Day 46 & 47: 28 & 29th July 2017 Champagne in Epernay

We I was really looking forward to Epernay, Champagne Capital. The tennis and rowing club where we planned to stop had good reviews and we thought it worthwhile doing a 2 night stop here despite the 20 Euro price tag. The plan was to moor alongside Carrfour on the way to pick up shopping for the next leg of the trip but unfortunately after a lovely motor past images of old fashioned champagne production, we didn't feel comfortable with the quay side near to the Carrfour. Each time we went in to have a look we saw some debris in the water that could damage Laurin so in the end we decided to push on to the tennis club.

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 On arriving at the tennis club around lunchtime we had a lovely welcome from the caretaker and were shown around as well as given a map with recommendations of where to eat (although eating out is a luxury we can't afford at the moment after the expense of Paris and Disney!). In the afternoon I went ahead to the Carrfour which was only 15 minutes walk away and called Patrick and the kids to join me when I had done the bulk of the shop; mainly dry stores and I would do the rest the next day. We were hopeful that there  might be some life at the club and an opportunity for the kids to find some playmates but unfortunately this wasn't  the case. In fact the boat next to as had a girl on board but she was with grandparents and they didn't seem keen to let her play which was a great disappointment to our kids who are desperate for playmates. We got the lego out on the quay side to try and tempt her over but no joy. Patrick did a second walk to Carrfour to get camping gaz and another 10litres of diesel. We all got a bit tetchy as this was really not what we were hoping for and it really wasn't a very pleasant evening although the kids loved having all the lego out.

This morning we had a little lie in then discussed the plan for the day. Patrick wanted to go into town as we need some silicone grease (we managed to scrounge a little from another boat yesterday but we still need some in the boat's stores). I wanted to visit a champagne house and needed to do round two of the shopping, and the kids wanted to play lego on the quay again and have a scooter ride.

We decided to walk into town first, heading straight for the Office de tourisme. They confirmed what I thought that Mercier was the best champagne house visit for kids, and then offered us some free champagne as they had some of the smaller houses in visiting and offering tastings... don't mind if we do! I never really tasted the difference between different champagnes before but the ones at the information office were clearly distinctive and much to Esme's delight these small, family run businesses were happy to offer the kids a small taste.

After a long search round town for some picnic supplies we had our lunch in the town hall gardens which were both stunning and beautifully shaded.

We then set off for the walk up the Avenue de Champagne. I tried to sell it to the kids as a champagne treasure hunt as it was a bit of a walk to the Mercier House which was the last one in the row. So much champagne, so little money at the moment, and very tricky with kids in tow.

We eventually arrived at Mercier and the kids suddenly perked up. We chose the cheapest option at 16 Euros per adult but the kids went free and were given audio guides which the kids loved. There were various stations around the entrance hall where you could press the corresponding button on the guide and hear a commentary. Most of this was about a 200,000 litre barrel that Mercier made in the 1800 for the same Paris exhibition as the Eiffel Tower.

After a while we were called in to our tour which started with a video. After this we were taken into a lift which took us 30m underground. The back of the lift was glass and as we descended there was a lifelike miniature model of the Mercier house.

We then embarked on a little train where again the audio guide told us of the 18km of underground tunnels in which there were amazing carvings. The kids really enjoyed the whole experience, and us adults got to try more champagne.

On exiting the tour we managed to see some vines up close .

On returning Patrick went off to try unsuccessfully to get grease while I got the lego out for the kids. Then we swapped and I went to get the remaining shopping. We bribed the kids into helping with clearing up after dinner by promising them we would go up to the club after. The kids had found some French kids to play with earlier in the day so we were hopeful for a pleasant evening but the adults didn't seem so welcoming so we went for a scooter ride instead, passing a party boat full of jolly French guys singing along to some performer. On our return we sat on deck, discussing the next few days plans when the party boat returned and the kids had great fun flashing solar lights at it and getting a hoot and several waves and shouts in return!