DAY ONE – Saturday
06.00hrs London pick ups begin.
*Ensure you have your passport and any relevant travel documentation with you in your hand luggage, passengers without valid passports will not be able to travel*
We make our journey to Dover for our ferry crossing.
09.55hrs Dover to Calais ferry crossing.
12.30hrs Arrive Calais, France and commence our journey to Paris.
16.00hrs Approximate arrival at our hotel. Check in and relax.
The evening is at leisure in Paris
Optionals:
- Paris sightseeing by boat on the river Seine (€10.00 pp)
- Cabaret show including a glass of champagne (See your Tour Manager for details)
DAY TWO – Sunday
09.00hrs After breakfast we depart the hotel for Reims, the heart of the Champagne region.
11.00hrs Entrance is included into the world famous Taittinger cellars including a guided tour, followed by a glass of champagne.
12.30hrs After our tour we head into the centre of Reims to explore the impressive Notre Dame Cathedral and Tau Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Free time will be allocated here for exploring and lunch.
14.30hrs Meet the coach back at the cathedral and transfer to an underground cathedral, 30 meters below the earths surface to discover the Pommery cellars! This Champagne House now stores over 25 million bottles of champagne and from March to November hosts an amazing instillation of modern art works and sculpture deep down in the cellars! Our tour at Pommery ends with a glass of their finest brut champagne.
16.30hrs Transfer from Pommery to our Reims hotel. Check in and relax.
18.00hrs Coach transfer into the centre of Reims to sample some of the local bars and restaurants. A good opportunity to try some more champagne!
22.30hrs Coach transfer back to the hotel.
DAY THREE – Monday
09.30hrs After breakfast we take the scenic route through the Montagne de Reims, dotted with vineyards to Epernay, the home of Moet et Chandon. Free time to explore.
13.30hrs Meet your Tour Manager for the return journey to Calais.
19.50hrs Calais to Dover ferry crossing.
23.00hrs Approximate arrival into central London.
All times shown are local times and meant only as a guide, all details are subject to changes. *All times shown are local times.
**PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR PASSPORT, PASSENGERS WITHOUT A VALID PASSPORT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TRAVEL, ENSURE PASSPORT IS IN YOUR HAND LUGGAGE AND NOT SUITCASE**
About Reims
Reims (Rheims) is a city of the Champagne-Ardenne région of northern France, standing 144 km (89 miles) east-northeast of Paris. It was founded by the Gauls and became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire.
Reims is often considered as the capital of Champagne, an old province of France, world-famous for its sparkling wine (Champagne) because it is by far the largest city in the region.
Reims, along with Épernay and Ay, is one of the centres of Champagne production. Many of the largest Champagne producing houses, known as les grandes marques, have their headquarters in Reims, and most are open for tasting and tours by appointment. On our tour we visit two of these great Champagne Houses, Tattinger & Pommery.
Champagne is aged in the many caves and tunnels under Reims, which form a sort-of maze below the city. Carved from chalk, some of these passages were dug by the Romans.
Some interesting facts and places to see in Reims
• Roman remains - The oldest monument in Reims is the Porte de Mars ("Mars Gate", so called from a temple to Mars in the neighbourhood), a triumphal arch 108 ft. in length by 43 in height, consisting of three archways flanked by columns. It is popularly supposed to have been erected by the Remi in honour of Augustus when Agrippa made the great roads terminating at the town, but probably belongs to the 3rd or 4th century. The Mars Gate was one of 4 Roman gates to the city walls, which were restored at the time of the Norman Invasion of northern France in the 9th century.
• Place Drouet d'Erlon - in the city centre is packed with lively restaurants and bars, and several attractive statues and fountains. During the summer it is filled with people sitting outside the many cafés enjoying the summer sun, and in December it has a lively and charming Christmas market.
• Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims - Reims is well known for its cathedral, Notre-Dame de Reims, where the kings of France used to be crowned. The cathedral was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1991.
About Paris
Paris has always been a destination for traders, students and those on religious pilgrimages, but its 'tourist industry' began on a large scale only with the appearance of rail travel, namely from state organisation of France's rail network from 1848. Among Paris's first mass attractions drawing international interest were, from 1855, the above-mentioned Expositions Universelles that would bring Paris many new monuments, namely the Eiffel Tower from 1889. These, in addition to the capital's Second Empire embellishments, did much to make the city itself the attraction it is today.
Paris's museums and monuments are among its highest-esteemed attractions; tourism has motivated both the city and national governments to create new ones. The city's most prized museum, the Louvre, welcomes over 8 million visitors a year, being by far the world's most visited art museum. The city's cathedrals are another main attraction: its Notre Dame de Paris and the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur receive 12 million and eight million visitors respectively. The Eiffel Tower, by far Paris's most famous monument, averages over six million visitors per year and more than 200 millions since its construction. Disneyland Resort Paris is a major tourist attraction not only for visitors to Paris, but to Europe as well, with 14.5 million visitors in 2007.
If you enjoy Paris during your brief stay on our Champagne Tour why not join one of our Paris weekend breaks, click here for more information.
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