A Champagne Afternoon
Paris during the Olympics had the volume turned all the way up. Beautiful, yes. Electric, of course. But so loud that even my thoughts needed a break. By midday, I knew I needed a different kind of luxury. Something quieter. Something honest. Something that didn’t involve competing with an entire city for a moment of calm.
That is how the four of us ended up on a train headed toward the countryside.
Our full Champagne tour group.
The Day Finally Let Me Sit Still
Paris slipped away as we rode toward Reims. Buildings blurred, then softened, then disappeared under fields. The farther we went, the quieter everything became. Even our conversation shifted. We stopped performing the day and started living it.
Our first stop was Champagne Geoffroy, where the light felt warm enough to settle your shoulders. The guide spoke with an ease that invited curiosity instead of intimidation. I learned about lees by accident. The warm flavors I love weren’t magic. They were intention and patience.
Outside, the vineyard opened toward the valley with the kind of assurance that doesn’t need to announce itself.
The wine selection from one of the Maisons we visited.
Hautvillers and a Moment of Quiet
The Hautvillers Abbey where Dom Perignon was laid to rest.
Hautvillers felt like a village that trusted its own charm. Stone walls. Quiet corners. Flowers trailing from windows. Inside the abbey, Dom Pérignon’s resting place sat in a room that seemed to inhale and exhale at its own pace. No spectacle. Just calm.
The drive between villages carried us through long stretches of vineyard. The hills didn’t rise dramatically. They floated. It felt like the landscape was inviting us to slow down.
Not my first wine cellar, honestly.
What I Learned About Champagne
Lees: Time on lees creates the warm depth I always look for.
Terroir: Chalk and cool air shape the brightness. Region matters.
Cuvée: A cuvée is the house’s expression through blending.
Disgorgement: The date, when listed, hints at clarity and freshness.
Brut Levels: Brut Nature is crisp, Extra Brut is clean, Brut is softer.
What Stayed With Me
What lingered wasn’t the landscape or the architecture or even the tastings, although all of that was beautiful. What stayed was the ease. The quiet confidence of a day that didn’t need to impress me to mean something. The freedom to walk through a Champagne cellar and feel at home in a place I never imagined standing when I was growing up in Racine.
That, for me, was the real luxury.
I left Reims with a better understanding of Champagne, but also a better understanding of myself. I’m learning how to choose ease when I can and live well in ways that feel honest to who I have been and who I’ve become.
The quiet stayed with me long after the train carried us toward Paris. And even now, it feels like something I can return to whenever I need to remember how far I’ve traveled, and how well I’m learning to live.
