Page 134 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2019 PORTUGAL

when she recalled her teenage summers at her
grandparents'. Le Jard had not changed much
over the decades with its regal swans floating
on the slow-moving canal, its manicured gar-
dens and botanical wonders, and its famed
flower clock. The swans' distinctive call fol-
lowed us as we made our way back through the
quiet streets to La Maison de Marie Caroline,
across from the covered market where
Blanche's parents once owned their butcher
shop. Bruno had already filled us in with plans
for the next day, when the afternoon would be
capped with my presentation on Bitter Sweet
(in French) at Châlons' public library, the
beautiful La Médiathèque Pompidou.
4 September 1940
We find four or five trucks parked along the
Rue St. Dizier. They are loaded with French ri-
fles and machine guns with their magazines
removed. Sad wreckage of our national disas-
ter! Other trucks coming from the French in-
terior overtake us. They are laden with tires
bound for Germany.
The day began with a visit to a champagne
maker--of course, we were in Champagne!
Bruno knew just where to take us, to his
brother-in-law, Philippe Secondé's, La Maison
Barnaut (in the aptly named village of Bouzy).
The property has been in the same family
since 1874, when their founder, Edmond,
started the perpetual cuvée.
Not until the 12th century did the bishop of
Châlons, Guillaume de Champeaux, formalize
what is today considered the founding charter
for the vineyards of Champagne. By the time
of the French revolution, twenty-five hundred
acres of champagne grapes dotted the area
around Châlons. In the late 19th century, a
phylloxera epidemic destroyed half the vines

134 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE WINTER/SPRING 2024