My Glamourous Week in Champagne

OK, so sue me. This week I got lucky and landed a housesitting gig in the heart of Champagne country, in Avize, a little town on the trail of the Blancs des Blancs - a term which I don't completely understand but which has something to do with Chardonnay grapes grown in the local chalky soil. I can't post photos from here so I'll just describe it for you: Imagine vines growing on gently sloping hills, old stone houses on narrow streets, and a church with a bell tower (yes, the bells ring every hour and quarter hour) that dates back to Roman times. Whew. The history is interesting but what I am more interested in is the wonderful (awesome!) fact that there are more birds than cars, more trees than people, and all the green my eyes can handle - so much green it's almost obscene, broken only by bold red poppies and rose bushes planted at intervals among the vineyards.

I would write more but it's time to throw some hors d'oeuvres together - guests are coming from Paris to share in my Champagne experience. Stay tuned!