Seeing and Doing
Have lunch at the Excelsior Brasserie across the road and then call a taxi to take you to the domains of Veuve Clicquot for example where you can visit the cellars & vineyards with a guide – there are a few different experiences with these larger houses (gastronomic/ self-guided etc, scroll down the page) but I wouldn’t miss the chance to see these incredible underground caves (again, make sure to read up on their history). There’s also a full day tour which includes private transportation with Veuve Clicquot for example. On a more reasonable budget, there are also some smaller family-run producers where you can visit the grape press for example on the outskirts of town.
I would strongly recommend visiting Epernay, the unofficial “capital” of Champagne, a beautiful little town – really interesting to walk down the main boulevard poking your nose into the row of historic mansions (all the main ones like Moet are headquartered here). From Reims’ train station, you could take a quick 40 minute train ride to Epernay for the day.
One of the historic mansions is the house of Perrier-Jouet, which is actually the only one that will cater for dining. For lunch, you could stop in their champagne bar where they have elevated snacks like smoked salmon etc, but to really spoil yourself, the more exclusive culinary experience is set across the street from in the UNESCO-protected 18th-century private mansion, called the Maison Belle Epoque, that was once home to Perrier-Jouët’s founding family. It’s quite the splurge but you’ll dine amongst the largest private collection of French Art Nouveau in Europe for a seven dish pairing lunch ($280 per person) concocted by French superstar chef Pierre Gagnaire. You could then also tack on a vineyard visit in the afternoon in vintage cars with My Vintage Tour Company.
Musée des Beaux Arts at 8 Rue Chanzy (reims.fr; €4) is Reims’s cultural cornerstone. Its collection covers European art from the 16th to 20th centuries, and is awash with works by famous painters, including Corot, Delacroix, Gauguin, Monet, Renoir and Matisse.
Where to Eat
L’Alambic at 63 Rue de Chativesle (restaurant-lalambic.fr) is worth searching for. A family-run restaurant with a cellar dining room, it offers herb-crusted lamb fillet for €21, or roast pigeon for €17.- Le Bocal is a great option for seafood—both cooked and raw.- A Bon Manger for those who prefer foie gras, cured meats/fish and local cheeses
Les Halles du Boulingrin, the city’s temple to fruit, vegetables, meat, olive oil and wine is also a symbol of its resurgence in the wake of the First World War. A soaring arc of white concrete, it opened in 1929. Markets are held on Saturday (6am-2pm).
Le Wine Bar is a great late-night hang out where local winemakers here.
Book a tasting at Club Trésors de Champagne, otherwise known as “The Special Club.” Founded by a group of like-minded, quality-committed grower producers who share a space in Reims, here you can book a tasting to enjoy selections from some 24 different producers. Book a master class for a wonderful overview of style, region, variety, and terroir that the various producers showcase, curated by one of their sommeliers
Au Cul de Poule is known for its wide range of steak tartare
Le Clos at 25 Rue du Temple (0033 3 2607 7469; fr-fr.facebook.com/LeClos.Reims) is a champagne bar tucked within the ground floor of the Hôtel des Ventes – an auction house whose blue-and-gold mosaic façade sings of the Twenties. Glasses of bubbles start at €6.
Café du Palais at 14 Place Myron-Herrick (0033 3 2647 5254; cafedupalais.fr) – a restaurant of splendid Art Deco stylings where you can try tagliatelle with snails for €24 and half-bottles of champagne for €23.
Brasserie Flo at 96 Place Drouet d’Erlon (0033 3 2691 4050; floreims.com), a gastronomic hotspot that prepares chateaubriand with bearnaise sauce for €34 – while gazing at the green spaces of Les Hautes Promenades, two minutes from the station.
Where to Stay
Hotel le Vergeur – Bits of architecture from a town destroyed in World War I now decorate this house & garden museum. As the ruins of Reims were torn down to make way for new construction, one man searched through the rubble for the remnants of the city’s historic past. He saved doorways, lintels, whole facades, columns, archways and tombs and brought them to the garden of the Hotel le Vergeur, where he created his garden of ruins. For the interior of the hotel, he salvaged fireplaces, libraries, and artwork. The gardens are Covered in ivy and still bearing the scars of endless shrapnel and artillery fire.
