My daughter and I had the most fabulous day with Brice on our champagne tour in April 2024. There was only one other client booked with us so it was basically a private tour. The entire trip went smoothly from the moment of booking until we were dropped back in Paris at the end of the day. Brice contacted me by email about 5 days before our trip to connect. He provided his contact phone and confirmed the pick up location. He met us at the designated pick up location promptly just before 7 am. He welcomed us into his spotless van with fresh croissants or a pan au chocolate (1 each per person). While 7 am is an early start it meant that we arrived in Reims before the crowds. We started our day at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Reims. It was gorgeous and we were there before anyone else, so we had the cathedral almost entirely to ourselves. Brice gave us a short historical tour of the site and was more than happy to help take photos. We then went to the house of Lanson, where Brice organized our entry and then left us with the house staff to have a guided tour with a few other individuals from another group. It was still a very small and intimate tour and we learned so much about champagne production. Brice was waiting for us after the tour in the tasting room where we tasted 2 lovely champagnes. While we sampled Brice took our lunch orders for the restaurant. We then had a short stop a historical sweet shop before lunch. Lunch was at a lovely historical restaurant. We were seated promptly and had a delicious 3 course meal with water and wine. After lunch we went to the house of Pommery for a self guided tour the caves. This was more like a museum tour with very interesting/ecclectic exhibits. We used our phones to listen to the audio tour. Afterwards Brice was again waiting for us in the tasting room where he organized a tasting of a vintage champagne, which was a special treat. Afterwards we move to a beautiful nearby village where we met the charming wife of a local vintner who grows their own grapes and makes and sell champagne. She gave us a tour of their facilities followed by a tasting of 2 of their champagnes. We then visited the grave of the monk Dom Perignon in a charming small church. Again we were by ourselves at this site. Brice had a knack of getting us to every venue before the crowds arrived. He was very polite, professional and full of interesting facts and stories. The drive back to Paris was about 2 hours given the heavy traffic. We arrived back just before 8pm. It was the perfect day. We enjoyed the tour so much that my husband is going to do the wine tasting trip with Brice when he comes to Paris in May. I would unreservedly recommend this tour to anyone who loves champagne and beautiful scenery.
Date of experience: April 2024
Champagne Enthusiast Tour
