Monthurel: A Taste of Local Life Around Maison Vejoll

 

Staying at Maison Vejoll: Let Us Tell You About Monthurel

If you're staying with us at Maison Vejoll — or simply dreaming of your next escape to Champagne — chances are you haven't yet heard of Monthurel. And that, in many ways, is exactly its charm. Tucked into the Surmelin valley in the Aisne, at the quieter, western edge of the Champagne region, Monthurel is home to just over 150 inhabitants, known locally as the Monthurellois. It is the kind of village that doesn't announce itself — no grand gates, no crowds — just vines climbing the hillsides, a scattering of stone houses, and the gentle sound of the Surmelin river running through the valley below.

The Surmelin, a modest 41-kilometre tributary of the Marne, rises near Loisy-en-Brie and winds its way through the valley before joining the Marne at Chartèves — passing close to the village and through the surrounding countryside. Surrounded by Champagne vineyards, Monthurel offers a peaceful setting and a natural starting point for exploring a wider territory shaped by both history and winemaking.

Walk through the village itself and you’ll find the kind of unpretentious, lived-in heritage that rewards a slow wander: three old lavoirs (wash-houses), once central to daily village life, and the mairie-école building dating back to 1869. The parish church — a modest 13th-century building — anchors the small square, a reminder of how many centuries this corner of the Aisne has quietly gone on being itself.

For those who like to walk off a good lunch (or a glass of something local), a signposted trail called "Les portes du paradis" sets off directly from the village — a 14.4-kilometre loop through forests and vine-covered slopes, with fine views over the surrounding countryside, passing close to the neighbouring villages of Connigis and Saint-Eugène. It's not a stroll, but it's one of the most rewarding ways to understand this landscape — vines giving way to woodland, woodland opening onto valley views, and back again.

The vineyards around Monthurel are planted with pinot meunier, pinot noir and chardonnay, feeding into the Champagne appellation, with some parcels supplying well-known Champagne houses — so yes, even here, in this small and largely undiscovered village, you are standing in Champagne proper.

And Monthurel makes an ideal base for going further. Château-Thierry, the largest town nearby, is about 14 kilometres away — the birthplace of the fabulist Jean de La Fontaine and a handful of excellent small museums. A little further afield, Condé-en-Brie's château — still privately inhabited, and classified as a historic monument — holds lavish 17th- and 18th-century interiors by artists including Watteau and Oudry, and is barely a ten-minute drive from our door.

In short: Monthurel won't be on many maps yet. We rather like it that way — and we hope, by the end of your stay, you will too.

Maison Vejoll was built for gathering around a table — the kitchen is made for real cooking, not just reheating, and the dining room has hosted its fair share of long, unhurried evenings. So on the nights you'd rather stay in than go out, we like to point our guests toward the markets and producers that make staying in worth it: fresh cheese, just-picked vegetables, a bottle of something local, and everything you need for a proper Champagne-country meal, all within easy reach of the house.

Weekly markets

• Charly-sur-Marne 02310 -Place du Général de Gaulle: Thursday morning 7 am to 12pm — ~27 km

• Chézy-sur-Marne 02570 -Place du Lieutenant Lehoucq: Saturday morning 7am-1pm — ~20 km

• Nogent-l'Artaud 02310 -Place du Marché: Sunday morning 7am-1pm — ~24 km

• Château-Thierry 02400 -Place de l'Hôtel de Ville: Tuesday morning (covered market) and Friday morning 8am-1pm — ~14 km

• Fère-en-Tardenois 02130-Place Aristide Briand: Wednesday morning 8am-1pm — ~24 km

• Neuilly-Saint-Front 02470 -Place de la mairie: Saturday morning 8am-12pm — ~28 km

• Condé-en-Brie 02330 -12 Place des Halles: Thursday morning 8am-1pm — ~5 km

Local producers' market

• Condé-en-Brie 02330 -Place de l'Église Saint-Rémi / Rue de la Gare à Condé-en-Brie: 1st Sunday of the month (April–October) 9am-1pm — ~5 km

• Viels-Maisons 02540 -Place de Viels-Maisons: 1st Sunday of the month 10am-12pm — ~21 km

• Essômes-sur-Marne 02400 -Place Saint-Ferréol: 2nd Wednesday of the month, 4–7pm (March–December) — ~15 km

Country market

• Marigny-en-Orxois 02810 -Place de la Halle: last Sunday of the month (March to the last Sunday before Christmas) 8am-1pm — ~29 km

Organic market

• Rocourt-Saint-Martin 02210 -Ferme de la Génévroye, Chemin de la Génévroye: 2nd Saturday of the month 10am-2pm ~23 km

We Love Local Producers

At Maison Vejoll, we have a soft spot for local products — the kind made by hand, a few kilometres from where you're staying, by people who know their craft inside out. So we've put together a list of nearby cheesemakers, growers and producers, along with when and where you can find them.

Cheesemakers

For goat's cheese, La Chèvrerie de la Dhuys, in the hamlet of Confrémeaux near Pargny-la-Dhuys, is well worth the detour: Marina and David raise their own herd and produce a full range of farmhouse goat cheeses — fresh, flavoured, aged, and the classic faisselle. Direct farm sales are Fridays 5:30–7pm and Saturdays 3:30–6:30pm, and you'll also find them at the Dormans and Condé-en-Brie markets.

6 route de Montgon, Pargny-la-Dhuys 02330

Mêêêrveilles de chèvres is a young, organic-certified goat farm run by Ilona and Nathan at the Ferme de la Genêtre — fresh and flavoured cheeses, tommes, camembert, and yoghurts, alongside a small herd of Highland cattle kept for eco-grazing. Their farm shop is open Wednesdays (2–5pm), Saturdays (10am–12pm and 2–5pm), and every evening Monday to Friday (5–7pm), where you'll also find other local producers' goods. They also run farm visits with activities for children — treasure hunts, mystery boxes, and animal petting.

La Ferme de la Genêtre, 02310 Charly-sur-Marne

A little further north, La Fromagerie de la Haye in Armentières-sur-Ourcq specialises in raw cow's milk products — fresh cheeses, fromage blanc, crème fraîche, tommes and raclette — sold directly from the farm every Wednesday, 3:30–7pm.

7 rue de la Haye, Armentières-sur-Ourcq 02210

Greengrocers & farm shops

For fruit and vegetables, Les Jardins d'Abylone in L'Épine-aux-Bois grows organic seasonal produce, along with homemade jams and even a little saffron — available from their self-service vending point (open daily in season) or in person on Saturday mornings, May to October.

115 Rue de la Garenne, L’Épine-aux-Bois 02540

Les Jardins de Karine, right in Essômes-sur-Marne, sells vegetables straight from the garden on Tuesdays and Fridays (2–6pm) and Saturdays (10am–5pm).

Rue de la Marne, Essômes-sur Marne 02400

And for something a little different, Hervé Pommeraie, an environmentally certified orchard in Coincy, sells apples, apple juice and pear juice straight from the farm.

2 Chemin de dessus de la poterie 02210 Coincy

Opened everyday except Saturday and Sunday
8am–12pm and 1–5pm

And for something sweet

No trip to the local producers would be complete without honey — and Happyzabeille, based at the Miellerie du Tartre in Épaux-Bézu, is worth a stop. Martial has kept bees around Château-Thierry since 2014 and now runs beekeeping workshops and farm visits alongside selling his own naturally produced honey — a nice, hands-on option if you're travelling with curious little ones.

10 Allée de la Sotière 02400 Épaux-Bézu

A Farm Visit and Two Good Addresses in Château-Thierry

If you'd like more than a shopping trip, Les Biquettes de la Bruyères in Fontenelle-en-Brie (about 12 km from Monthurel) invites you to spend time on the farm itself. You can meet the goats and their kids, learn how faisselles, fresh yoghurts and raw-milk cheeses are made, and taste flavours such as raspberry, fig, apricot and wild garlic. Visitors can also bottle-feed the kids and watch the milking, which makes it a lovely outing for families. The farm shop is on site, so you can take your favourites home.

Address: 1 Les Bochages d'en Bas, Fontenelle-en-Brie, 02330 Dhuys et Morin-en-Brie

Contact: fauvet.fanny@orange.fr

In Château-Thierry, about 14 km away, two shops are worth adding to your list. Fromagerie Scellier, at 64 rue Carnot, has been a cheesemaker since 1850, and stocks Brie, goat's cheeses and others matured in its own cellars, with cheese platters to order for a dinner at the house. A few streets away, La Bottega di Emma at 57 Grande Rue is an Italian deli and caterer serving homemade dishes, focaccia, antipasti, Italian cheeses and charcuterie, and tiramisu. It's a handy stop for an easy dinner or an aperitif spread.

Bring a Little of Monthurel Home to the Table

Whether you spend a morning wandering a village market, follow a country lane to a farm shop, or stop for cheese in Château-Thierry, we think the best way to get to know a place is through what it grows and makes. Everything on this list is within easy reach of Maison Vejoll, and much of it will look very good on our dining room table.

Opening days and hours can change with the seasons, so we'd suggest checking with each producer before you set out. Whatever you bring back, we hope it makes your stay in Monthurel taste a little more like home.

*Note: images are for illustrations purpose only