Paris Journal 2002

Dom Perignon's resting place in Hautvilliers.

Town hall in Chalons-en-Champagne.  Inside is a plaque honoring the "Unknown American Soldier" from WWI.

Notre-Dame-en-Vaux, above, and Place Monseigneur Tissier, below.

The basilica, which dates back to 1406, is remarkable because of its elaborate and inventive carvings on the exterior, and because the material used to build it is so white.  The stone in this region is limestone that contains lots of chalk and/or calcium.  Later in the day as we were driving through the countryside, Arnold pointed out fields where the soil was very light colored because of the "calcaire," or limestone.  These fields with white dirt are not appropriate for growing grapes.  The grapes used to make champagne are grown on the gently sloping hillsides, and not on these flat, white fields, we noticed.  So, one does not see grapes growing everywhere in champagne country.  The flat white fields seem to be used for growing other things, like sunflowers and corn.  Like the cathedral at Chartres, the basilica at L'Épine was constructed in a vast, open agricultural plain.

After our visit at the basilica, we climbed into Arnold and Mareen's car and they took us on a tour of many tiny and charming little villages along the Marne river in champagne country.  We stopped in one of them, Hautvillliers.  We went into the church there, and VOILA!  Arnold and Mareen showed us the burial place, in the church, where Dom Perignon rests (see photo above, left).  He's the man who invented the method for making champagne.  He did this while working for the abbey in Hautvilliers.  So, we paid homage, and went outside where Arnold surprised us with a little place set up in the lawn where he had champagne glasses and a bottle of Dom Perignon.  We each had a glass in honor of the great man (Tom drank water instead). 

Around noon, our dear friends Mareen and Arnold left us in the middle of Chalons-en-Champagne.  They were going to go load up their car with champagnein Bouzy and begin the 5-hour drive back to their home in Germany.  I had written to the Chalons tourism office weeks before, and so we were well informed by the packet of information they had sent to us.  Our only luggage was a little knapsack, so we easily moved about the town, taking in the sights.

Chalons is right smack in the middle of champagne country.  It is very old -- formerly a Roman town.  Now it has about 50,000 inhabitants, and claims to be a communications and distribution hub for the EU.  However, it has beautifully maintained its architecture from the middle ages, so it doesn't look the least bit industrial or modern.

Much of Chalons is open and beautifully landscaped.  But it also has many tiny, narrow medieval streets, with tiny, narrow, medieval houses.  The mixing of the two types of development meant that we were constantly being surprised as we wandered about.  

The town hall, or mairie, was one of the grandest buildings, with lots of open space around it.  Near it was Place Monseigneur Tissier, with a lovely fountain.  And near that fountain was the church called Notre-Dame-en-Vaux.  (Both Notre-Dame-en-Vaux and the basilica at L'Épine are supported by UNESCO.)  Behind the church was a tiny, narrow street that led to a slightly bigger space, Place Notre Dame, paved in cobblestones, and surrounded by charming little stone houses (at left).

While we were walking about in Chalons, I imagined what it must have been like in 1944.   The 3rd American Army moved in this direction, along the Marne, toward Nancy and Metz, as they liberated France from the Nazis.  This would have been one of the towns that some of these American soldiers would have seen.  Perhaps my uncle, George White, saw Chalons in 1944.  Then he was killed near Nancy.

Near the center of town, close to the Place de la Republique, was an older church, at left.  This is Saint Alpin, constructed at the end of the 12th century; it is known for its Renaissance style.