We left Paris to head for Champagne. The route out was very busy and took us down lots of confusing roads. Our trusty TomTom really proved it’s worth on this journey. I’m glad Donald did the driving on this bit.
We arrived in Villers-Sous-Châtillon a little later than planned so waited until the next day to do the Champagne tasting.
The Aire was really quiet and just opposite a few of the Champagne houses.
The village we were in had many Champagne houses but we chose to go to Lemaire and the first bottle we saw was Trianon 66 a chic and elegant bottle of Champagne celebrating the creation of a certain Mr Roger-Constant Lemaire in 1966 of his family brand. As this is also the year Donald was born we had to have one.
I did the tasting as it was Donald’s turn to drive, at €10 for 4 different glasses, they also included the Trianon 66 as an extra. We left having bought two bottles!
From here we headed to Giffaumont-Champaubert, this was an Aire at the side of a lake.
We headed off to dinner but as we were a bit early we had to wait for the restaurant to open, so we sat at the side of the lake watching the fishermen. The water level seemed very low. Guess it hadn’t recovered from the very hot weather they had in the summer.
It seemed like a long wait as the evening was getting cold!
The following morning was time to get the bikes out. I felt I had recovered enough from the ‘mountain biking’ at Parc d’Olhain.
The route we took was 23 miles and took us round Seine Grand Lacs. A very nice well posted route with dedicated paved cycle tracks nearly all the way round. More importantly it was mostly flat, following the edges of the reservoirs which comprise the Lac du Lacs. There were all sorts of campsites, static cabins, fishing and sailing clubs spread throughout each of the lakes. Something for everyone.
The next stop on our route was to Brienne-le-Château. A very short visit to Musée de Napoléon. He spent a few years as a young man at l’Ecole Militaire 242 years ago.
The Aire here was shared with HGVs, they had taken up all the larger parking spaces. There were some spaces next to the old station which we reversed into. There was low level noise from some sort of processing plant nearby. Eclipsed by “barky dog”. We might have slept through the 5.45 am lorry moving if “barky dog” hadn’t woken us. Otherwise the services were good, grey and black waste. Fresh water with a token from the tourist office.
Next stop Pierre-de Bresse. Wandered into the town to find that the restaurant that we wanted to eat in was closed as it was a Monday. Found a bar and had a couple of glasses of Burgundy and chatted with an Irishman who had been in France so long was struggling to remember how to speak English !
The Aire had free water and electric. Yes, you read that right. Free ! Worth stopping here just for that experience alone.
Maisons-Laffitte, to Villers-Sous-Châtillon
Mileage – 101
Route – N2
Cost Free
Villers Sous Chatillon to Giffaumont-Champaubert
Mileage – 80
Route – N4
Cost – Free
Villers Sous Chatillon to Brienne-le-Château
Mileage – 20
Route – D400
Cost Free
Brienne-le-Château to Pierre-de Bresse
Mileage – 147
Route – D959 D996
Cost Free
