Connigis

Location

Connigis lies in the Aisne département on the border with the Marne, beside the little river Surmelin. Around twelve kilometres separate the village from Château-Thierry to the west, and Épernay is about 34 kilometres to the east. Administratively, the commune belongs to the arrondissement of Château-Thierry and the canton of Essômes-sur-Marne. In 2023 it had 306 inhabitants, about 7.8 per cent fewer than in 2017. The disused railway line from Château-Thierry via Condé-en-Brie to Montmirail runs through the village.

Connigis has no standing as a grand cru or premier cru. If you want to explore Champagne away from the big names, this is a place that is still thoroughly rural: the commune is classed as rural with scattered housing.

Landscape and water

The Surmelin is 41 kilometres long. It rises at Loisy-en-Brie, passes through 17 communes and joins the Marne at Chartèves. Once you know the river, it is easy to see why the area suits vines and farming. The underground water conduit known as the Aqueduc de la Dhuis also touches the commune. Built between 1863 and 1865, it now supplies, among others, the towns of the Val d'Europe, including Disneyland Paris.

“In 2023 it had 306 inhabitants, about 7.8 per cent fewer than in 2017.

Land use shows how little of the area is built on:

• Woodland: 45.6 per cent
• Arable land: 28.5 per cent
• Permanent crops: 11.1 per cent
• Mixed agricultural land: 8.3 per cent
• Meadows: 6 per cent
• Built-up area: 0.4 per cent

In this part of France, permanent crops include viticulture. The source does not say how much of that is given over to vines.

Climate

Connigis has a temperate oceanic climate with cool summers (Cfb in the Köppen-Geiger classification). The nearest Météo-France station, at Blesmes six kilometres away, recorded an average annual temperature of 10.6 °C and an average of 713 millimetres of rainfall for 1991 to 2020. The extremes are far apart: 40.3 °C on 25 July 2019 and minus 15.3 °C on 12 January 1987. For winegrowing, swings like these are a familiar subject.

De Venoge Champagner

What to see

The name of the village is recorded as Conegi as early as 1218, and its spelling changed several times over the centuries. Today a short stop is worthwhile above all for the historic buildings:

• The church of Saint-Georges, classified as a monument historique since 1920
• The cemetery cross, also classified, since 1922
• Several wash-houses, including the one on the Place de l'église, which shows La Fontaine's fable "The Fox and the Goat"
• The former château estate: all that remains of the château is the courtyard on the road from Crézancy to Celles-lès-Condé, whose outbuildings now house guest rooms

The farmstead makes a peaceful base for tours through the western Marne valley, with Château-Thierry and Épernay within easy reach.