Jour 74- Day Trip to Champagne~ Amir's in Paris!

Today, Libby and I woke up at 8 a.m. to meet at the bus stop to leave with API for another magnificent excursion! We were taking a day trip to Champagne, France to visit various underground champagne caves as well as spend a few hours in Reims.

We departed at 9 a.m. and to begin our journey, I dressed very light thinking it would be not too cold. Bad Choice. You see, in the past few days we have had the most amazing weather. It has been 60 degrees; not a cloud in the sky. It seems like the weather is starting to become bearable in France! Therefore, I only brought a light jacket. This was bad news because after arriving at our first stop in Reims at the Tattinger Caves, I was instantly freezing,

It was raining hard and very cold. Not only that, but we were supposed to go far underground where the temperature was supposed to decrease a lot! Oh shit! We arrived a little early, so Melissa took us on another glorious basilica tour. It was a local church by Tattinger, so it saved time. I was freezing, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have.

Next, we were en route to go underground and see how champagne was made. It was awesome. There were three different levels of the caves, and where each champagne bottle goes depends on what part of the aging process it is undergoing. There were hundreds upon hundreds of bottles laid on top of one another in little hallways of the caves. They will rest there for many years, depending on the aging process, and then will move to a new section of the cave where they will be turned a quarter of an inch for a few months, so that the yeast sediment reaches the cap, then the cap is frozen off and the real champagne is taken down to that last part of the cave where it will finish the aging process.

Throughout the tour, Libby and I were really tempted to take a bottle... I mean how would they know? There were so many, we could have easily been sneaky. After the tour came the best part--tasting time!

We all got to taste one flute of champagne. It was very good. I also took a picture with the world's largest champagne flute. Hah imagine that!

After Tattinger, we were off to the city center of Reims to get lunch and explore the Cathedral. The Cathedral is beautiful, a place where many French kings were coronated. We walked around a bit, but not much was happening in the city. Nick, Dema, Libby and I got lunch at a fast food joint. Dema and I were really craving ice cream but we couldn't find anywhere to get some. We figured we would just wait to get it at our next stop.

Next, we were on our way to Epernay where various Champagne Houses are situated. We drove up the Avenue de Champagne which is considered to be "one of the most expensive streets in the world" because of how much champagne is housed underneath. We passed by Moet-Chandon, Perrier-Joet, and other less famous houses.

We ended up at the Mercier House where we got a tour of their caves. This time instead of walking, we all got to take a train ride through the caves. It was the same deal with champagne bottles everywhere you look. After, we got another taste of champagne. Libby and I were practically drunk! Just kidding!

We had some time to spare, and on our way into Epernay, Dema and I had spotted a gelateria that we HAD to go to before we left. We tried walking down there, but there wasn't enough time. So, we persuaded Melissa to have the bus driver stop at the gelateria on our way back. We took a bus vote, or should I say I threatened everyone to raise their hand, but unfortunately the bus driver couldn't do it b/c he can only clock in so many miles per trip or he gets in trouble?!? What? Major cockblock!

So no ice cream. We got back around 7 p.m. Just in time to see Amir who was in Paris for the night before he left to go back home to San Diego! We met him in Kelly B's room and took him out on the town. We went to the Iguana Cafe in Bastille because that's where Jordan's b-tender lover was working that night. We got there, and were no where near classy women. We started taking body shots off of Kelly. We were a show. On top of that, Amir, Azzam and I took two Absinthe shots. That was the end of me. The absinthe tasted so bad, I had to ask the bartender for a glass of water! We were there for a really long time and then ended up going home around 3 a.m. I never got a chance to say by to Amir, because we went home in different cabs.. and I was blacked out haha.

It was a really fun night tho, and I'm sure Amir enjoyed his hungover flight the next morning back to the states. Gotta love when people visit!