Finally! The start of our summer holiday!! We’ve been looking forward to having three weeks off for this trip for well over a year. Last year, we were bummed that we couldn’t coordinate our move to the Netherlands in time for the annual summer shut down at DAF… and over the last few months, we’ve been dying for the start of this break. Now it is finally here and we’ve just arrived, after a lengthy drive, in Epernay, France. Epernay is in the middle of France’s Champagne region and home of the PJ, Moet and Veueve Cliquot houses – widely considered some of the most famous (if not THE best) sparking wine in the world.

Generally speaking, the Champagne region is flat and ugly. It reminds me a bit of Kansas with never ending fields of blowing wheat… (Is that wheat? Who knows, but I’m sure you know the image I’m looking for.) However as you approach Epernay, there are beautiful rolling hills covered with the green vineyards that you would expect. But it’s only a small parcel of land, a fact which we found surprising considering how many thousands of bottles of champagne and sparking wine are produced in the area.

We’ve stopped in a small Euro campground her and have a couple of quick observations… First, what’s with the squat toilets and no toilet paper? (Mark’s particular comments regarding this matter will be omitted from this journal entry.) Secondly, it’s very exciting to see that there are people here from all over Europe. It’s just like visiting a big camp ground in the United States except the license plates are from all over Europe rather than from various different states.

I guess I can forgive the campground for the squat toilets because after we finally started to settle down for the evening, we were sitting out enjoying a bottle of wine when up over the river there was a spectacular fireworks display! We figure they must have put it on just for us – a sort of “Welcome to Heide and Mark’s Summer Holiday” kind of show.