Champagne Christmas fun in Epernay

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The weekend of the 9th/10th/11th December 2016 is a great time to come to Epernay, where the Christmas street party takes place on the Avenue de Champagne.  Usually, not many of the big champagne houses on the Avenue are open to the public, but on this weekend, they all are!  And not only are they open, you are invited to join in, with champagne flowing, food to go, live music, fun and fireworks.  If you’ve never been to Epernay for  this brilliant event, then put it in your diary for 2016.

The “Habits de Lumiere” event (which literally means “dressed in lights”)  is where the Avenue de Champagne is lit up like Disneyland,  with even a Disney-esque procession and spectacular fireworks on the Friday night, cooking demonstrations and champagne and food matching on Saturday, and a vintage car procession on Sunday.

Hundreds of locals flock to this event, and you should be there too!

We’ve put together a very special weekend around this amazing event, for a limited number of people, so if you’d like to find out how you can be there this year, then email us at yvonne@lesmolyneux.com or call us on  0033 (0)3 26 48 20 52 to find out more

Curious about what to do, where to stay, who meet in Champagne?
Download your Free Guide by CLICKING HERE

Champagne Festival in Epernay

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The « Habits de Lumiere » Festival in Epernay is only a couple of weeks away now, and the theme this year is “Imagination”.

Your weekend starts at 6.30pm on Friday 14th December, on the Avenue de Champagne, where the usually closed doors of the large champagne houses, fling open their gates and invite you in to taste their champagnes at the bars,   indulge in the gourmet food, listen to the live music, and maybe even dance.

Chestnuts are roasting on the street, fairy lights adorn the buildings, and the sound of music, Jazz, Spanish, Mexican is everywhere along this famous street.

At 7.15pm the street procession begins at Place de la Republique and finishes at the top of the Avenue de Champagne at Mercier, where at 8.30pm you’ll witness an amazing firework display set to music.

Time to head on back to the champagne bars and indulge a little more perhaps?

On Saturday 15th December, there’s more, with many local celebrated chefs giving live demonstrations of their culinary skills and of course there’s wonderful delicacies to delight your tastebuds.  Art exhibtions, photographic exhibitions and of course cellar visits, followed by the street procession again at 6.45pm, and then back to Chateau Perrier for a fabulous light display and perhaps another glass of champagne?  Why not…

And on Sunday morning, if you’re feeling up to yet more champagne  (and why wouldn’t you be? ), there’s a vintage car procession starting at 11am through the town of Epernay.

A fabulous weekend not to be missed…. Are you coming?

“All arrangements were prepared in great detail, and we appreciated the effort and dedication to help us find exciting things to do”

Yvonne

YvonneJune0903

 

 

 

 

For more ideas on what to do, where to go and hidden gems of the Champagne region, CLICK HERE to download our free guide

More Clicquot

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Continuing the Veuve Clicquot theme that I started on a previous post, I took Pepper out into the vineyards today, behind the Clicquot Manoir here in Verzy, and discovered some little yellow signs alongside the vines.  Each sign had a name on it with a date, and I was fascinated to learn what they were for.

Take a look at the video and you’ll find out.

Enjoy!

Veuve Clicquot’s Mansion in Verzy

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I was out and about with my dog today, so I took three short videos on the lovely mansion here in Verzy, built by Mme Clicquot in the mid 1800s for entertaining her very important clients from the European aristocracy. It’s still used to today to entertain VIP clients, by invitation only. Take a look at the videos here… Enjoy!

Autumn 2010 Newsletter

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Greetings from Les Molyneux, your home from home in the heart of Champagne, and welcome to our first ever Newsletter.

Don’t worry we won’t be bombarding you with offers every five minutes, just timely information about what’s going on here in France and there are a couple of things we really think you should know about.

More about that later but first of all, the summer has been lovely with temperatures in the low to mid thirties which has been brilliant for the grapes, although we’ve had a bit too much rain in late August/early September so some of the grapes are rotting on the vines, which is worrying to say the least.

However, the Harvest starts on Monday 13th and there’s a real buzz of anticipation about the place.

Over the next few weeks there’ll be opportunities to come and pick some grapes, experience the atomosphere of a traditional harvest and meet some of the local champagne makers, as well as taste the juice as it’s pressed. Call us now on 0033 (0) 3 26 48 20 52 or email me at yvonne@yvonnehalling.com to check availability now. Places are limited.

And now news about two very special weekends coming up this autumn for serious champagne lovers.

First is our Reims Wine Festival weekend – November 12/13/14th where you’ll get to discover some amazing wines from all around France at one of the most spectacular wine fairs I’ve ever seen.

Check out full details here and call us to check availablility. Places are limited and at the time of writing there are only 4 places left, so don’t delay, call today.

Second, is the Habits de Lumiere weekend on December 10th/11th/12th . This is an extra special pre-Christmas treat for you, where you’ll experience the magical atmosphere of Epernay.

The famous Avenue de Champagne lights up the sky with street entertainment, glittering candle-lit champagne houses and a fabulous firework display, just for starters.

Check out the full programme here and then give us a ring to book your places.

We’ll be closing from December 13th until March 1st, so don’t miss these opportunities to round off your year with a well-deserved break. We’re looking forward to welcoming you.

Until next time…

Yvonne & Jiles Halling