Not a good year for Champagne

Or so we suppose. That is, if the grape harvest is anything to go by.

Grapes left to rot on the vine.

As you can see for yourself, these 'Mumm' grapes have been left to rot. We saw some that had never ripened. The locals tell us there was not enough rain, and when you grow grapes on chalk slopes, rain is what you need.
But what do I know? Perhaps there will be less champagne, but what there is is excellent? Or perhaps we had just better forget this year, except to mix it with "parfum" as an aperitif. There needs to be some champagne for this purpose!
The other photos on this page are from out visit to Verzeney where there is an inexplicable lighthouse on a hill, miles from any water. And a windmill now owned by Mumm Champagne, from which the Americans viewed the battle lines in the second world war. Certainly there are good views, panoramic and very hard to capture on film.

Lighthouse on dry land.

Mumm Windmill. VIPs only!

Butterflies were abundant on this pleasant October day.

Notice the green grapes on the black grape vine in the last photo.....