Day 2 Sunday, August 3rd - Timing IS Everything

Just a couple of things about our one night stay in the Grand Continental Hotel in Reims. Found it on hotels.com and it was an excellent deal if pre-paid. The room was super small, but the bathroom was a decent size and came with bathtub and shower. Fantastic location close to the major tourist zone of Reims. Very close to the train station and the rental car agency we had booked for Sunday pickup. Bed was comfortable and the shower worked/hot water. Lana noted the angel motif of the blue wallpaper with matching print on the curtains!!
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We are starting our trip in Champagne province as champagne wine is Lana's favourite. It is her 50th year and she decided to enjoy it as much as possible before her birthday in late October. We have never been to this area before and it is close to Paris.

To reserve a rental car for pickup on a Sunday in France is crazy and next to impossible! Sundays in Europe mean most companies are not open for business. Trying to book the rental car through Europcar online for a Sunday created so many challenges. I finally had it completed weeks before we left with the agreement they would have an employee at their agency at 11 am. This is our first example of how timing is everything.

We walked with our luggage to the Europcar agency and arrived about 11:05 am. There was a huge celebration occurring nearby with flags, balloons, people etc. We found Europcar closed and a note on the window titled "Dear Mr. Schisler". We had our credit cards updated a few weeks ago. I guess they tried to process my older card number and it was rejected (bad timing for us). They did not contact me as I could have explained we had a new number. The note basically indicated there was a Europcar outlet open with a different phone number and address that made no sense. Yikes, the note didn't make much sense and now we had to figure out where it was.  The actual address was difficult for us to make out. See note below:

We approached a group of people who were making the balloons from supplies in a Europcar van. The first girl wasn't helpful and told us we could walk about 10 minutes in another direction and that would get us there. Then she walked away before we could show her the note. No help really. One of the fellows in her group approached us to see if we needed help. Yes and he took out his cell and phoned a taxi to pick us up. He indicated the other location was not very close and in fact in a suburb of Reims. The taxi did come by and we got in. Stressed as we weren't sure about the location and whether they still had a car. The taxi driver was very helpful and friendly with explaining where we needed to get to. After an 18Euro taxi ride we arrived at a gas station that doubled as a Europcar agency.

At first, the girl at the gas station counter didn't really understood, but then checked her records and there was a car present for us and she took our newer Visa card. When asked if she spoke any english she said "un peu" but then proceeded to speak in french--too funny.  Her english was not good, but good enough. This took quite a lot of time as new gas customers came in and then another couple from New York/Latvia looking for a rental car. The best news was that our car had GPS as we had reserved previously. Phew...Our car is a small Peugeot and our two suitcases fit in the hatchback/trunk area. It is a manual transmission and the GPS works!

We input the address of the Chambre d'Hôte (French B&B) located in the small village of Essoyes in the very southern tip of Champagne and voila it could not find that address. Yup, deflated (but not defeated) already. We try other ideas with no success. The GPS simply doesn't have that address. We had located La Roseraie through our friends Maryanne and Werner as they had stayed there on a few occasions and loved it. As a last resort we simply typed in the town's name and off we go. I knew from the maps that La Roseraie was south of Troyes so if we follow signs in that direction it should work. We were advised about a two hour drive. Little bit stressed as we don't actually have GPS directions to La Roseraie.

I am the driver on the insurance documentation. Lana is our navigator and she is usually pretty good. On the first major turn, we actually turned too soon but we did find the route south with no real difficulty. Also one of the lanes we were supposed to take was closed with road work (that occurs a lot to us). Thankfully, the GPS was already programmed in English. Driving around 130 kms per hour, but getting passed by many motorists. In this area of France, they drive fast! One part of the long drive is a toll road. We stop at the toll, pull a ticket from the machine and when you get off the freeway/major road then you will pay the toll at an automated gate. Our toll came to over 12Euro so wasn't cheap. 

Rolling country and many farms along the way. We actually don't see any vineyards until we are close to Essoyes. Pretty sunny day. Still nervous as we are driving given the absence of directions to La Roseraie. We do find this small village of about 700 people after close to two hours driving. Essoyes is known for Pierre Auguste Renoir as he owned a home there and painted quite a lot of his famous art work while in the village. His wife Aline was born and raised there. The Ource river flows through the middle of the town.

Yes, this town is very small and typical French village town in terms of architecture style, small windy streets and neatly organized homes. We see some cars parked beside what is a restaurant. Lana uses her cell to get the location from the website and finds the phone number that will dial directly. One of the owners, Pierre, answers and asks where we are. We give the names of a couple places and he says he will be right over. Within a couple of minutes he indeed shows up. He confirms that GPS does not work for his address and that we need to go over the bridge and find a sign and turn left. Yup, no sign and we drive around with no luck. He phones back "Allo Lana--where ARE you?" and meets us and walks us to their place right on the Ource river (more like a stream). He opens the locked gate and we drive in and park.

Pierre explains that the building where they live is beside the Chambre d'Hôtes and was built in 1800. The building we are in was a lodge for the hunting guests and was built in 1833. We have walked and driven by these type of buildings in France and it is pretty cool to now be able to stay in an apartment. We are on the top floor and have a designated bathroom down the hall. Very large space with a king size bed and lots of room. What a difference from last night! It will be very comfortable.

La Roseraie from the front. The open window on the top floor is where our apartment is.

Rear of La Roseraie taken from the garden.

Former home of the gardener when this place was a hunting lodge. This is the rear part of the garden. The garden is out front as well as along the river so quite a large piece of property. We go for a walk to see the grounds with Pierre. Along the river we can see a lot of fish swimming in the current and relatively shallow water. He said the fish don't taste very good. I was thinking I should have brought my fly rod!  

We meet the other owner/partner Marie-Claude over glasses of champagne and delicious cookies. Yummy! Life is pretty good! The champagne is tasty as well.

It is still very warm and a little overcast so we decide to take a long walk. Again, this small town is known for Pierre August Renoir. There are three dedicated walks that are organized around places where Renoir painted. Walk #2 will take up to two hours. Pierre offers us an umbrella as it might rain. Being Vancouverites we are too tough to worry about some rain. We are due to eat dinner in the hunting lodge at 7:30 pm tonight so have lots of time.

This is our second example of timing being everything. As we begin the walk in the warm sun the clouds start to come over and then there is some thunder. The rain is fairly light at the start and then gets heavier. With more thunder and some lightning it turns into a torrential downpour. We are unprepared and quickly are totally soaked. Good that despite the heavy rains, it is still warmish. Most of the walking is in the woods and some fields. We have some written directions and a map to assist. 

The picture below is after our walk and we are back in our room. It doesn't do justice to how wet we were. My shirt was stuck to me and my shorts and underwear were drenched. Lana was in a wet white tee shirt contest. The timing was bad for the walk as within about 20 minutes of our return it was sunny again!

We took the Aline Charigot's Walk (Aline being Renoir's wife). This picture was part of our walk through the forest on a pretty good path. This is before the deluge. For about the last hour of the two hour walk we are completely utterly drenched.

Easel with a painting of Renoir on the trail. 

Lana was just slightly wet here and before the thunder and lightning. Wearing her favourite Vans shoes that get dirty. 

Funny that when we found the road back to the village we only came across one car and the young fellow stopped, opened his passenger side window and had quite the look on his face. He offered us an umbrella (too late for that) and a cigarette (neither of us smoke), but very kind of him to stop. He had no room in his car to give us a ride either. Pierre needs to open the gate on our arrival and when he saw us he wasn't surprised.

We dry off and I get to updating our blog for today. Lana relaxes and time seems to fly. Of course, it is sunny and warm. We head down to the garden for a pre-dinner aperitif and goodies. Another couple staying, Guido and Martine from Belgium, were present. Pink champagne (pinot noir) was served with delicious gougeres (French cheese puffs). The pink champagne was tasty, but the gougers were the best we have eaten. We learn more about champagne from Pierre and get to know the interesting Belgian couple who are in their last day of vacation before returning by car to Belgium. 

Owners and hosts Pierre and Marie-Claude

Our dinner is served inside. This is the kitchen that Marie-Claude works in. We find out later that they used to own a restaurant in Paris. The food that she serves us is incredible. 

Two types of French bread. Homemade and nutty. We could rave about European bread, but it is so much superior to what we can find in Canada.

Our first course was a salade. Two different kinds of smoked salmon. Grapefruit, lentils, pasta, carrots, cucumber, zucchini and greens. Plus a lovely French vinaigrette. This could have been a dinner on its own.

This wine/champagne cover had ice on its insides to keep the white wine at the perfect temperature. Gotta get us one of these.

Salmon with a tomato sauce, quinoa and ratatouille. Simple plate that was so delicious. Each bite was savoured. We had a white wine from Bourgogne. It was incredible and we discovered later is a Chardonnay grape.

Before dessert in France they usually serve a Cheese plate. This plate had five types of Cheese. Two were creamy texture, two were harder texture and the other was a blue cheese. I loved all the cheese, but liked the hard cheese better. Pierre served a red wine from Saint Amour (Gamay Noir grape) that paired perfectly and was itself tasty. Red and green grapes were served.

The finale was two types of puddings. Chocolate with caramel and cream custard with red fruit. Wow! These two dishes were incredible. I loved the chocolate dish as everything went together so well. What an ending to a fantastic meal. We got up around 9:45 so we were there for almost four hours.

One of the guiding principles we have found when getting to know people from other countries and cultures is that we are very much the same and very much different. Many of the ideas and reactions can be common and different. What a great evening and ending to an interesting day.