Champagne region biking on the Marne River

[French Mystique Tours]

Lots of people like to make a day trip from Paris to the champagne region to do tastings and visit the cellars and most people will take a train to Reims or Epernay. These places do offer the largest selection of caves to visit and places to do tastings and many of the most prestigious producers are indeed in these places. But there are so many small local producers that can be found in the small towns and villages scattered throughout the region and many of them can be accessed by the local trains that run between Paris and Epernay. This train route runs along the Marne River and once you get past Meaux the vineyards will start appearing on the steep slopes along the river in the town of Nanteuil-sur-Marne and continue all the way to Epernay. Although the champagne region is not noted for its breathtaking natural beauty and scenery there are nonetheless many scenic places in this area with some of the best scenery right along the Marne River between Nanteuil and Epernay.

We've been having some terrific summer weather and since I had some free time I decided to take advantage of the lovely weather to do a bike ride along the Marne river between the towns of Nanteuil-sur-Marne and Chezy-sur-Marne. Nanteuil is located in zone 5 so I decided to do a loop starting and ending in Nanteuil so I could use a one day Mobilis Pass to leave from and return to Paris, since the zone 1-5 pass only costs 15.65€. My plan was to do a mix of riding along the river but also to pass through some of the villages and do some steep climbs up the slopes next to the river and ride on the dirt roads that criss-cross the vineyards, taking advantage of the heights to get great views of the valley and distant vistas.

I'll interrupt to mention that although I did this journey by bike you could certainly take a train to any number of villages where the train stops along the river and then walk to some of the champagne cellars of the small local producers and also take in some scenic walks/hikes. Sticking to the route I followed the train stops in Nanteuil-sur-Marne, Nogent-l'Artaud and Chezy-sur-Marne. If you get off at Nanteuil you can walk about 2km to 3km to the village of Croutes-sur-Marne. Here's a link that shows you a few houses you could visit, although I saw more than this:

www.vignerons-independants-champagne.com/VIGNERONS_INDEPENDANTS_CHAMPAGNE_WEB/fr/carte_commune_vigneron_independant.awp?sousregion=1&commune=02242

I think Nogent-l'Artaud might be a better stop as it is a really charming little village and you can walk across the river to Saulchery to visit some cellars and just a couple kilometers west of Saulchery you'll arrive in Charly-sur-Marne, which has even more champagne producers.

Here are links to some producers in Charly-sur-Marne:

www.charly-sur-marne.fr/pages.asp?rubid=84093&srubid=103604

Saulchery:

www.champagne-bernard-figuet.fr/

www.champagne-joel-closson.com/

www.champagne-gioria-latizeau-saulchery.fr/

Chezy-sur-Marne:

www.champagne-petit.com/

derekeneirepetit.free.fr/


There are hiking trails all along the river in this area and there are loads of places to find out about them on the web. Here's a site that will outline a 38km loop along the Marne called Les Balcons de la Marne, although you can just walk short stretches without doing the whole loop:

www.randonner.fr/Circuit/Les-balcons-de-la-Marne/%28offset%29/16/%28zone%29/74/%28search%29/1

I would say your best bet is to drop into one of the local tourist offices as they will always have loads of brochures and pamphlets about hikes and many other things that you just won't find on-line or in guidebooks. I stopped in the tourist office in Charly-sur-Marne and picked up at least 20 or 30 brochures about various things to do in the region and among some of the things I picked up were brochures with maps of hikes in the area.

But I digress so let's get back to my day of biking. Arriving in Nateuil-sur-Marne and got my first glimpse of the vineyards.





A brief ride through Nanteuil.






I was going to try to tell you something about Nanteuil but when I googled ''tourisme nanteuil sur marne'' the page that I found said ''La ville de Nanteuil-sur-Marne n'a pas de monument historique''. Translated, this says ''The village of Nanteuil has no historic monuments''. Well alright then, guess I'll just move along.




Arriving in Crouttes-sur-Marne.





The regional tourist authorities promote a touristic Champagne Trail Route (Route Touristique du Champagne) that you can follow throughout the region and which you can learn more about on this tourist office site:

www.champagne-ardenne-tourism.co.uk/champagne/default.aspx


Croutes-sur-Marne promotes itself as the first town on this route.




If you want to mingle with the locals then the center of village life is always the bar tabac, which in Crouttes is the building with orange awning in the next photo.






Leaving the village I decided to head towards the river and see if there was a trail I could follow. I had done some brief web research on roads and trails in the area prior to my exploration. I used my Michelin map and google maps and through that combination came up with some vague ideas for routes. The problem was that the Michelin maps don't show the local roads and in looking at google maps it was evident that most of the ''roads'' they were showing were probably dirt tracks through vineyards or some farmer's field. So at this point it was time to throw maps and plans out the window and just see what happens. I like doing that. I went down a dirt trail from the village, between peoples yards and gardens.....



…..and arrived at the river.




There were a couple of benches next to the river so I decided to take a seat and eat my picnic lunch and then get on with the day. After lunch I decided to ride up the steep river bank behind Crouttes and take in the hilltop vistas of the region, passing through vineyards along the way.




Going uphill.

[French Mystique Tours]

Just riding along the country roads around here you'll always come across one of the local champagne producers.




Still climbing.



Nearing the top there is a shoulder of the road with a scenic viewpoint.




I hate it when you've got the opportunity for a really scenic photo and there is some stupid object in your field of vision that detracts from the opportunity. Like a trash can, or construction work, or ugly people. In this case it was electric wires.






Here's a look behind me.




And here's the road ahead of me. Still not at the top yet.








Once I reached the top there were some really scenic views of the valley behind me. The village in the distance is Bézu-le-Guéry.






A look behind me from where I just came from.






Now at this point I had a decision to make. In looking at google maps beforehand I knew the ''roads'' I'd take would just be dirt trails through fields and vineyards, and there would be no street signs. From my memory, at bend in the road in this area I should take the second right and then go left at the first fork, left at the second fork, right at the end of that trail and then take my first left. Time to test my memory, and navigational skills.




Kids, don't try this.

[French Mystique Tours]

The fields of rapeseed (foreground of next photo) lost their blooming yellow flowers in early June and have slowly progressed from green to a light golden brown. Rapeseed is called colza in French and is used to make canola oil.




Here are a few photos of what rapeseed looks like when in bloom (taken during a different time of year).












I had reached the road I was looking for and it was a downhill ride into Charly-sur-Marne.








Looking back uphill where I just came from.




Onward.

[French Mystique Tours]

Entering the downtown of Charly.








Charly has several champagne houses and many of them appeared to be the kind of place you could walk into and ask for a tasting. There may or may not be anyone there to assist you but I'm sure if they are there and are available they would welcome you so don't hesitate to just walk into a place and ask. Just make note that if you are going to do a tasting it is proper etiquette to buy a bottle, or three. Make it worth the person's time in assisting you and help the local economy. Here's a place in Charly that looked kind of attractive.










Charly was a tidy and quaint little village and seemed to have an ample amount of stores, cafés, restaurants, services and amenities in comparison to most other nearby villages.










More champagne guys.














There is a scenic view of the vineyards on the road between Charly-sur-Marne and the adjacent village of Saulchery.

[French Mystique Tours]

Leaving Saulchery my plan was to head down to the river and see if there was a path along its banks that I might be able to follow.














You never know what kinds of trails you might run into and the ones I hate the most are the ones with loose gravel. It not only increases your chance of a flat tire but your tires don't get any traction and it's slippery. I encountered such a road so I just road on the grassy area to the side.




I finally arrived at what appeared to be the trail next to the river, which had a much better grassy surface for riding. I just rode on the hard track of the tire ruts cut into the grass.










I like just seeing what happens when I explore and hope for unexpected surprises. I got one as I happened upon the most charming little brick fairytale house. It had all kinds of colorful and decorative glazed enamel bricks and various touches of art nouveau detail. It was sitting all by itself next to the river in such an isolated setting. I was curious about how such a house came to be built in a place like this but was left wondering. So I just took some photos.

[French Mystique Tours]

I arrived at the bridge from Saulchery to Nogent-l'Artaud. I was ready for a cold drink and a place to sit and rest for a minute so I took a ride into Nogent to look for a café, since it appeared to have a few stores, cafés and such. I went to a place called La Taverne, right next to the bridge on the banks of the river. I walked in and the two crusty older guys at the bar just stared at me. I said ''Bonjour'' and they didn't say a word but just kept looking at me, the weird stranger. Then the bartender, who had been crouched down working below the counter, popped up from behind the counter and said ''Bonsoir...I mean Bonjour''. Which brings up a point. I still don't know when the day changes from Bonjour to Bonsoir. I can walk into one store around 5PM and will be greeted with Bonsoir and then go to another store across the street and be greeted with Bonjour. All I know is the change seems to happen at some time between 5PM and 7PM. Anyway, the bartender must have this problem too and corrected his mistake, since it was only about 3PM. I asked for an Orangina and if he could refill my water bottle. Then one of the crusty guys looks at me and says ''You should fill that up with alcohol''. To which I responded ''Yes, yes I should. But then there'd be less for you''. He liked that and cracked a smile and we exchanged a few words. The ice had been broken and now I was in with the locals. After my Orangina it was back to the river to continue the ride.






Even an ugly industrial plant looks nice next to the river. Well, sort of.




There was big pile of blue chemicals next to it.



.






Occasionally the path would go through a shady, wooded area.






And then you'd come out of the woods on a little unexpected surprise, like the cute little house and yard somebody had on the river.




They've even got a dock for their boat.




Garden gnomes are universally loved.














How's the fishin' guys?

[French Mystique Tours]

Approaching Azy-sur-Marne.






More champagne guys.








Crossing the bridge over the Marne to Chezy-sur-Marne.






Here's the rail line that runs between Paris and Epernay.






Chezy was a cute little village. Neat as a pin and pretty too.

[French Mystique Tours]

It's got some old, crumbly buildings which probably have some historical significance but I know nothing about that.










Here's the Town Hall in the main village square.






Heading down the main road leading to the village center.






They've got a pretty cool church in Chezy but there's not much in the way of stores. They had the usual bar tabac, boulangerie, patisserie etc. and maybe one restaurant, which seemed to be the Indain restaurant right next to the church.




But it was cute enough to ride around and explore so I did.

[French Mystique Tours]

I did learn that this house dates from the 15th century.








As I had mentioned earlier, the center of village life is always the bar tabac and that's usually where I go for a drink.




I've been to Chezy before and I've been to their bar tabac and the people in there always seem friendlier than in the other villages. Well okay, maybe instead of friendlier I mean more drunk. Anyway, people started chatting with me when I walked in and I answered the usual questions about where I come from and what I'm doing here. Then we started talking about the region, as I had mentioned I was sightseeing in the area. The locals seemed to have a village inferiority complex in comparing themselves to the village of Charly-sur-Marne. They spoke of how Charly got all the attention because it had the most stores, cafés restaurants, services and amenities of any village in the area. To them it was too noisy, overdeveloped and overpopulated. It was true that when I was in Charly I heard rap music coming from soneone's window and I did see a couple dozen people on the streets, so they had a point. Having seen Charly and now having visited Chezy I concurred that indeed Chezy was much less noisy, overpopulated and lively than Charly. I told them that indeed Chezy was the most charming village in the region. They appreciated my approval and we said our goodbyes and I moved on. It was a steep climb out of Chezy.






Looking back over Chezy.




From my memory of google maps I knew that there was another dirt road I could take that would lead me back along the river.




But I decided to stick with the road, since I knew it would be elevated along the banks of the river and give scenic views.




There were tree shaded stretches along the way.

[French Mystique Tours]

I was on the opposite bank of the river heading back to Nanteuil and I was now passing through Nogent-l'Artaud so it was time to get a few photos. They've got what appears to be an old abbey or church or something that is in ruins.






Like Chezy and Charly it was also a quaint little village.






Then back on the road through the countryside.










Descending the road into the village of Pavant.




If a village doesn't have much of interest you usually only take one photo. Here's my photo of Pavant.




I stopped to take a picture and was surprised to hear some guy yelling from an adjacent yard. ''It's a great spot for a picture, isn't it''? I didn't think it was that great but I agreed and he said everyone stops here to take a picture. Hmm, how about that?




I entered the village of Citry-sur-Marne, which was only worth one photo so here it is.




I was almost back to my starting point and had some time to kill before my train arrived so I headed down some dirt country roads through the fields and vineyards.











I was now back at the train station and the ride was over so that's the end.

[WH]

Wow, thanks! I am going to ride in your trails this June.

[Roxy from NC]

This was awesome. I felt like we were there. We are visiting France for the first time in March 2015. Would love to follow this trip,by car not bike. Love all the small Champagne Houses and villages. Would you like to be our tour guide? Seriously!

[French Mystique Tours]

Thanks WH and Roxy. I don't always check this website as it's a secondary site for my business website so sorry I didn't see your messages sooner.

Roxy - If you want to contact me about guiding services you can use my business e-mail at [e-mail]. I'll be happy to see if I can help you.