I can’t believe that it’s been already two weeks since
we spent a short weekend in the Champagne region drinking champagne with
friends in the snow.
Oui!
It does snow in France, besides the mountains, just a 45-minute train ride from
Paris to Reims. In fact, when we returned to Paris on Sunday afternoon, it was
snowing in the City of Lights as well! I wish we had more time to spend in
Paris so I could take photos, but we took the early Eurostar back to London on Monday because of work.
This was our first trip to Reims, but we were meeting
up with other expat friends who have visited several times before. Luckily, one
of our German friends, originally from Burkina Faso, Africa, speaks fluent
French, which was quite handy to talk with the friendly French champagne house
owners.
This UNESCO
World Heritage city is perhaps best known for its champagne since the
region surrounding Reims is ideal for growing chardonnay grapes, which are used
to make champagne. The major champagne houses, such as Tattinger, Moet & Chandon,
G.H. Mumm and Veuve Clicquot, are headquartered here. One of the days, we visited
Vranken Pommery, a historic champagne
house which achieved fame in the late 1800s under Madame Pommery, which was magically
covered in snow. We had a snowy, nearly 2-kilometre walk from our hotel, but I
enjoyed taking lots of photos of snow-covered spring blossoms.
Reims,
with a population of 186,000, is still small enough to be quite walkable to
everything. The first documentation of Reims dates to 57 BC when it was under
Rome’s protection, and later became an important religious and political city. You’ll
find several Roman ruins in the city center.
Another
UNESCO site that must be seen is the Cathedral
Notre-Dame de Reims, a gorgeous Gothic church dating to the 5th
century originally, but was rebuilt in the 13th century and then restored
again following World War I. I visited the cathedral before it was even open,
not a soul was around, and I took photos of it covered in snow on Sunday
morning.
The Reims Cathedral played an important role for the French Kingdom as it became the site for coronations of French kings until the revolution. In total, 37 kings were crowned in Reims. In addition, in 1429, Joan of Arc knelt down in front of Charles VII when he was crowed King of France at the cathedral.
The Reims Cathedral played an important role for the French Kingdom as it became the site for coronations of French kings until the revolution. In total, 37 kings were crowned in Reims. In addition, in 1429, Joan of Arc knelt down in front of Charles VII when he was crowed King of France at the cathedral.
Although
Reims is an easy city to reach from Paris, I really wish we had one more day to
see more in the Champagne region. Or maybe, I’m just looking for another excuse
to drink champagne!
2 comments:
what a gorgeous post Joy - enjoyed it very much.
Nice Post & Beautiful images. A France Visa is all that it takes to explore the fascinating city of Reims. It has successfully made its place in my bucket-list. Will be visiting Reims this winter for sure.
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