VIP Welcome – part 1

During our 1985 visit of the Champagne region we stayed at the ‘Royal Champagne’ hotel in the hamlet of Bellevue. The hotel is situated in the middle of the vineyards and overlooks the town of Epernay. It’s a former coach inn, and said to be one of Napoleon’s favourite stopovers. But then again, if you are to believe all the stories about the places where the man supposedly slept, you could ask yourself when he found time to do battle … as he must have slept an awful lot!

Today the hotel belongs to the prestigious Italian ‘Baglioni Hotels’ group. They have turned the inn into a rococo palace that doesn’t even remotely look like the original place. In the eighties, however, Royal Champagne was part of the French LVMH group, which owns luxury brands such as Moet & Chandon (Champagne), Hennessey (Brandy), Dior (Perfumes and cosmetics), Louis Vuitton (leather), etc. We didn’t know that at the time, and to us it was just another hotel.

View from the terrasse of our room at the hotel 'Royal Champagne',
with in the valley the town of Epernay.

You can’t stay in the Champagne region without visiting at least one of the larger wineries. Most of them are located along Epernay’s Avenue de Champagne. Not knowing which one to pick, we called in the help of the hotel manager. He recommended we’d visit the winery of Mercier. Like Ruinart, Mercier was taken over by Moët & Chandon in the seventies. He explained that the visit included a train ride through the long underground corridors of the winery, followed by a tasting session on the ground floor. He handed us a hotel leaflet on which he wrote that we were staying at the hotel and that the visit had been recommended by him personally.

So we set out to Epernay and the Mercier winery. We arrived just in time to take the ten o’clock guided tour. When we handed the leaflet to the receptionist, she picked up the phone and asked if ‘Mister Augustin or his assistant’ were available. Five minutes later a smart young woman appeared from behind one of the doors leading into the main hallway. In the meantime a coach of tourists had arrived and we assumed that we would be taking the guided tour with them.

To our surprise the young woman took us apart and led us to a private elevator, while the people in the group were queuing at the stairs led by the tour guide. At the foot of the elevator a little train was waiting. Our private guide showed us to the first carriage, immediately behind the driver. “Enjoy your visit. I’ll come back to pick you up after the tour.” She said before returning to the elevator. We sat there patiently waiting for what was going to happen next. A few minutes later the driver, the tour guide and the other visitors arrived and we were ready to go.

(to be continued)

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