Where to eat

Good food isn’t hard to find in this part of France, and alongside more upmarket restaurants plenty of cafés offer excellent meals at reasonable prices. Some highlights include:

La Cave à Champagne, Epernay: The three-course ‘Menu Sympa’ costs £10 for three memorably rich courses, and includes local specialities such as boudin blanc de Rethel, a kind of white pudding, and creamy Chaource cheese.
16 Rue Gambetta, Epernay
www.la-cave-a-champagne.com

Café du Palais, Reims: The warm and welcoming art deco restaurant comes alive with locals and visitors enjoying the traditional French menu. Main courses range from £10 to £20.
14 Place Myron Herrick, Reims
www.cafedupalais.fr

La Brasserie Flo: A grand, high-ceilinged restaurant with immaculate service and an extensive, excellent menu, with main courses priced at about £25.
96 Place Drouet d’Erlon, Reims
www.floreims.com

What to drink

Champagne, of course! Most restaurants will offer an extensive list of wines and champagnes, with some set menus including a glass of champagne as an aperitif, followed by a selection of wines with the rest of the meal.

If you want to stock up before heading home, C Comme Champagne in Epernay is ideal. It sells a broad range of champagnes made by 45 small producers, providing information on each one. The enthusiastic proprietor, Frédéric Dricot, works closely with the wine producers and can arrange visits to some of the champagne houses on request. All the wines are sold by the bottle or the case, and are priced from about £10 per bottle upwards.

C Comme Champagne, 8 Rue Gambetta, Eparnay
www.c-comme.fr

Where to stay

The imposing Château d’Etoges has been converted to a 19-room hotel, but retains much of the atmosphere of a stately home. Nine more rooms are available in the more modern Orangerie. Rooms are priced from £95pppn, based on two people sharing. The hotel also offers gourmet and wine-tasting packages, which include meals and tours of champagne cellars.
Le Château d’Etoges, Etoges
www.etoges.com

The Abbaye de Sept Fontaines, in Fagnon, also comes with a sense of history. The 12th-century abbey that gives the hotel its name was destroyed and rebuilt during the French Revolution, and since it became a hotel it has played host to both General de Gaulle and Nicolas Sarkozy. Double rooms cost from £90pppn, based on two people sharing.
Abbaye de Sept Fontaines, Fagnon
www.abbayeseptfontaines.fr

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