Harbour

Relais Nautique Epernay

Name: Relais Nautique Epernay
Address: Épernay, FR

3.3Épernay, France

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Type: Harbour

Pleasure port on the Canal latéral à la Marne at Épernay, capital of Champagne in the Marne department.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Access via the Canal latéral à la Marne, Freycinet gauge, maximum draught 1.80 m. Lock 3 Damery downstream west and Lock 4 Dizy upstream east. No tidal constraint. VNF lock hours apply, typically 09:00 to 18:00 in season.

Practical

Around thirty berths on pontoons. Water and electricity included in berthing fee. Showers and toilets at the capitainerie. No fuel berth at the port. Town centre shops within 1 km, supermarket 1.5 km.

Ashore

Avenue de Champagne 1.2 km from the port, home to Moet et Chandon, Perrier-Jouet, and Mercier cellars, inscribed on UNESCO list as part of the Champagne hillsides, houses, and cellars. Hautvillers village 6 km north, burial site of Dom Perignon. Vineyard footpaths marked above the town.

History

Epernay developed around champagne production from the 18th century when the method of secondary fermentation in the bottle spread across the region. Moet et Chandon was founded here in 1743.

Story

Napoleon visited Jean-Remy Moet at his cellars several times, and gifted him his own Legion of Honour cross in 1814 during his farewell to the troops in the town.