Still traveling through Champagne country and couldn't help thinking how all this came about! A quick Google and voila! It was one gigantic mistake - and then it took the Brits to solve the big problem for the French. The grapes grown in the champagne district failed to fully ferment, leaving some sugars in the mix when bottling. This would then continue the fermentation when the temperature increased in the spring time causing many bottle explosions in the cellars. The French meant to be making a still wine and didn't like the bubbles, it took the aristocratic Brits to make this a fashionable drink. Because of this the Brits discovered how to make their bottles much stonger than the French bottles - a different glass making process - resulting in a stronger and thicker bottle, thus stopping the bottle explosion while the fermentation continued in the bottle. And the rest is history - well, nearly, there were a few other problems but you can read that for yourself.
For a while we followed the Marne River down and relished in just how much rain there has been of late - the Marne was flooding and flowing very rapidly. We had met some Aussies a day ago who were in a canal boat and they spoke of the troubles they had on flooded parts of the Marne.
We had a stop at Chalons-en-Champage for a look around the town. Obviously quite a wealthy town with very clean streets and buildings that had been kept in good condition. The cathedral and a few timber framed houses gave it a sense of age but essentially it was a modern town.
We later drove on to the very pretty lakes side of St Marie-du-lac-Nuisement. Lots of activities here around the lake but also very quiet and peaceful.
