We were not aiming to reach Nancy that night, so we paused at Epernay.
The enemy behaved better there than in most Marne towns, perhaps because
Wagner once lived in it, or, more likely, under the soothing influence
of Epernay's champagne, which has warmed the cockles of men's hearts
since a bishop of the ninth century made it famous by his praise.
Nevertheless, there are ruins to see, for the town was bombarded by the
Germans after they were turned out. All the quarter of the rich was laid
waste: and the vast "Fabrique de Champagne" of Mercier, with its
ornamental frieze of city names, is silent to this day, its proud facade
of windows broken. Not a big building of the town, not a neighbouring
chateau of a "Champagne baron" has a whole window-pane visible, though
three years have rolled on since the cannonading did its work! Nowadays
glass is as dear as diamonds in France, and harder to get.
Outside Champagnopolis, in the wide wooden village of hospital huts, a
doctor told us a war ghost story. One night the Germans made a great
haul of champagne, of a good year, in a castle near by. They had knocked
off the heads of many bottles, naming each for a French general of
yesterday or to-day, when some officer who knew more history than the
rest remembered that Henri IV had taken Epernay in 1592. He named his
bottle for Henri de Navarre, and harangued his comrades on the
superiority of Wilhelm von Hohenzollern. As the speechmaker cracked the
neck with his sword, the bottle burst in a thousand pieces, drenching
everyone with wine.
Pages:
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76