The town of Troyes, and even the Aube department in which it stands, is little known to British tourists, even those who are ardent fans of France. If, like me, you love colombages (half-timbered) buildings - and there aren't many English people who don't, Troyes and the surrounding area is definitely for you. I went on a little tour of some of them with master carpenter M Jean-Louis Valentin (something of a celebrity in the Aube for his work in restoring the many beautiful half-timbered house) who pointed out little details here and there - a carved head, a coat of arms or some special feature. Aside from the splendid architecture, Troyes also boasts a beautiful gothic cathedral, abundant churches and museums and - for something completely different - more than one hundred out-oftown factory shops selling designer clothes and shoes at heavily discounted prices. Something for everyone, whether culture vulture or shopaholic.
Later in the day we visited two strikingly unusual half-timbered churches- St- Quentin's church at Mathaux and St-Julien & St-Blaise's church at Longsols, the latter of which M Valentin had a hand in restoring. On a previous visit to Aube I visited the Lac du Der Chantecoq, one of the two large lakes on the Aube-Haute-Marne and Marne border. It was a truly memorable experience, arriving at dawn and watching the cranes taking off in the pink sunrise. This time paid a visit to the neighbouring group of lakes in the Pare Regional de la Foret d'Orient.
The group of three lakes in the park, Amance, du Temple and d'Orient are used to regulate the level of the River Seine, an essential function to avoid a great deal of flooding further downstream to beyond Paris. Along with the Lac du Der Chantecoq, which regulates the River Marne, these lakes whose total area exceeds 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) provide a huge leisure amenity, with sailing and boating, fishing, swimming, water skiing and bird-watching. I was destined for a spot of cycling. Fortunately I love cycling, so it was no hardship for me, especially as it was a lovely, sunny autumn morning when I turned up at the Base Nautique Queen Mary at Dienville, to hire my bike. Another definite plus point was that a huge network of dedicated cycle tracks, dubbed velovoie, have been created around the lakes from which all other traffic is banned making it entirely 'family-safe'. Armed'with a map I set off on a gentle jaunt around the lake. Frankly, I would have kept going had not time been against me but sadly having cycled about seven or eight kilometres, I had to do an about turn, return the cycle and carry on my way.
The Base Nautique was very well organised, with shops, a bar-brasserie, plenty of parking and a place from which to hire cycles, boats, water skis etc. A great place for a family holiday - or even that second home in France you've been promising yourself.
It was to be a day of leisure pursuits as my next port of call was a newly created holiday centre some twenty miles southeast of Dienville (see map on page final page). On the edge of the village of Bourguignons, the Domaine de Foolz (tel: 00 33 (0)3 25 29 78 86) might suffer a bit of a disadvantage in the Anglophone market with its name but it is a very imaginative new development which opened just in time for the 2004 summer season. Centred around a quality restaurant stand groups of stylish and attractive log cabins on the banks of the River Seine. There is an indoor heated swimming pool and other facilities, principally the means to discover the lovely champagne vine covered slopes by quad bike or 4x4. Special training is given for the quad bikes and you make your visits through woodland and vineyards in supervised groups.
It is not so widely known that one quarter of the world's champagne comes from the Aube department. Six thousand hectares (1 5,000 acres) of vines stretch along the Cote des Bar, between Bar-sur-Seine and Barsur- Aube. Across the fields it's not far from Bourguignons to the village of Les Riceys. This pretty village boasts three separate Appellation Controlee designations, for Champagne and two still wines, Coteau Champenois and Rose des Riceys, its famously exclusive rose, the favourite tipple of Louis XIV.
After an excellent lunch at the Domaine's restaurant, I spent a very enjoyable afternoon visiting the vineyards busy with the vendanges in a Land Rover Defender, making the journey there and back entirely off-road. Nice as it was by 4x4, next time, I'd like to go by quad bike - it looked such fun. I'm very pleased to say that it is almost impossible to escape the influence of champagne (that's 'influence' in its intellectual, rather than alcoholic sense) when you are between the Bars (-sur-Aube and -sur-Seine) and Friday was to be my 'Champagne Day'.
As someone with a keen sense of history, I find some of the historical anecdotes that one comes across in connection with champagne quite absorbing. Take Champagne Drappier in Urville for example, in and around which I was to spend most of the day. Wine has been produced on this site now for two thousand years. The present custodian of the business and the home is Michel Drappier with his father and mother still on hand to help (and children waiting in the wings to carry on the tradition), but the Drappier family history goes back to the beginning of the seventeenth century. Remy Drappier, a merchant draper (hence the name) from Reims and his son, Nicolas (1669-1724) were suppliers of wine to Louis XIV. It was in 1808 that Louis Drappier moved to Urville and began to develop the business that is still thriving today. But you have to go back to the twelfth century to discover the history of the magnificent vaulted cellars under the house. The family's heritage is linked with stories of Cistercian monks and their leader, St-Bernard of nearby Clairvaux Abbey, one of the most influential religious figures of medieval France. However, the story actually begins during the First century AD, when the Gallo-Romans first planted vines on the site.
Drappier pere, fils and even petit fils (aged seven), despite being very occupied with the vendanges which was in full swing the day I visited, were generous with their time and hospitality and at the inevitable tasting (with spittoon) I understood why the House of Drappier has such an excellent reputation with their broad range of wines, even if it is not a household name. No wonder President de Gaulle always specified Drappier champagne at his private receptions at his home at Colombey-les- Deux-Eglises, which I was to visit in a few days time.
After lunch chez Drappier, I spent what was to be a lovely afternoon in the vineyards watching, photographing and talking to the hundreds of vendangeurs spread across the Drappier vineyards. When the weather is kind the atmosphere is so convivial, with people from all over Europe and beyond gathering together for what in reality is fairly back-breaking work. Despite the rigorous nature of the work, everyone seemed so good-humoured and I spent a very happy afternoon in the company of these casual workers.
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