The balloon of Épernay grounded on Esplanade Charles de Gaulle in the town centre with the steeple of the church of Notre-Dame, Épernay, Grand Est (Champagne), France
Some background information:
In 1900, Eugène Mercier, the founder of the champagne house Mercier in Épernay, created his first captive balloon for the 1900 Paris Exposition, where he offered the visitors to get an overview of the exposition from above. At the same time, the balloon was a great tool to promote his champagne. Today’s balloon located right in the town centre of Épernay is just a revival of Mercier’s idea. During a balloon ride of ten minutes, visitors can soar 150 metres into the air and overlook the town as well as its surrounding vineyards.
The church Notre-Dame in Épernay is not as old as it looks like. The town’s first church named Notre-Dame was built between 1520 and 1550 in Renaissance style. Over time it fell into disrepair and partially collapsed in 1824. Between 1826 and 1833, it was restored, but collapsed again in 1892. Only St. Martin's Gate remained, which can be seen today in a square in the town. The municipality decided to build a new church Notre-Dame, while the old one was demolished in 1909.
The new building was designed by the architect Paul Selmersheim, who was inspired by the Gothic church in Braine on the river Aisne. Construction began in 1898, stopped in 1905, and finally resumed from 1910 to 1915. During the German offensive in July 1918, shells caused part of the vault to collapse and damaged the façade. Repairs were carried out from 1922 to 1925.
From 1915 onwards, the building was enriched with the Renaissance stained glass windows of the old church. After they had also been damaged by the bombing of 1918, their remains were stored at the glass painter Soccard in Paris. However, his workshop caught fire, further reducing the stained glass. Today, the original stained glass windows can still be seen in the choir and the apsidal chapels.
The town of Épernay is located in the French Grand Est region, about 130 km (81 miles) north-east of Paris on the mainline railway to Strasbourg. It has more than 22,300 residents. The town sits on the left bank of the Marne at the extremity of the Cubry valley which crosses it. Épernay belonged to the archbishops of Reims from the 5th until the 10th century, when it came into the possession of the counts of Champagne. It was badly damaged during the Hundred Years' War, and was burned by King Francis I in 1544. In 1592, it resisted Henry of Navarre and his troops. In 1642 it was, along with Château-Thierry, named as a duchy and assigned to the Duke of Bouillon.
Épernay is best known as the principal "entrepôt" for champagne wines, which are bottled and kept in large cellars built into the chalk rock on which the town is built. The major grape varieties used in champagne are the pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay. But the production of the equipment and raw materials used in the champagne industry is also a major source of local employment.
Many larger and smaller champagne houses have their headquarters in Épernay. That’s why the town is often named "the capital of champagne". A lot of them reside in noble mansions or villas alongside Epernay’s Avenue de Champagne, which is hence often called "the most valueable street of the world". The cellars of these champagne houses are right beneath the street and the champagne houses by its side.
Merely the cellar tunnels of Moët & Chandon have a total length of 110 km (68 miles). Hence, one can imagine that the chalky soil, on which Épernay is built, is hollowed like Emmentaler cheese. Apart from famous Moët & Chandon with its likewise famous second brand Dom Perignon, champagne houses in Épernay include Mercier, De Castellane, Boizel, Charles Mignon, Château Comtesse Lafond, A. Bergère, Pol Roger, Collard-Picard, Janisson-Baradon, Esterlin and Perrier-Jouet, to name just a few.
In 2015, the whole Champagne area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was named "Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars" and was admitted into the World Heritage List for being the site, where the method of producing sparkling wines was developed.