Reims

Living in Paris is really great, but sometimes you want to get out of town to enjoy something a little bit more laid back. That was the intention on setting up a day-trip to the village (city) of Reims. Reims is about 45 minutes by TGV train to the northeast of Paris. It is about half way to Germany, which is evident in the strong accents the people of Reims often have. I went with three classmates, Benna, Janet, and Jessie, and we got into town at about 9:45 am.

The first thing you see in Reims is the huge cathedral, Notre Dame de Reims. It soars above every other building in town, and you can see it from afar. We headed towards the cathedral first, to get a map of Reims from the tourism office next door. When you approach the cathedral you are immediately drawn in. We entered, and immediately were entranced by its beauty. I have been to a lot of large cathedrals now, but nothing quite as grand as the cathedral in Reims. The history of the cathedral is amazing in itself. Clovis was baptised there in the 400s, and since then, most kings of France were coronated at the cathderal. The church that Clovis was baptised in is part of the cathedral, and since it has been added on to, to make it one of the grandest and largest cathedrals in France. It is still being worked on and added to, as illustrated by the gorgeous Marc Chagall stained glass windows in the back of the cathedral. The outside of the cathedral is just as spectacular, with enormous flying butresses, and elaborate stonework all around.

We stopped in a cafe for a quick coffee, before almost running to our next stop. We had signed up online for a tour of a champagne cave. Reims is one of the largest towns in the region of France known as Champagne. This region is technically the only place in the world where champagne can be made. If champagne is made somewhere else, they are technically not supposed to call it champagne. We signed up for a tour and tasting at Pommery, the largest champagne cave in Reims. We decided to take the tour in French, so as to practice a bit. Our guide was really interesting, and he had a very thick germanic accent. He took us through the caves, 30 meters underground! Inside the caves there were tunnels and tunnels that were filled with bottles. The tunnels are named after different cities in the world, so they can keep track of which bottles are where. The guide told us that they store the bottles (filled) in the caves for 7 to 10 years. This means that when you buy a bottle of Pommery it is at its perfect age. He said that you can keep it for about 3 years, but that after it might start to taste strange. The guide also explained that they store the champagne in the caves because the caves have the same temperature and humidity level all of the time, which makes the process perfectly consistent. After the tour we went to the main room and got a sample glass. I'm not a wine/champagne person, but it was quite good. Everyone around us seemed pretty impressed at least. I just thought it was fun to try out the product that we got to see the making of behind the scenes.

After the caves we walked back into the center of town to find a place to eat. We wandered up and down one of the main roads, and stopped in a cafe. We had agreed ahead of time that we would have a nice meal in Reims, to experience the local specialties. So we all ordered the plat du jour, a risotto and fish plate with a very rich butter sauce. It was delightful. I also had a brownie with it, and then a coffee (the best I've had in France I think). It cost about 15 euros, which was actually a very reasonable price for what we had.

We then wandered around the city, stopping at the Porte de Mars (a wall from the 200s that was built by the Romans) and the Reims cemetery (looks like it was devasted during WWII, and no one ever fixed it, stones are smashed everywhere, its sad, but strangely peaceful). We then ended up at the Musee de la Reddition. This museum is housed in Eisenhower's former WWII headquarters, and is the site where the Germans surrendered WWII. The highlight of the museum is the room where the Germans surrendered. It has been virtually untouched since Eisenhower moved his officials out of the building. The city of Reims was given the building, as a thanks for housing the allied forces, and now displays a variety of WWII items (part of a plane, uniforms, etc). The room is interesting because it has maps and battle plans posted on all of the walls. The historical facts are interesting as well. The Russians were not properly notified of the German surrender, and forced the Germans in Berlin to redo it the next day, so that they could be more a part of it.

We spent time in the local park, ate a croque (ham and cheese sandwich) and then headed to the train station to go home. It was a really nice day. I experienced three incredibly different, but interesting things, among many, and I got to see a different part of the country.

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