September 2025 – DJmotortouring

Les Riceys (Grand Est), France September 2025 (Tour 12)

Last April, during Tour 11, we travelled to the south of the Champagne region and, while there, passed by the more than interesting little village of Les Riceys in the Aube Department of Grand Est. We didn’t see much of the place but what we saw was very pretty and I’d previously read that it was home to a Rose Champagne unlike any other produced in the Region and which was the favourite drink of no less a figure than Louis XIV. We said then that we would return and… we did!

Vanya had discovered that the Pascal Walczak Winery at the edge of the village allowed motorhomes to park on their premises and even went so far as to provide electrical hook ups. There are no sanitary facilities available to visitors outside of office hours but our Van is well equipped in that respect so, who cares. The only condition of this free parking and electricity is that visitors partake of a free wine tasting session. Now, hold me back!

A few words about Les Riceys before I write about our wine tasting. The village comprises three parts being, Ricey Haut to the south, Ricey Haute Rive in the centre and the much smaller Bas Ricey in the north (and the Pascal Walczak Winery sits at the edge of Ricey Haute Rive and Bas Ricey on the on the Rue de la Presle). Now, I have a confession to make although I’ve yet to tell Vanya.

We approached the winery from the north and passed through Bas Ricey. I rather mistakenly thought Bas Ricey to be the centre of Les Riceys and that the adjacent Ricey Haute Rive was simply a small residential area. I was oblivious to the existence of Ricey Haut throughout our stay. I fully explored the tiny Bas Ricey but saw nothing of Ricey Haut and only a few houses at the edge of Ricey Haute Rive. Whoops! What an idiot I am. We missed so much! This explains why, wherever possible, I research the places we propose visiting – so as not to miss anything. This once, I did no research at all. To rub salt into the wound, the local tourist office describes Les Riceys on their website as being “the largest wine-making village in the Champagne region…. complemented by an exceptional heritage: no less than three churches classed as historical monuments, fourteen chapels, two chateaux, numerous bourgeois houses, wine-makers’ homes, wash-houses, crosses, as well as “Cadoles”, strange stone shelters built in the middle of the vines”. Read Trip Advisor and you’ll discover also that Les Riceys has numerous restaurant-bars. I, that is Vanya and I, saw one church (the Saint Pierre in Bas Ricey) and missed everything else. Moreover, because the one restaurant in Bas Ricey (Le Marius) was closed we ended up eating cheese and biscuits in the Van. Once again, whoops and… so sorry Vanya.

The wine tasting at Pascal Walczak was thoroughly enjoyable. Between us we sampled half a dozen champagnes including two of the rose champagnes so favoured by Louis XIV. Vanya wasn’t too enamoured with the rose’s probably because the one she sampled first is made by adding Pinot Noir (and she’s never been keen on red wine) while I opted for the macerated version. She should have tried the macerated one. Overall I thought the Pascal Walczak champagne was not as good as the Charles Mignon we had been drinking in Epernay. Of course, we were not comparing apples with apples and the ambience will surely have influenced me – in Epernay we were drinking the champagne while seated in a restaurant serving good food and in Les Ricey’s we were standing at a bar in the tasting salon. We still spent almost 200 Euros on Pascal Walczak champagne but I consider the Charles Mignon was lighter and smoother. But then, almost as an afterthought, we tried the Cyries. It has a taste all of it’s own and it is fantastic – easily my favourite champagne of the tour. Wonderful. Thank you Pascal Walczak.

The remainder of the afternoon and early evening, we spent lounging in the sunshine by the Van; watching and listening to the ducks in Pascal Walczak’s duck pond and; enjoying a full bottle of the Cyries. We’ll be back both to get a proper look at Les Riceys and to buy more of that delicious Cyries.

Epernay (Grand Est), France September 2025 (Tour 12)

We’ve visited the Champagne Region (including Epernay) many times before but that will never stop us returning. Even when the sun isn’t shining, there is something special about Epernay. There was no fancy hotel this time. We booked into the Municipal Campsite and it wasn’t at all bad; it’s best features being it’s close proximity to the town centre and the food and wine served in their pop-up restaurant. More about the restaurant later.

Being so close to the centre of Epernay provided plenty of opportunity to wander the town and I took advantage of that. During previous visits we were primarily concerned with visiting the Avenue de Champagne. This one kilometre long avenue, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, is bordered with impressive 19th century neo-renaissance mansions, most of which house the great champagne producers such as Moet et Chandon, Perrier-Jouet, Pol Roger and Mercier and; many of these have massive underground cellars where champagne is stored. Indeed, there are over 100 kilometres of chalk wine cellars holding millions of bottles of champagne under the Avenue. We’ve toured a few of Epernay’s champagne houses and they are fascinating (Mercier is my favourite) but the focus on this occasion would be towards two other buildings on the Avenue, namely Chateau Perrier and the Hotel de Ville.

I started with Chateau Perrier at the western end of the Avenue de Champagne. This mid 19th century mansion was built in a renaissance style and was the home of Charles Perrier, a director of the Perrier-Jouet champagne house and one time mayor of Epernay. During the First World War it served as a hospital and during World War II it was used as the Military Headquarters of first the British Army (1940) and then the German Army (1940-1945) and finally the United States Army (1945). It was later purchased by the municipality and now serves as a museum. Of course, it being a Sunday, the museum was closed but it was pleasant enough wandering it’s gardens for a while and practising with my camera.

The Hotel de Ville is also at the western end of the Avenue de Champagne, almost directly opposite the Moet et Chandon champagne house. This neo-renaissance mansion was donated to the town by the Auban-Moët family after the previous Hotel de Ville was destroyed during the First World War and the town’s impressive war memorial featuring the Greek Goddess of Victory (Nike) now takes pride of place at the building’s entrance. It’s a fine enough building but it is the gardens at the rear which are it’s best feature. They were designed by the Bühler Brothers, landscape architects who plotted gardens all across France in the nineteenth century, and they are impressive. I spent a fair amount of time practising my photography in these gardens also.

The 19th century Eglise Notre Dame on Place Pierre Mendes is perhaps the most impressive of the churches in Epernay but, it is the Eglise Saint Peter and Saint Paul at the end of Avenue Paul Chandon on Rue de Magenta which I most favour. It’s a gem with it’s wonderful stained glass windows and it is well worth seeking out. The windows reflect various historical events associated with the Champagne area; my favourites being one of Pope Urban II triggering the Crusades by offering forgiveness for all sins to those who would help wrest Jerusalem from the Muslims and; another of Charles VII being crowned King of France at Reims Cathedral with Joan of Arc in attendance.

Epernay suffered badly from bombing during the World Wars and there are few monuments remaining which date back to medieval times. One which dates back to 1540 and is believed to be the oldest surviving monument in Epernay is the Portal Saint Martin near the Place Hugues-Plomb. It was a side entrance and it is all that remains of the renaissance Abbey of Saint Martin.

While strolling back to the campsite along the banks of the River Marne I made a point of stopping by Champagne de Castellane on Rue de Verdun. This champagne house is easily identified by it’s iconic tower (the highest point in Epernay). A wine tour with this producer includes access to it’s underground cellars (there are 10 kilometres of them – Moet et Chandon has 30 kilometres!) and, it’s champagne museum (dedicated to explaining champagne production methods over the years) and; to the top of the tower (which offers unrivalled views over the town and the River Marne). It was the climb to the top of this tower which most attracted me to the De Castellane tour but, having said that, the tour used to be free and it included champagne tasting. I don’t know if that’s still the case (the place was closed) but I’ll be back.

Last words go to the Blue Nautic pop up restaurant at our campsite. They made us so very welcome and served great food. As for the wines, the Charles Mignon Special Reserve Champagne was very good. Slightly better was the Pierre Mignon Premier Cru and, best of all and Vanya’s favourite (and the most expensive of course), the Pierre Gobillard Blanc de Blanc Premier Cru. All these from a Pop Up Restaurant in a Municipal Campsite! Only in France.

Saint Valery sur Somme (Hauts de France), France September 2025 (Tour 12) Days 1&2

So, we’re off to mainland Europe once again and, as always, we’ll follow the sun. The south of England has been wet and windy the last week and the rest of Europe (at least in the north) looks much the same. Therefore, we will be heading directly south in the first instance.

Day 1 took us around the M25 to Dover and across to Calais on the P&O ferry. The ferry is much cheaper than the Shuttle these days. It’s also considerably slicker in terms of passing through customs and immigration etc and, with P&O providing a pet lounge, it’s not an unpleasant experience.

Not wanting to drive too much that first day, after arriving in France we made first for Saint Valery sur Somme. It’s near the coast, on the Somme Estuary, about an hour and a half’s drive south of Calais. It being a Friday and with French campsites often fully booked up over the weekends, Vanya had booked us into the Yelloh campsite at Estreboeuf, just outside Saint Valery, for two nights. That allowed plenty us a full day to explore Saint Valery and plan our route south. We’ve used this Yelloh site before.

Saint Valery proved a pleasant surprise. There’s easy parking in the town’s motorhome site (for just a few euros) and it’s a pleasant walk down to the promenade by the Somme, to the Quai Jeanne d’Arc. We followed the pretty Rue Des Moulins all the way to the promenade but there’s another almost equally pretty route running parallel to Rue Des Moulins (at least until the last part of the walk). I think it is called the Rue des Pilotes.

This house divides Rue des Pilotes (left) from Rue des Moulins (right)

Looking south along Quai Ste Jeanne d’Arc

Initially, we planned to walk north along the promenade to the Baie de Somme, hoping to see some of the Grey Seals and Harbour Seals which bask on the flats in the Bay when the tide is out but, we never completed the walk. Nala, our German Shepherd, had been sick during the night and was clearly struggling. We revised our plan and, instead, settled for the old medieval part of the town.

Follow the promenade north towards the old town and you soon reach the 12th century L’Eglise Saint Martin. It’s about half way. Like many churches on the French side of the Channel Coast, Saint Martin is built of dressed flint and shingle. It’s a most unusually shaped church and this can be attributed to various extensions being added over the years. Not very impressive from the outside, it is definitely worth a look inside.

Little of Saint Valery’s old medieval town remains. I suspect much of it was destroyed during World War II but it is worth visiting. It has history being, amongst other things, the place where William the Conqueror assembled his fleet before invading England in 1066 and; much later in 1431, where Joan of Arc was held in the local prison overnight on the way to her demise in Rouen.

Notwithstanding the above, Vanya and I found the newer parts of Saint Valery Sur Somme to be far prettier and of more interest than the old town; with the walk down Rue des Moulins being particularly noteworthy. We didn’t stay long in the old town but started back to the newer part by way of Quai du Romerel and then Rue d’Argoules. We could have carried on along the promenade, using Rue de la Ferte with it’s many riverside restaurant-bars, but we were both intrigued by the many unique boutiques which fill Rue d’Argoules and; besides, we found a good fish restaurant there which served good oysters and mussels.

Both the promenade and the Rue d’Argoules end at the town’s small marina and alongside the marina is the ‘Chemin de Fer de La Baie de Somme’. This is a preserved narrow gauge steam railway which offers trips around the Baie de Somme during the period March to December. We had missed the last one of the day or we would have been tempted.

In conclusion, Saint Valery Sur Somme proved a fine day out and a pleasant start to another tour in the Van although the day didn’t quite end there. We had each eaten well during the day and decided on a light supper in the Van that evening, namely a cheese and ham charcuterie and a botte of wine or two. Joy of joys, the cheese selection included a new one to me which I absolutely adore – Le Trou Du Cru.

It appears Le Trou Du Cru is actually Epoisses (a strong pungent French cheese from Bourgogne) but it comes in smaller bite sized rounds which, I am reliably informed, are an appropriate size to finish and so not stink the refrigerator out. I like that logic.

One other point on the subject of cheese; while researching Le Trou Du Cru I discovered that Epoisses/Le Trou Du Cru is made with unpasteurised cow’s milk and is therefore banned from the USA. Other French cheeses that USA citizens are missing out on for the same reason include Brie de Meuax, Reblechon de Savoie, Camembert de Normandie and Bleu de Gex. These cheeses all rank amongst my favourites – you poor Americans don’t know what you’re missing! By the way, the USA has also banned Morbier (another wonderful cheese) because of it’s thin line of vegetable ash. Tragic.