Champagne
Abbey in Champagne the late 17 th century. After falling for a subtle, citrusy Champagne, we are told that cellar-masters compare the process of assemblage with the role of an artist choosing his palette of colours. So we are not so far from Renoir after all.
The ghostly monks return in the Abbaye d’ Auberive, a sober Cistercian foundation, once the sister abbey to Clairvaux. Set on the banks of the Aube, the monastery flourished in the 13th century. The serene Cistercian spirit somehow prevails, despite the abbey’ s checkered past as prison, cotton mill, detention centre, Benedictine retreat, then wartime Nazi headquarters. The soothing monastic gardens and pared-down spaces now form an inspired setting for exhibitions of contemporary sculpture and outsider art.
Further east is Langres, an unmissable fortified town commanding a rocky outcrop. Wrapped in ramparts, and dominated by a tower, Langres was bordered by medieval enemies. Gabled but still secretive, it makes an inviting lunch stop. In Le Café de Foy, on Place Diderot, we tuck into the tasty local cheese salad and mirabelle tart, washed down with a jug of Chablis. Cuisine champenoise tends to come in two forms: earthy or gourmet, with prices to match. The simpler bistrots, like this one, may serve sauerkraut, andouillette sausages, pigs’ trotters, white pudding( boudin blanc), as well as servings of Langres and Chaource cheeses. Playful
`bouchons de champagne’, chocolate champagne corks, reflect the biggest regional brand.
Winding gently north leads to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, a place of pilgrimage to the French, particularly for the older generation. In most polls of `the greatest Frenchman of all time’, de Gaulle rubs shoulders with Napoleon and Louis XIV. As General de Gaulle’ s home, and sanctuary during the `wilderness years’, Colombey itself has become a symbol of French patriotism. La Boisserie, the family home, and the graveyard where de Gaulle is buried, draw reverent visitors. But for outsiders, far more telling is the Memorial Charles de Gaulle, the museum dedicated
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