Wedding in Reims day 5: a wish fulfilled

It's the day after the wedding, and everyone feels a little exhausted. We bid our farewells after breakfast and begin to go our separate ways. I've got a little time left in Reims and decide to revisit the Notre Dame and do some final bit of Champagne shopping.

I've always loved the Notre Dame in Reims. It's not as grand as the one in Paris, and because of its location it receives far less tourists. But it is the site for the coronation of every King of France for many centuries, so it does have its own special place in history. Last but not least, it has the set of stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall depicting the life of Jesus. This alone makes it very, very special in my book.

I have a bit more time left and continue my quest for Champagne. I did eventually find a shop next to Notre Dame that carried Jacques Selosse wines, but they would only sell one bottle to each customer, and you had to buy something else of equivalent value. Painful, but I was out of options. I deliberated a bit and settled on a bottle of Jacques Selosse Exquise, a wine supposedly made for chefs like Pierre Gagnaire to accompany their desserts. Given that only 1,000 bottles of this are made each year, I was content to walk away with my single bottle...

The TGV journey back to Paris was mostly uneventful, except for a nearby neighbor who really needed a good bath. Soon I found myself checking into the Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais. This is a charming boutique hotel near the Hôtel de Ville in the Marais, named after the author of the Marriage of Figaro. The hotel itself is tiny, and so were the rooms as it turns out. We barely had enough room to open up our large suitcase. I'm used to small Parisien hotel rooms but this one took the cake...

Right as I was settling into my cozy room, I received a call from my helpful friend telling me that a pair of Birkins were available at the Hermès flagship store on Faubourg St-Honoré, but I only had half an hour before the store closed. We rushed over and managed to sneak through the door just past the official closing time.

Unfortunately, we were told that there were no more Birkins for the day, and once again the saleslady suggested that we return on Monday at an earlier time. We did however manage to pick up a Kelly for another friend, and befriended a new contact for our upcoming return on Monday. Hopefully I would be able to accomplish my mission then...

We weren't really hungry for a while, so we ended up having dinner late. I finally got the chance to go to Le Train Bleu, the classic brasserie in the Gare de Lyon. I've been wanting to come here ever since I saw "Nikita" during my college days. The desire heightened when my friend Cathy gave me "Les Plus Beaux Restaurants de Paris" a couple of years later, and the restaurant featured prominently on the book's cover. The dining room just looked so beautiful and grand, and it did not disappoint in real life!

I started with saucisson pistaché à la Lyonnaise en brioche, sauce Périgueux. I was intrigued by the idea of stuffing the big sausage inside the brioche, and I just couldn't resist another meal with sausage. The black truffle sauce was very, very nice...

Soufflé de sandre, sauce Nantua aux queues d'ecrevisses, tombée d'épinards primeur et pois gourmands - this is a savory soufflé made from zander with crayfish sauce, on a bed of spinach, mushrooms and crayfish tails. This was pretty tasty, but not surprisingly a bit heavy...

We shared a refreshing dessert of rose gelée, yuzu sorbet with red fruits. The different sweet and sour red fruits worked in harmony with the sorbet and the jelly, and I really, really liked this one.

It was almost midnight by the time we were done, making it another long day... Final note: the hotel bed in room 22 was actually 2 single beds put together. For some reason, the center of the bed smelled like old gym socks... I guess this was just a day for us to experience the smelly side of France...

Wedding in Reims day 4: wedding banquet at Les Crayères

Today is the big day. Basically we would spend the entire day staying within the grounds of Les Crayères, eating and getting drunk....

The ceremony started around noon and was staged outdoors. One could not have asked for more beautiful weather. Blue skies, white clouds, temperature not too warm and not too cold. Perfect day for a lovely wedding.

Lunch was served after the ceremony in the private area of the restaurant. The hotel restaurant used to carry 3 Michelin stars on my last visit, when Gérard Boyer was still the resident chef. Now the 2-star restaurant is overseen by Didier Elena, who spent time under Alain Ducasse and opened the chef's New York restaurant.

1999 Amour de Deutz was poured to celebrate the happy occasion, as this was the wedding couple's favorite Champagne. Nose of toast, toffee and slight oxidation. Pretty nice to drink.

The amuse bouche was langoustine ravioli topped with foam. The sauce had a curry flavor. Nice way to start the meal.

Salade de homard: rafraîche, mangue vert et avocat - the lobster salad was very nice and refreshing, topped with shredded and marinated green mango on a bed of avocado cream.

2006 Domaines Ott Clos Mireille Blanc de Blancs - very floral with white flowers, anjou pear, ripeness and a bit of honey on the nose. Very good mid-palate with an acidic finish.

Blanc de bar: au naturel, aromates aux herbes fraîches - nice, gently-cooked seabass with a lemon sauce topped with zucchini, pine nuts, tomato, arugula and red olives.

Fruit exotique: soufflé cacahuète passion, nage de fruits frais, neige d'argumes, sorbet coco-citron vert - a nice tiny soufflé with passion fruit and peanuts, with lemon and coconut sorbet. Refreshing and the flavors dance around the tongue...

2007 Mas Amiel Muscat de Rivesaltes - a bit of orange, rose and floral nose.

A very good and "light" lunch... Of course I was sitting at the rowdy table, so there were loud cries of "Cheers!" in Cantonese every few minutes and everyone would get up to clink their glasses. The staff was amused, if not a little annoyed perhaps...

While everyone went off to sleep off the alcohol, I continued my duty as the backup photographer, snapping pictures of the wedding couple in all their glory. Soon it was time for dinner...

Once again we started with some 1999 Amour de Deutz outside for cocktails and some snacks, before moving into the main dining room. Nose of toast and pear.

Huître Gillardeau à peine tiédie, crème citron et herbes fraîches - Gillardeau is my current favorite oyster, but here they decided to cook it lightly, so the freshness has been lost. Still reasonably nice with the lemon cream.

2000 Blain-Gagnard Batard-Montrachet – buttery, toasty, sweet grass, tangerine, lemon and white pepper. Ripe on the palate.

Homard bleu: à cru, caviar d'Aquitaine et condiments - nicely sliced lobster topped with some caviar, surrounded by a ring of crème fraîche with onions, chives and sprinkles of paprika.

Saumon sauvage: enrobé de truffles noires et cebettes, quelques champignons blancs, relevé de gingembre - the wild salmon was topped with scallions on a bed of tiny croutons, mushrooms with sprinkles of black truffles.

2000 Pichon Baron – what a beautiful wine. Mint, eucalyptus, ripe stewed fruit, smoke, forest…all coming together for a wonderfully sweet nose.

Piece de bœuf Rossini: reduction d’une sauce madère truffée, dauphinois – the steak was covered in a truffled Madeira sauce, but it was too big for me to finish. The big hunk of foie gras was soft and tender, and I couldn’t even touch the potatoes…

Pommes de nos regions: en superposition, beurre “Suzette” – interesting green apple and white chocolate concoction.

1988 Yquem – wonderful nose of orange marmalade and honey. It’s a pity that we didn’t stick around to finish the wine.

We moved outside and watched fireworks being launched from the large hotel lawn. I guess the groom did pull out all the stops...

After a bit of dancing, I slipped off and opened a bottle of Champagne that I REALLY wanted to drink. The Jacques Selosse Brut Initiale NV was as I remembered, with lots of bubbles and a nose of oxidized iron, pear and lemon citrus. It's a bit more on the dry side. Good stuff but I ended up with only one glass... boohoo...

Wedding in Reims day 3: a date with Pierre Gagnaire

It's the day before the wedding, and the couple has arranged for separate boys' and girls' day out - both in Paris. We boarded our respective tour coaches and spent the next 2 hours on the road to Paris.

The main event for the boys was lunch at Pierre Gagnaire's flagship Michelin 3-star restaurant in Hotel Balzac. Fifteen of us took up the private room at the back of the restaurant, and a gourmet fest unfolded over the next 3 hours.

We started with some Champagne - Jacquesson Cuvée N° 733. This was smooth on the palate if slightly flat, with lemon citrus nose and not too dry on the palate.

As is typical with any meal at Pierre Gagnaire's restaurants, there were the usual numerous amuse bouches, including little white truffle balls and some almond sablé. I lost track of all the different stuff.

Nage émulsionnée de colinot à la coriandre fraîche. Pannequet de tourteau, pressé de lapereau au combawa. Fèvs, petits pois, dés de spek et betteraves rouges - a wonderful dish with crab meat wrapped in a green leaf crêpe, with sprinkles of young rabbit ham, green peas, pineapple flakes and red beets in kaffir lime sauce. Many different flavors but they worked in harmony. A cold starter that gets things going.

Œuf au plat version PG; asperges vertes et blanches aux écorces d'agrumes. Bisque de crustacés au poivre vert - I love it when chefs play with eggs. This was fun because the egg whites were deep-fried while the yolk remained liquid. The yummy shellfish bisque provided the main flavor for the dish, while the green and white asparagus provided the counter-balance to the heavy taste of the shellfish.

I ordered up the 2003 Coche-Dury Meursault as it seemed reasonably priced. Wow! This wine just blew me away. Very heavy toast on the nose with sweet, buttery popcorn. A little sweet on the palate. This was just an amazing wine that just kept giving. I can't believe that this was just a village wine! It's easy to see why everyone begs Jean-François for more allocation...

Tranches de barbue pochée dans un beurre au laurier; artichauts poivrades & radis noirs croquant. Salade d'épinards Lee - the butter-poached brill was pretty nice, and interestingly paired with radish, artichoke and spinach.

Moving on to a red, this time the 2003 Roumier Chambolle-Musigny. Big nose of mint, eucalyptus and black fruits.  My mistake was not ordering this earlier, so the wine didn't have too much time to breathe before we drank it. But it did well under the circumstances.

Agneau de lait de Lozère: pièce tendre au vadouvan, aubergine et pâte de tamarin. Bouillon oriental, semoule fine au safran - this milk-fed lamb from the south of France was absolutely yummy. Pierre Gagnaire loves to blend Oriental spices into his dishes, and here was a prime example - Indian spice blend vadouvan and tamarind. All this on a bed of a saffron-flavored semolina.

Next came a series of desserts - again a signature at Pierre Gagnaire's restaurants. Along with the usual series of petits-fours, we started with a Sauternes gelée topped with gold leaf, in framboise and rose sauce. This was so refreshing and yummy.

Then there was the chocolate banana cake wth kaffir lime on top. My piece, however, came with a lit candle and a white chocolate plaque wishing me happy birthday... The groom finally was able to "get" me after his failed attempt at Michael Mina 6 months ago. Pretty decent.

The "egg" that showed up next had a thin layer of caramelized kiwi for egg white, a "yolk" of mango sorbet topped with passion fruit sauce, all on a bed of orange rind. Very interesting as well.

Finally we had a chocolate concoction filled with caramelized orange rind and cherries. Good way to finish up the lunch.

We were all stuffed to the brim from this wonderful lunch. The gang split up for the next two hours and wandered around Paris for a bit. As there was no way any of us could eat any more for a few more hours, we decided to board the bus and head back to Reims.

I started feeling the hunger pangs a little just before 10pm, and decided to go to the hotel bar and order something to eat. The moussaka d'agneau looked interesting and it's been a while since I've had it. When it came in a air-tight glass jar, I was a bit stunned. It's cold?! That's doesn't look like any moussaka I've ever had... Another look at the bar menu, and I see the small print at the bottom indicating that all the dishes are served cold, out of glass jars like this one. Oh well. It was basically rillettes with eggplant blended in, instead of the minced lamb that I was expected. Chalk up another new experience...

Better get to bed soon...got a big day ahead of me.

Wedding in Reims day 2: rendez-vous with Dom Pérignon

I'm going to the wedding fesivities in Reims today. Checked out of the Park Hyatt bright and early, headed to Gare de l'Est to hop on the TGV for the 45-minute journey.

We arrived at Château Les Crayères and checked into our beautiful corner room over looking the lawn. Once we dropped off our luggage, it was time to head into town for some Champagne shopping. The gang is having lunch inside the hotel but I wanted to venture out and visit an old favorite in town.

First I descended into Les Caves du Forum, a wine shop that is actually entirely underground so that the temperature is naturally cool and constant. I chat in broken French to owner Fabrice, and ask him for some recommendations for grower Champagnes other than Egly-Ouriet and Jacques Selosse. He is out of stock on Selosse (aarrrrggghhhh!!!) and I decided not to clean him out of his Egly-Ouriet, but I still took away a case and a half of bubbly.

After putting the wines in the trunk of the car, I head towards Notre Dame to find another wine shop. This time the shop carried mostly Grande Marques and didn't offer many interesting choices beyond those. I quickly picked up a bottle and move on.

I wanted to lunch at Le Vigneron, a wonderful small establishment I know in town. I enjoyed some wonderful andouillette there on my last visit, and I was looking forward to revisiting Hervé Liégent's charming restaurant. But I circled around Place Paul Jamot in vain and saw no sign of the place. Calling the restaurant yielded a recorded message informing me that the number was no longer in use.

Dejected, I head to L'Esplanade as it was recommended by a local resident. It served reasonably priced simple fare. I would have andouillette frites, which came with a huge portion of French fries. The andouillette here, however, was not of the AAAAA variety. It was a tubular section of what must have been a long sausage link, and it did taste a bit more salty than what I'm used to.

Back at the hotel, the group boarded a tour bus which took us for a tasting tour of Dom Pérignon Champagne. Our destination would be Épernay, where Moët et Chandon is based, but first we made a stop at the Abbey of Hautvillers. This was where Dom Pierre Pérignon made a name for himself in winemaking, and our guide Yumi took us on a tour of the Abbey and the land surrounding it. Although grapes for the wine comes from 9 grand cru vineyards, part of the blend always comes from the vineyards of Hautvillers out of the tradition of paying respect to the wine's namesake.

Next we got back on the bus and headed for the Moët's cellars where bottles of Cuvée Dom Pérignon are aged. It's your standard Champagne cave tour, where you walk around the underground cave dug out from the limestone. As you would expect, it's a real maze down there because unlike wineries producing still wine, Moët et Chandon ages Cuvée Dom Pérignon for 7 years before disgorging and releasing it onto the market. This means that the inventory that is being carried is quite significant. Production of any given vintage is said to be around 2 million bottles...

Interestingly, Yumi told us that once disgorged, Champagne does not improve in the bottle so it should be consumed within 10 years, roughly the same amount of time the wine has spent aging in bottle with the yeast. At this point I was thinking WTF....? Any Champagne lover - and the buyer who spent over USD 21,000 for a bottle of 1928 Krug Collection at the Acker HK auction in March - would certainly take issue with that statement. But hey, what the heck do I know? She's the one working for Moët et Chandon and I'm just a guy who loves drinking old Champagne...

We finished our tour of the cave and head back above ground for the tasting. The 2000 Dom Pérignon was pretty decent and open, with a bit of toast and some minerals in the nose. The acidity balance was pretty good mid-palate, although it turned slightly acidic on the finish. The 1998 Dom Pérignon Rosé, by comparison, was much less interesting. It was smoother on the palate, but the nose was pretty shut.

The staff opened the doors to the interior garden, and we sat outside and enjoyed the two glasses of Champagne. The Tree of Three Emperors has been around since the time of Napoleon, and is the site where three European emperors drank Champagne together as they proceeded to capture Paris during the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon. Funny how Yumi (nor the plaque under the tree) mentioned this little detail... I guess French pride runs deep...

We took the bus back to our hotel, and after resting for a bit (and a change of clothes) we headed back out to Épernay for dinner at La Grillade Gourmande. We started with an amuse bouche of a single escargot with a small, round piece of melba toast. Yummy but only bite-size.

Next came poêlée d'écrevisses au champagne, a plateful of pan-fried crayfish in - what else - Champagne sauce. This was really, really yummy and I'm like a kid in the candy store again, getting the sauce all over my hands and going through every head and pincer of the crustacean. I soaked up the sauce with some bread, and gleefully spooned the rest into my waiting mouth.

Main course was tournedos grille avec escalope de foie gras de canard grille au feu de bois. The big hunk of beef was pretty good, with mine just a little pink and not really "bleu". Pretty juicy and delicious, but simply too big for me to finish. The woodfire grilled foie was soft and just the way I like it. Needless to say I never touched the baked potato...

Dessert was warm centered chocolate cake with ice cream. These days I'm not a fan of this, because it's been so overdone. But this particular version was pretty nice and I had no trouble finishing it.

We're in Champagne so of course I'm on the hunt for some good stuff. I discovered Billecart-Salmon Brut Blanc de Blancs on the list and decided to try a bottle. This is an NV Champagne because two different vintages are used in the blend. A very toasty nose with a bit of honey and lemon citrus notes. Pretty decent but no "wow" factor. Guys at the next table ordered Vranken Demoiselle Cuvée 21. This was more interesting, and tastes like aged Champagne - or aged white wine for that matter! Distinct nose of sweet grass, orange blossom, green apple and minerals. The bubbles were very fine and came up slowly, making the wine nice and smooth. Yummy stuff.

With my belly full and my head buzzing a little, we head back to the hotel and call it a night...