Champagne André Bergère

Kind and efficient check-in, very nice room with huge bathroom. Comfortable bed and silent surroundings. Very nice garden where you can a glass of the excellent house champagne. Very good breakfast and free parking with locked gate in the night. Only downfall was that our room smelled slightly from the sewers.

This champagne house has a great spot on the Avenue de Champagne just along the road from Pol Roger, Jouet Perrier and Moet. We had a very large apartment for four. It was an interesting set up with a kitchen dinner, sitting area where the sofa bed was set up for the kids. There was also a WC. Then along the corridor was another bedroom and the bathroom. There was little privacy unless you went outside to shut the shutters and where the kids were sleeping there was no shutters to keep the light out. The bathroom shower was large but mouldy and had an old fashioned mixer where you mix the hot and cold water separately and annoyingly my youngest managed to burn her hand, but otherwise the shower was powerful. Breakfast was very bog standard, which pretty much sums up the whole experience. Staff are friendly enough but it’s like they are just dealing with the admin of checking you in and have no interest in you or your visit or even their own champagne house. In fact I feel that this champagne house is missing a trick by not providing a bottle or even a glass of the house champagne to welcome guests and maybe even encourage us to purchase the champagne. We went to the Bergere boutique and no information on the house or its history is available and so we didn’t feel enticed to do its tour. We went to Moet instead who offered us a free tasting the moment they spotted us debating which vintage to buy. Clever them, we left with both! The same indifference was felt at the sister restaurant La Cave de L’Avenue. But the food was good at least. Overall the whole Bergere experience was not what we were hoping for to round off an otherwise amazing tour of the country.

We stayed in Epernay on our route south. The hotel was easy to find, although the car park was a little more tricky (it’s address is actually 3 Rue Croix de Bussy). Car park is secure as the gates get locked at night. Comfortable bed, very dog friendly, he was even able to sit with us at breakfast, which was delicious. We enjoyed a glass of their delicious champagne in the sun before heading out. We ate in their bistro which is further down the street, food was lovely. The staff were all really friendly.