There is only one place in the world true authentic Champagne is produced, which is in the region of Champagne just north of Paris. This beautiful area is covered in grape vineyards that stretch over rolling hills for miles on end. Nestled within the vineyards are tiny self-sustaining villages that are some of the quaintest things I’ve ever seen, many which have been around since the 1800’s. The number of times I used the words cute, quaint, charming, sweet or adorable during our day trip yesterday to this region was even somewhat nauseating to myself.

Aunt Nancy, Richie and I had a ball driving around the area (Jason sat this one out). Although I enjoyed myself, there was nothing that could compare to how silly and entertaining my aunt and her husband were together. With Richie as the driver and Nancy as the navigator it was a comedy of errors trying to get around -- even with the 3 maps Nancy had acquired, we continued to get lost throughout the day.

Somehow, after only about an hour and a half of searching we found the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay the capital of the Champagne region. Lined with the exquisitely grand Champagne mansions and champagne caves of the area, we couldn’t get enough of the street (minus the fact the road was a major construction site, since they were revamping the street).

We opted for the Moet & Chandon tour to see how the whole process of Champagne making took place. It was a fascinating walk through some of the 18 miles of underground caves where the champagne was housed. We learned that the minimum amount of time to produce a bottle of Champagne in that cellar is 3.5 years, which explains the hefty price tag. We of course got to sample the bubbly at the end of the tour, which put us all in a good mood and gave us strength to continue our explorations until late in the evening.