It is finally Friday and I am in the mood for some champagne-talk. So reminiscing our visit to Chateau Les Crayeres seems like the topic to take up today. Les Crayeres is a Chateau, a hotel and a restaurant located close to the center of Reims right next to Vranken Pommery. Sounds fancy? That it is, but also a pretty good place to stop by for a glass of bubbly. Regardless of the shiny exterior, it is a relaxed and warm environment to sip on your champagne.
It was a few weeks back, a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon in Reims. We were walking around getting a feel for the city and taking the opportunity to tour some champagne houses (the few ones that were open). We had been walking all day, mainly because the other option was taking a taxi, and with the last drips of energy we headed towards Les Crayeres located on the “other side” of the small town. We got a little lost on the way, which added to the tiredness, but finally found our way to the mansion.
Exhausted after our walk, we were shown to the inner yard, the terrace of Le Rotonde Bar. The view was amazing, like from a movie. A beautiful garden, black iron tables and chairs and an international crowd sipping bubbly with posh staff trotting around. All sweaty from the long walk I felt slightly out of place, but what the hell, I was thirsty for bubbles.
The champagne list was not long, however it was interesting. They had the Jaquesson 737 NV as their basic cuvee, a Henriot Rose Millesime 2008 and a few other interesting vintages by the glass. We did not even browse the list for full bottles, but I can imagine it being long. We opted for the first two, Jaquesson and Henriot and sat down to relax on the sunny terrace. The service was spotless and our champagne tasted like a million dollars. All was well!
Even though Les Creyeres seems very upscale, the price list was only moderately high. We paid around 14€ per glass, which was acceptable.We also received some complementary snacks to have with our bubbly. I am a sucker for snacks, so I was sold.
After we were finished with our glasses we had a look around the beautiful bar and courtyard. We chatted (as if we could afford it) that next time we come to Reims it would be fun to stay here. The restaurant at Les Crayeres, Le Parc has two stars and they also have a Brasserie that has perhaps slightly more humane prices. Now browsing at their webpage I can see that they do some quite moderately prices packages for hotel stay and restaurant, so that could in fact be an option. Now I know what I want for my birthday!
