Australian Abroad: Paris Photo of the Day

Reims and the Champagne Region

Between the two tours of the Mumm and Moët & Chandon Champagne caves we visited the town of Reims and their amazing Notre-Dame de Reims cathedral. The cathedral replaced a previous church which was destroyed by fire in 1211. It was damaged during the first world war but restoartion began again in 1919. It is one of the largest cathedrals and I had been in and featured spectacular gothic architecture.

Afterwards we toured the city centre and then caught the bus through the Champagne vineyards to Épernay. The vineyards were speckled with amazing fall colours of red, yellows and oranges against the back drop of green. The weather was wonderful and made for a very scenic drive.

Stephan Bodzin and Marc Romboy

Tonight I am off to Showcase a nightclub in an old naval hangar underneath the Alexandre III bridge in the Champs Elysées. The nightclub is featuring a showcase between the Herzblut and Systematic record labels. Headlining each of those labels are the two great DJs Stephan Bodzin and Marc Romboy.

This is the first time to this club for me and really only the second night out clubbing in Paris. The nights start out a little later than NY with doors at 11pm rather than 10pm. Im looking forward to hopefully hearing some great music on a great sound system that is clearly in a very cool location.

Here are two of my favourite tracks from the artists. The first is by Stephan and the second a collaboartion between the two. Should be a great night!

Australian Abroad Social Media Links

Here is a list of all of my social media accounts. Feel free to follow and Like them all. Much appreciated.

Instagram- @australianabroad

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Australian-Abroad/246556565366495
https://twitter.com/#!/aus_abroad

http://pinterest.com/ausabroad/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/AustralianAbroad1

http://aus-abroad.tumblr.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anaustralianabroad/

Australian Abroad and Champagne

My first day trip out of Paris was to the Champagne region to visit both the Mumm and Moët & Chandon cellars. The first stop was into the town of Riems to do the tour of the Mumm caves. The tour lasts for about an hour and includes a tasting of either their demi sec or brut champagne.

Following this it was off to Épernay to visit the Moët & Chandon caves. The tour is quite similar to the Mumm one where you watch a video followed by a tour of the caves. Moët & Chandon are a much larger wine company with over 25kilometres of caves. 

Both the tours were extremely informative. I learnt a lot about the process of making champagne as well as storage tips and food pairings. From the gift shops I also picked up a 1998 vintage magnum Mumm and 2002 vintage Moët & Chandon rose for 74 and 43euros respectively, which is a bargain. I thoroughly recommend the tours if you're a Champagne lover like myself.

Irish Food in Dublin

Ireland has some of the most delicious and hearty cuisines I have tried. Dishes such as Irish Stew, Dublin scampi and local oysters were all deliocious. And no trip to Ireleand is complete without a pint or two of Guinness.

Australian Abroad and Belfast

Last stop on my day trip into Northern Ireland was to the capital Belfast. The city is a lot smaller than Dublin and didn't have a whole lot to see. I was only there for a short time and was happy that I didn't devote a whole day to going there. I did however see the Belfast City Hall, River Lagan, Waterfront Hall, Spirit of Belfast sculpture and the famed Europa Hotel, which during the Troubles suffered 28 bombing attacks making it the most bombed hotel in the world.

Northern Ireland Country Side

During the drive out to the Giant's Causeway we passed through the beautiful Northern Ireland countryside. There were hundreds of sheep farms as well as pristine rolling hills. The weather was perfect for that time of the year. We also passed through the fishing village of Carnlough, home to Winston Churchill at one point.

Australian Abroad and the Giant's Causeway

I took a day trip out to Northern Ireland to visit the Giant's Causeway. The area is made up of tens of thousands of basalt columns caused by volcanic eruptions. The hexagonal columns jut up from the seaside in amazing patterns. Some of the key features include the organ and the chimney stack. Giant's Causeway is a natural wonder that is Northern Ireland's top tourist attraction and a great day trip from Dublin.