up some time in the future! Oh and we will definitely look into the WSET wine courses!
Next day we bid farewell and once we’d got moving we headed on deeper into Alsace and to the Mulhouse train museum. I had the time of my life although I must admit, York does it better!
On the agenda for the afternoon was getting up into the Vosges mountains. On the route up, we came across the eye opening Hartmannswillerkopf First World War Memorial. I’ve been to a number of British battlefield sites before but never to the major French fronts. The mountain conditions of this front were eye opening to say the least.
We pressed on and spent a few of the following days and nights at various spots along the length of the Vosges mountains. Ellen enjoyed the Sentier du Roche hike from La Schlucht, and we did a couple of Mountain coasters which of course we had to have a go on!
Eventually we headed east out of the Vosges and down to Colmar. We spent the best part of a warm day here wandering around the beautiful streets and fighting with the million influencers all trying to get the same shot of Petit Venice. After a Pretzel and Mille Feuille (first of this whole trip!), we headed back to take advantage of the afternoon sun and get some laundry done.
Leaving Colmar next day we then headed back toward the mountains to join the Alsace wine route. Looping around some of the villages south west of Colmar to find an Aire and quickly realising that the small popular villages are not ideal for motorhomes or campers.
One such case was when we tried Riquewihr. This village is said to be the inspiration for the setting of Beauty and the Beast. But it was far too busy and the Aire in town was hellishly expensive to stay. In the end we headed further north and found a free park up on the outskirts of Kintzheim. Near Haut koeningsberg castle, this would mean we could easily get up to the castle for the morning for my birthday the following day before the masses descended.
That evening though, we wandered down into the village and into an afternoon wine tasting in the Koehly Domaine. The Alsatian wine tastings turned out to be pretty simple and easy to do. You turn up, they have a little bar area and you can sit and sample what you like. If you buy some, it’s free, if not, you pay a few euros per person. But of course you’re going to buy a bottle… or a box of bottles in our case! My discovery of the Vivino App a few days prior definitely didn’t help in our saving of cash on wine either!
The next morning we got up earlyish to go up to Haut Koenigsberg castle for my birthday. This awesome Germanic castle was renovated by the Germans at the turn of the 20th century after Alsace had been ceded by the French at the end of the 1870 Franco-Prussian war. They continued to pay for the renovations as the battles on the western front raged just to the east, deeper in the Vosge mountains. But ultimately the region and the castle were all ceded back to the French shortly after the renovations were completed!
Moving on, we tried to head to Selestat. However upon arrival at the run down paid Aire in the city, we just had a bad gut feeling. Always trust your gut on this sort of trip. So we hit the road again and carried on up the wine road to the pretty and quiet town of Dambach-la-Ville. We walked into town for another wine tasting here and a wander around town before retiring for the evening, another box of wine heavier. Plus one for the evening, it was my birthday after all!
We had thought we would stay here a few days and try to get the train into Strasbourg. However, we had hit a point where we decided that we were a bit Alsace-ed out. We thought, maybe we could find somewhere near Strasbourg for one night at least, but it was quite hard to find places to stay near the city. Ultimately we just decided to cut it out and just head on into Lorraine. We’ll have to try again in the winter on our way back through.
Instead the next day we set off and made it to Metz by midday. Ellen had a meeting as the rain hammered us all afternoon. Mercifully, it broke around the time we headed out for the evening. Metz has a rather interesting history and spectacular cathedral. Best of all though was and amazing, semi-unplanned meal out at La Derrière. They had a few tables free for a tasting menu which was amazing and we used the excuse that it was a belated birthday meal out.
Next day we were a bit undecided on what to do, with a deadline to be back in the UK now approaching we were feeling a bit lost. Eventually we just moved on south via a supermarket detour and down toward Commercy. The birthplace of the Madeline.
On the way though we had a little stopover at a vineyard to pick up some bottles of the wine Ellen had loved from the tasting menu the night before.
We stopped overnight on a hilltop and dropped down onto Commercy in the morning. There’s not really much to talk about with regards to Commercy to be honest. Unfortunately despite what Lonely Planet would suggest, it’s not a very pretty town and rather undescript. Only tip I would give is don’t go to the Madeline place in the centre of town. Instead go to Boite de la Madeline which is now situated in a commercial estate to the south. Here you can see them being made, sample off the line and you know they have been made fresh. And very nice they are too!
Next stop was the Verdun Memorial, The Douaumont ossuarie and Fort and the destroyed village of Fleurs. A very poignant experience and very interesting again to learn more about the French fronts of the First World War.
Onward again that evening we headed west toward Champagne and a little village overlooking the Marne river (and more First World War memorials), to a free aire opposite some huge Champagne Houses.
We took an evening stroll around the village and the next day headed down to the Piot-Sevillano Champagne Grower-Producer for a tasting. We had booked in advance, but nonetheless expected a short tasting similar to Alsace. But we were actually there for 3 hours and the very helpful Lissanne explained everything from the vines through to the tour of the cellars. Not to mention tasting of 5 of their different Champagnes. For €35 it was an amazing deal. Bear in mind that Moet in Èpernay charge over €80 just to see the cellars and they don’t do any growing etc themselves!
Of course we bought a box of different champagnes!
Then leaving Piot-Sevillano, we headed on to Épernay where we found a spectacularly well kept and well equipped Aire in the south of the capital of Champagne. That evening, we walked into the town to walk the famous Avenue de champagne. My only real thoughts were it felt very pretentious and over sanitised.
We headed back to the to van for dinner instead of staying out.
The next day we headed into Reims, indulging ourselves in some homemade sandwiches on the train to save on the dwindling budget.
Reims suffered badly during the First World War, but in the 20’s the mayor restricted planning for the centre to aid with the rebuilding. As a result it is now a major centre for fantastic examples of Art deco architectural design. We wandered the city and then jumped on a bus down to the Taittinger domaine and cellars. But again I just found it very pretentious and honestly, I felt out of place sat there in my cargo shorts and converse. Like I was being looked down on and judged. No thanks.
Back to the centre, we headed to Lehmans historic glassware store for some champagne glasses for home. The other major selling point for Reims is the Cathedral where the majority of French kings were coronated in their day. So this is where we headed next, with its extremely tall vaults and wine related stain glass windows. We finished off with a look around the art deco library before wandering the main avenue and wrapping back around to the renovated Roman port du Mars before returning to the station and to Èpernay.
Sunday morning basically saw us sat in an Intermarchè car park for supplies (before midday closure of course) and to do the laundry before we headed further west toward Pierrefond to start our final week of this part of the trip and to head back home.
