Issue No. 18

Hautvillers Champagne Prayer:
Give me health for a long time,
Work, not too often,
Love, from time to time,
But Champagne all the time!
Tasting the Stars in Hautvillers
5km north of Epernay is the place where legend
has it, the story of Champagne bubbles began –
Hautvillers.
Dom Perignon was a French Benedictine monk
who served at the Abbey of Hautvillers. He
worked in the Abbey cellars for almost 50 years
and much of his time was spent improving the
methods for the maturation of wines, the
blending of different grapes, corking the bottles
and the pruning of vines to improve the grape
quality. Apparently he actually spent much of his
time trying to rid the wine of bubbles! He is
though, the person we associate most with the
invention of Champagne, and the legend that he
cried “Brothers, come quick, I am tasting the
stars” has stuck, in no small part thanks to
brilliant French marketing.
There’s no train station in Hautvillers but you
can hire a bike (including electric bike) from
Epernay Tourist Office, the ride takes around 30
minutes: www.tourisme-hautvillers.com
Information
For train information see the OuiSNCF
website where you can book tickets to
Champagne. For travel direct in
Champagne on the local trains, buying
tickets at the station is fine.
Oui.SNCF
For more information on the region and
its attractions see
www.reims-tourism.com
www.ot-epernay.com
www.champagne-ardenne-tourism.
com
TER (SNCF)