Since we knew we were going to come home with more bottles, Matt and I decided to treat our car companions to some mimosas, using one of the remaining bottles of champagne we had left.
We were under a time crunch to drink it before the border to France. We made it in plenty of time.
After arriving (it's a short 3 hour or so drive), it was time for lunch and some wine....
Since I was in France, I immediately ordered the beef tartare. Mmm. Dessert was of course a cafe gourmand.
Next, the group drove down to Epernay, which is where they were all going to take the Moet & Chandon tour. Since Matt and I had already done it, we decided to walk around the city as well as along the Avenue de Champagne, where all the pretty champagne houses are located.
See what I mean?
We also relaxed in the park in the center of the city.
To kill more time, we tried out this place too.
When we met up with the others, it was about time to eat again. (Gosh I love this country). So we settled into a table outside and I prepared to eat what I'm confidently calling one of my top 5 burger experiences. Take a look at this:
What's all that you say? It's a beef burger, sauteed onion, ooozy burger sauce, and it's topped with seared foie gras. All on a buttery brioche bun. Man that was good.
With our food comas taking over, we all eventually make our way to the hotel and settle in for the evening. The next day we decided to check out some more champagne houses. Here are the ladies at Mumm:
Then you guessed it- time to eat again. It was a really great meal, but I had to take my French speaking skills, which I promise are nothing special at all, to the very max. There was no menu so the waitress got up in my face and told me everything (even though the items were listed on a wall behind me. Why she chose to do this I'll never know). She knew maybe one or two words in English and all that French gave me a headache.
Good thing lunch was so amazing. I had this chef salad and Matt had a "potato burger" which was a genius idea- it was a burger with hash brown patties as buns. So smart. Round that out with another cafe gourmand....
And we were back on the road. After parking at Veuve Clicquot but deciding we didn't want to pay the pricey entry fee, we wandered elsewhere.
Taittinger sounded like a good place, and we got to bypass the cellar tour and go straight to the tasting. Since it was late in the day, the accommodating staff said we could buy a bottle and drink it in the tasting room, so we did just that.
I also enjoy their logo on the door.
I didn't take pictures of the last place, but I feel like we missed out on a really great tour. We hit a small champagne house where they really don't do a lot of exports. As a result, their tastings were very reasonable, we got to try a ton of things, and we basically liked them all. The server had just gotten back from Texas, and Matt and I thought this was super comical because she just went on and on about how great Texas was. She said people were coming up to her and seeing if she needed help, everyone was so nice, blah blah blah. She was incredibly excited to be going to Florida the following week, and then over to Seattle. Small world.
After a long day of drinking, we returned to a restaurant that Matt and I had been to on our last trip and got some flammkuchen, French-style.
When we woke up the next day, we found a little corner restaurant for a quick breakfast. It barely looked like a restaurant though - we're fairly certain we just walked into someone's house (which happened to have a little storefront to it) and had breakfast. We all ordered coffee (and hot chocolate for Matt), and it came out. Then croissants came out. Then toast and jam. Then breakfast meats.
We were the only ones in there and she just kept bringing out food, we didn't know when it would end, or if by accepting the food we were somehow adopted! After the strenuous French speaking the day before, I was pleased that this lady was so patient and all around sweet to us. Plus, everything tasted great.
Good stuff, France. You don't disappoint.
On the way home we stopped in Belgium at an abbey where they make Orval beer. They only make it here, so we decided to have a nice lunch and see what all the fuss was about.
Matt had the duck...
And I had the meatballs in the beer-cheese sauce.
Yes, they were as good as they look.
There were so many things on the menu that we had trouble deciding, so I suppose this means we'll have to return. (We of course got some beer, two more Belgian glasses, and a huge chunk, a kilogram, of the beer cheese.).
A fun weekend was had by all, and Matt and I are now stocked up on Champagne for awhile.
Until next time, France!
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