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Champagne in WW1
Friday 11 - Monday 14 April
Champagne
This is the ½rst tour in a new series of wine and history tours. We are very pleased to have working with us Colonel John Hughes-Wilson, highly respected military historian and President of the Guild of Battle½eld Guides. The First World War was a critical moment in the history of Champagne. It brought to a sudden close the golden age where Champagne had ¾owed freely all round the world especially in Britain, Russia, Germany, and the USA. In 1914 and again in 1918 climactic battles to save France were fought here. With the charismatic John Hughes-Wilson as our guide we will look at how and why the French twice held the Marne. John is author of the recently published Blindfold and Alone which describes the harsh discipline in the British Army at the time which he will compare with the enlightened methods used by the French. These methods are reported to have included liberal amounts of champagne to quell the mutiny of 1917! We will also look at their disastrous Nivelle Offensive, just to the west of Reims. This in the words of Basil Liddell-Hart was a ½asco with a dangerous sequel caused in part by folie de gran-
deur. The men wearied of attacking barbed wire and machine guns and declared that whilst they would defend the trenches they would not attack. This was the great mutiny of the French Army. General Nivelle was sacked and it was left to General Petain to quell the mutiny. In 1918, the German Armies again broke through to the Champagne villages on the River Marne, here they ran out of impetus and the vaunted discipline broke down. Amongst the growers cellars there were disgraceful drunken scenes as the men refused to obey their of½cers. The Allied counter attack that followed was notable for the appearance of the Americans. Interwoven with this narrative we have visits to Champagne Houses and growers. We have a comparative tasting and a special visit to G.H. Mumm. At the beginning of the First World War, Mumm was the largest of the Champagne Houses; it was expropriated from its German owners, the Von Mumm family, and through the war served as a French divisional headquarters for the defence of Reims. In the Marne Valley, close to where the German attack of 1918 stalled, we visit the cellars of J. Char-
The Angel of Reims
pentier and enjoy lunch. Our other wine visit on the tour is the Bernard Hatté in the Montagne de Reims. After the war, Reims had been ruined and most of Champagnes export markets had been lost, but the French discovered that they loved Champagne and remain to this day its largest market. The History & Battle½eld Guide is Col. John Hughes-Wilson The Wine Guide is Tim Clarke
Outline Itinerary
Day 1 07.30 Depart Victoria. 09.15 Meet Folkestone 10.00 Meet Dover, Channel crossing by Ferry. Travel to Reims. Comparative Champagne Tasting Champagne visits including lunch. Champagne visits including lunch. Battle½eld visit. Lunch in Laon. 2000 Return Dover 2030 Folkestone. 2230 Victoria.
Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
Includes
Return Channel crossings by ferry, luxury coach, 3 nights 3* hotel in superior rooms, 3 meals with wine, 1 comparative tasting, visits and tastings. The maximum party size is 28.
Travel Price £pp Sole occupancy Deposit £ pp Room Upgrade
8
Ferry
The city of Reims was largely destroyed in WW1
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