DAY 4 – 19 Dec : Mutigny

It may be the weather or a combination of our body clocks and the cold but we aren’t getting out of bed early at the moment. You know Mark would be nearly through a Comrades by the time I open my eyes. It’s not great haha but I do find it so much easier to wake up when holidaying in SA. Anyway, after yet another lie in this morning I decided to head out for a run while Ash joined a weekly team catch up call (her last for the year – yay!).

I started the run along La Marne , a famous river in France known for being the site of two eponymous battles during WW1. The first being a turning point of the war in 1914. I then looped back along the river and into Épernay past the Notre-Dame church and up the southern side of the town to vineyards where I paused for a minute and took in the natural beauty all around. Where there are no buildings or roads, there are vineyards for as far as the eyes can see. A truly special site that brought a smile to my face and some extra energy for the drop back down into town along the Avenue de Champagne and then home for a lovely 10km.

Ash had extended the check out time with the host which allowed her to have the call and us to slowly pack up the car before we headed for the town centre to have lunch. We ate at Grill ‘n Chill which was actually a lot more French that the name leads you to believe. We kicked off with a glass of Champagne each – Ash having the Pol Roger Brut and I sank a glass of Deutz Brut Classique. After all it is out one year engagement anniversary today ❤️.

For lunch we got burgers , Ash’s chicken and mine Beef, with all the trimmings and some delicious triple cooked chips and spicy mayo. A very good lunch that the spot but never stopped us from walking into the first Pâtisserie that we saw. Maison Dallet was Pete Mays idea of heaven. The attention to detail was special. We bought a bag of assorted macaroons (hazelnut, butter caramel, coffee and rose champagne) and a caramel brûlée assorted tart that literally spoke to me when I laid eyes on it.

I feel like coming to the champagne region and not being awake to wake up overlooking vineyards is a sin so with that logic we booked ourselves into a newly built hotel and spa called LOISIUM on the outskirts of Épernay (10km away) and right near the town of Mutigny which is home to around 200 people only. The receptionist checked us into a nice room but one overlooking the car park at the back of the hotel which didn’t sit well with us. I went back down and said we’d literally booked it so that we could look out over the incredible farms and not my VW Golf and she very kindly swapped us to a front facing room at no additional cost. We have the wintery down season to thank for that upgrade as there weren’t more than a handful of guests around from our initial observations.

To build up some appetite we went for a scroll through Mutigny and found a view point which looked out over Ay and Épernay in the distance. Pic below! We rang up the Mays at Natures and chatted to Finny, Robs, Pete and Linds before heading back. Ash, seeking a further appetite builder, went to the gym while I chilled in the room and watched some tv and chatted to my parents and aunty Jo a bit. For dinner we ate in their main restaurant, The Horisium, which has large openings, high windows and splendid views of the vineyards. Unfortunately for us by the time we sat down for the dinner it was dark outside and the only views through the glass windows were mirrored images of ourselves dining.

We had a glass of local white wine with a shared starter of goats cheese tart with pumpkin and a balsamic vinaigrette. There was also a little game of Backgammon during starters 🙂 For mains Ash had a vegetable curry with pita slices and I had their BBQ ribs with a sweet potato purée and ginger spinach. We then headed to bed for some blogging and late night macaroon – cheeky Ash!