Stumbling Through the CHAMPAGNE Region of France - Day Trip from Paris to Reims (Group Tour)

Hi guys! Welcome to Champagne! Cheers! We need to hold the cock because it still has the risk to be popped out and hurt our beloved one. Of course we don't want. Hold the cock. Popped out. Now I've got to get them home to Australia without breaking them. Today we're taking a day trip from Paris into the French countryside to visit the Champagne houses in Champagne. While this is an expensive day out to go on a group tour, the minibus is a safe and hassle-free option compared to doing a self-drive itinerary, which is important when indulging in alcohol throughout the whole day. Our tour guide, Bastian, was brilliant. We learned so much from him about the Champagne making process and he was actually a really nice guy. We will also leave links to similar tour options in the description if you would like to check them out. Good morning, guys! Alright, so behind us, this is the Rémus Cathedral because we are in the Champagne region and making our way out to... Are they still called vineyards? Yeah. Champagne houses, actually. Champagne houses. I guess they're still vineyards because they're growing grapes. But anyway, we've had a reasonably aggressive explanation that anything that doesn't come from the Champagne region is not Champagne. So I guess today we're going to drink a lot of it and learn a bit more about how they make it. By the end of the day, we'll be connoisseurs. A sommelier. But on the way, the cathedral was pretty cool. 800 years old. With a coronation of all but two French kings. Our next stop was the House of Mum and its 25km of tunnels that's used to age the Champagne in a nice, controlled, cool environment. And it is stacked with bottles from floor to ceiling. You'll notice how rugged up I am and I was still freezing. They did a great job of showing the history of the site alongside the production and the storage areas. But the highlight, of course, is the tasting at the end of the tour. We need to hold the cock because it still has the risk to be popped out and hurt our beloved one. Of course, we don't want that. And then we will twist, we will move the bottom of the bottle rather than the cock and then we will hear a very quiet whisper. You may find some notes of the white fruits. Champagne is fantastic but I had to revisit this now that Angel took off her coat. Look at this. Give us a spin. What a stunning dress. What a stunning girl. That's not the Champagne tour. I only had half of one. Next stop was lunch at a small family homestead. They also made Champagne and grape liqueurs from the lower quality presses. After a brief tour, we sat down to finally eat. After an appetizer and an entree, dessert was served immediately after. Look at the beef. Health concerns? Turns out there was no beef coming. I don't know why I thought there was. I mean the food was fresh but very light and it felt like there was a main course missing from the menu and we all left still feeling pretty hungry. So here's a hot tip if you plan on doing this tour. Bring a ton of snacks with you. You're going to need them. No wonder the French are all so thin. We had some time to spare before the next Champagne house so the group stopped at the top of a mountain for more Champagne and to enjoy the panoramic views. Alright, you ready? So as you can see, when you savor you remove the neck of the bottle. Our final stop was Champagne Harlan, a small family run Champagne house and a mini version of the huge Mom tour earlier. The drink selection was much more diverse and we finally got to try some of the liqueur we saw earlier. These are heavier and thicker than the Champagnes and are distilled over much longer periods and are aged in barrels in a very similar way to whiskeys. So what do you think about the last one? Do you think that it's... Hi! Okay, so we have a haul. So on that last stop we tried a Champagne that was very citrusy. I think we both like citrus. People can't see through a bag, darling. So that's the citrusy one. Can you pronounce that? This is the one that I picked personally. This is El Escapade. I'm not going to say that in French because I'm going to butcher it. El Escapade, something like that. Okay, this is the one I chose. And the second one, it's not a Champagne but it's a liqueur that they make with the second and third press grape juice. So that's the lower quality stuff. So they put it in a barrel and age it over the long term kind of like they do with whiskey out of a barrel. Hold it up, hold it up. So you can see it's in a similar bottle, it's really dark which comes from the barrel. But it's really sweet, it's like a liqueur. So these were actually really good purchases. Now I've got to get them home to Australia without breaking them. But I've been assured the glass that they're in is extremely thick and very resilient so I like my chances. Yeah, I hope you guys liked our Champagne tour today. Do you have anything else to say? I've got to get this one home to bed. Thanks guys! Bye bye! Champagne!