Life in France: Verzenay

I'm getting anxious to start sharing our trips with you, but it will probably take another 4 posts before I have finished with our region.
Verzenay is a small champagne village with ca. 1 100 inhabitants. The village was almost completely destroyed during WWI, so many houses, like ours, date from 1920 as they were built as part of the big redevelopment programme.
Once you know that there are 250 wine growers involved in the 500 ha of vineyards, you realise what an important role champagne plays in this small village! Below is a 'spider'. These are used in the vineyards and with their many arms they really look like a spider! (In the background you can see it was early spring, not green yet, although at that time we were happy for the green leaves appearing and it felt quite green to us after a long winter!)

Like in many other champagne villages, the champagne houses have beautiful signs displaying some aspect of growing and producing champagne, along with their name. And in some cases, like champagne de babo furst, displaying the whole process on wall tiles.

The brick frames around the windows are very typical of this area.

Below: fête de Saint-Vincent

Every year the winegrowers celebrate the fête de Saint-Vincent. Vincent was born in the 3rd century in a small Spanish village in the Pyrennees. As a Christian he was martyred by the Romans. According to legend numerous miracles saved him from death. The origin as to why he became the patron of the winegrowers is not sure, as there are different theories. However, the first fête was celebrated in the mid 16th century. The fête is especially celebrated in Champagne and Bourgogne, each village celebrating it in their way, but always wearing the traditional winegrowers outfit.

Below: the old champagne press on le square de l'Europe

A beautiful lavender bush on someone's sidewalk. As you can see, Verzenay doesn't have big sidewalks, making it quite difficult for pedestrians as cars, trucks collecting champagne, bicycles, motor cycles and pedestrians all compete for the same space!

The old age home, opposite the marie and just down our street

The marie, you can see the bells on the rooftop - ringing every 15 min (quarter past once, half past twice, quarter to three times, on the hour four times and then the nr of rings for the hour - very helpful when you are working in the garden without a watch...). In the front you can see the square where our weekly market is held on a Wednesday morning, not very big - only fruit, vegetables and a butcher.

Above: Champagne Pommery, as Verzenay is a Grand Cru village, all the famous brands have houses or collection points here. This is where the annual fête de st jean takes place, involving a village dinner where you buy champagne at €2/glass and the evening finishes off with a spectacular firework display. The next morning you can do a walk of 3, 6 or 9 km through the vineyards and forest, finishing off in the village where you have to follow a map to visit about 10 stands to taste food and beverages from the region.

Below: a street in Verzenay

Above: a beautiful old champagne house that nowadays accommodates the entertainment halls of the village. Unfortunately it requires some restoration, but it is still beautiful.

Houses vary - some pretty, some neglected, some boring, some interesting... (these will give you an idea of what houses look like around here)