I’m not usually a small town girl. I like the hustle and bustle of a city with lots of things to do to fill my time. But what Epenay lacks in size, it makes up in charm and ease and fabulousness. So could I ever see myself living in Epernay? Let’s break it down.
Atmosphere
As the epicenter of champagne production in France, there’s a quiet luxury about Epernay. Its squares are neatly trimmed, its storefronts pristine, and the access to some of the best alcohol in the world is unmatched. I can see myself trying the new vintage champagnes at my favorite local champagne houses on a summer day for fun.
Even after just a week, I had already discovered my favorite bakery where locals line up for baguettes every morning and specialty deli for incredible meats and cheese. This is terribly comforting, so it would be a big plus about living in Epernay.
The city is also the kind of slow that I dream of being capable of. When I tried to order 200 g of ham at Bon Vivants, the friendly shopkeeper asked if I was hosting a party. When I explained that I was not but we were in town for a week, he replied, “we’re open tomorrow!” Like it was the most appalling idea to eat two-day old prosciutto. And maybe it should be.
People
Like most French cities outside of Paris, the locals in Epernay were exceedingly welcoming and kind. We didn’t have any issues communicating in English at any restaurants, so it would probably be effortless to live in Epernay even with limited French.
The only downside is of course that the city is full of wealthy tourists, who are not usually my favorite people. As a general rule, I prefer to spend my time with locals instead of doing what visitors want to do in any particular city. Given how small Epernay is, it’s probably hard to avoid that, and thus, avoid being treated constantly like an outsider, a visitor, a tourist.
Dog-friendliness
I have an entire post dedicated to traveling with a dog in Epernay, but suffice it to say, Epernay is quite welcoming to furry companions. Dogs are allowed everywhere… except places dogs want to be. Like parks! Though the city is surrounded by rolling hills of vineyards, the city itself is not very green. Many of the few small parks don’t allow dogs even on a leash. This is something I’ll never understand about France, but it moves the city down a couple of notches in livability for me.
Cost
Housing in Epernay is surprisingly not very expensive. There are two bedroom apartments for sale for less than €110,000. So this is actually a city in Europe where I might be able to afford to buy and eliminate the need to rent. That being said, the cost of dining and especially drinking out dwarfs the cost of housing. So the question is not whether I could afford to house myself in Epernay but whether I could afford a social life where sitting down for 3 glasses of champagne and a cheese plate costs as much as a monthly mortgage payment.
Food
Cost aside, everything in Epernay is such high quality that it finally made me realize why Czechs complain about the quality of our food. The French palate is refined to an extent that everything is intoxicatingly good. I would spend half my life eating only warm baguette and aged Comte and be pretty happy about it.
Though because Epernay is so small, the choice of restaurants is rather limited not just in number but in cuisine. As much as I enjoy a good steak or escargot, I would eventually need to have decent Vietnamese or Mexican. It would be hard for me to live without culinary variety.
Total livability score: 6/10
Epernay is adorable and quite a special destination for a few days. But the long-term prospects start to decrease when you start to weigh its downsides.
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