France, that double magic between lights and impalpable bubbles

"October 30, 1908. Pilot Henri Farman flies over a stretch of countryside for the first time in Europe, achieving the feat of connecting the city of Châlons to Reims, the capital of Champagne ." The newspaper clipping reports that it took Farman 20 minutes to connect the two places, 27 km apart, and that the plane stopped just outside the cathedral under the astonished gaze of passers-by.

Today we travel differently but the amazement remains when, aboard the fast TGV train, you quickly reach destinations of unchanged charm, in every corner of France. The first surprise, landing in Paris, is the possibility of arriving in ten minutes at Disneyland Paris: the Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy stop is right in the heart of the park, which since 1992 has amazed 15 million visitors every year with its attractions and which with its shows takes you back to the world of childhood and fun. The park is double: Disneyland, with Sleeping Beauty's castle that stands out in the background and where classic Disney stories come to life, and Walt Disney Studios with the themed areas of the colorful worlds of Disney, Pixar and Marvel. Disneyland Paris is truly magical, where 7 themed hotels are ready to host visitors from all over the world and where exciting shows bring together the most beloved characters, such as the Disney Music Festival which, until September 7, offers 12 traveling concerts in the company of Disney and Pixar characters, and the Disney Tales of Magic, a 20-minute show at Sleeping Beauty's castle with pyrotechnic effects, colored lasers and new technologies. Info: disnaylandparis.com Starting from the park station, in just 52 minutes of travel you arrive in Reims, the historic capital of the Champagne region (explore-grandest.com).

And here the landscape changes dramatically: the train crosses a silent and undulating countryside, where the hills of the Marne and the Aube are completely covered with vineyards and crossed by long ribbons of asphalt that connect isolated abbeys and elegant rural villages with slate roofs. In this territory, until the 16th century the vineyards produced discrete white wines until a Benedictine friar, Pierre Pérignon, changed the history of wines and the region . Born in 1639 in Sainte-Ménéhould, he devoted himself to viticulture among the vineyards considered among the noblest in the world in the abbey of Hautvillers, built in the 12th century a few km from Eperney. The friar died blind and almost teetotal but became in all respects the father of champagne, assembling for the first time different local grapes and trying to obtain impalpable, irresistibly pleasant bubbles. He achieved this by adding liqueur du tirage, which releases carbon dioxide, and arranging the bottles tilted with their necks down so they could be rotated an eighth every day to deposit any residual sediment near the cork. After a few weeks, Brother Pérignon decided to inject a syrup of alcohol and sugars into the wine, removing the cork and the sediment, to adjust the sugar content . Dom Pérignon used cork stoppers held in place with string in pear-shaped bottles made of thick, resistant glass; to ensure a constant temperature for the aging of the wines, he dug tunnels in the chalk subsoil, which drained excess water and retained the heat of the day to release it during the coldest nights.

Today his tomb in the Abbaye Saint-Pierre in the small village of Hautvillers is a pilgrimage destination for those who love history and champagne: you can visit the tomb and his statue, walk through the vineyards, taste local products, including vinegars from the Vinaigrerie Les enfants de Bacchus, which recycles champagne bottles. You can have lunch in the many restaurants and cellars, all marked with wrought iron signs such as 'Bar a vin le 36', which offers a tasting of 2 glasses of champagne and some typical products. Seven kilometers separate Hautvillers from Epernay, a delightful town surrounded by vineyards and home to some of the most prestigious wineries, a UNESCO heritage site for 10 years, which are located along the Avenue de Champagne, a road over a kilometer long overlooked by elegant buildings and small castles. On July 4, the avenue celebrates a century of life with concerts, events, parties - 'Vigne art' with installations and the long table on July 14 - and guided tours of the various maisons: from Moët & Chandon to Mercier, from Ruinart to Boizel. The latter is a family business in its sixth generation, whose vault houses bottles dating back to 1834, the year of its foundation . Under the iconic avenue, 110 km of cellars and tunnels are intertwined, dug into the chalk up to 20 metres underground, where over 200 million bottles are stored in a journey through the history and tradition of the most sparkling region of France. For the night, among the many proposals are the Hotel Jean Moët, a stone's throw from the avenue, and the Hotel La Briqueterie, Relais & Chateau with 40 rooms, a spa, two restaurants and a heavenly garden overlooking the vineyards.

The journey continues to Aÿ-Champagne, where the Pressoria Champagne Interpretation Center offers a sensorial and interactive tour to discover the territory and the secrets of the bubbles and where everyone can virtually create their own bottle. Here you can buy bottles but also the famous biscuit rose of the maison Fossier. Finally there is Reims that conquers with the two towers and the Notre-Dame cathedral, a Gothic masterpiece celebrated by many artists and decorated with 2303 statues and the wonderful stained glass windows by Chagall, witness to the coronation of all the kings of France. Severely damaged by the bombings of the First World War, the city was rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century in the Art Deco style, which today coexists harmoniously with its most famous face : that of the capital of champagne, thanks to the oldest and most prestigious cellars in the world, such as those of Taittinger, reopened in 2024 after a long renovation, where you can visit the cellars and taste 2 or 3 cuvées. For lunch, while waiting for the new Polychrome restaurant, there are many addresses, such as the Brasserie Boulingrin or the restaurant of the hotel La Grande Georgette. For the night, the ideal is the Hotel Caserne Chanzy, a 5-star hotel in front of the Cathedral. Info: france.fr/it