A Walk Down Champagne Street

Good day one and all, Winslow here to report on our weekend centered around Reims, in champagne country. If you read that city name like a normal person and you would have pronounced it reemz,or as a French language learner, reem with a throaty r. A Francophone though will have no clue what you’re talking about and will ask if you’re taking a plane to get there or something. When it’s pointed out to them on a map, a medium-sized city in the north-east of France, they will exclaim “Oh! Rhans!” with the throaty r. True story. Anyway, although we spent many hours between Friday and Sunday in the car, our nice full day on Saturday was well worth it. So was the beautiful home we stayed in, a so-called “Airbnb”. I got to sleep in a nice cozy chair with the whole downstairs to myself. We weren’t actually in Reims but in a little village nearby, one of many set in the midst of expanses of vineyards. The young one and I were in the company of three others during the trip. The car belongs to the Australian one, then there was the British one, and the one from Minnesota who had hosted Thanksgiving. We all got an early start on Saturday morning because the girls had a champagne appointment at 10 AM. It was a hazy, cool day as we got back in the car towards Épernay. It seems like every business we passed was a champagne cave, and every street was labeled with “Route Touristique du Champagne”. We could have been going in circles! Eventually we got out at some guy’s place… Guy Charbaut was his name. We entered a bed-and-breakfast and were cheerfully greeted by a young woman who was to be our guide. Our guide into the deep dark caves of the champagne world.

Into a different building and down the stairs are the cellars, built in the early 1900s. Everything was tinted yellow and the walls were lined with brick, clay, and mold. Our guide was explaining things in French so I spent the time just looking around. The young one wasn’t so clear on what she was talking about either but she debriefed me on a few things: - The wine ferments and sits in the huge steel tanks upstairs for a few months.

- The wine is bottled and ages for up to 15 months in the chilled cellars. They are all rotated every week because of the sediments that settle at the bottom of the bottles.

- The bottles are all under pressure (as champagne is carbonated) and are prone to exploding, sometimes ruining the surrounding bottles as well.

- There is a bubble inspector who comes to make sure the champagne is up to par. The bottles in the cellar were set up in a number of ways - some stacked on shelves against the wall, some packed in rotatable metal crates, and some sticking out neck first from holes in wooden stands (shown below).

Back above ground the girls enjoyed a tasting. I was in a good mood so I didn’t complain when the young one had me pose for a picture.

After the champagne date we visited Épernay and walked down Avenue de Champagne, which features the leading champagne manufacturers. They were mostly huge estates with elaborate iron doors and flower gardens out front.

Then it was time to visit Reims! The most important thing to do there is visit the Cathedral. It’s where all the kings of France coronated from the 1200s to the 1800s, following in the footsteps of King Clovis who was baptized at the site in 508 AD.

Inside the cathedral I saw the brightest stained-glass windows I have ever seen. They are made up of random bits of dyed glass overlaying each other, the creation of a German artist and given as an apology for damaging the cathedral in the war. There was also a lot of signage in there with a bunch of history - too much for me to read! Outside the cathedral you will find the “sourire de Reims” - the smiling angel. She was damaged during the war, put back together, and became an icon of “French culture destroyed by German barbarity”. The young one says that “she’s a meme”. We neglected to get a photo of her but here’s the postcard the young one couldn’t pass up, followed by a headless king on the cathedral facade.

And the guy with a pet raccoon who obviously wasn’t looking for any attention. I’m pretty sure we think those things are gross back in the States. Gross and evil. But we can all agree Charlotte is pretty cute and looks way more cuddly than I do…

The day kept on going, and it brought us to the very place where World War II ended. On the edge of downtown is a high school, part of which is now the Musée de la Reddition. Back in the day General Eisenhower used it as the discreet location for his supreme headquarters. Couldn’t help but think of the tall one as we stood in the war room where the act was signed in Nazi surrender. Being in a place like that is very fulfilling. They also played the introductory film in English for us, in which the city is so decidedly pronounced Reemz.

[the war room today, and in the early hours of May 7th, 1945]

The city of Reims Is almost 3 times the size of Bourges, but seemed peaceful and still relatively small. In some parts there was a lot of work being done. The Australian one told us that Reims has been under construction for years now so it can attract more tourists. The young one enjoyed the feel of the few open squares downtown, one built around an ancient Roman forum. Forum is a typical French square enclosed by restaurants and the quintessential little shops. Tables and chairs are set up towards the middle where everyone was having a drink.

[construction in front of town hall]

Of course I offered no input when it came time to choose a dinner spot. I swear that I’ve spent half my travel time with the young one deciding on dinner. For that reason I’m tempted to say that if I could eat, I wouldn’t. The five of us actually ended up at a pretty cool place. It had been recommended by our champagne guide and reminded the young one and I of a place you'd find in Amsterdam. It seemed that half the city’s population was there, at Le Clos. It was a huge open terrace with carved wooden benches and chairs, vines and plants, and other funky stuff. The girls had these little snacks called tapas and unfortunately had to pass up the expensive glasses of champagne. When in Champagne… it seems you can’t afford the champagne.

I tried something for the first time at Le Clos - a photo booth. It’s just a large dark box with the camera and you never know when it’s going to go off! Then it prints out a strip of four terrible photos. I didn’t really know what was going on so I only made it into one photo…

That just about sums up our day – I was so tired I went right to sleep when we got back to the Airbnb, and slept in the next morning while the girls took a stroll in the vineyards.

[a morning vineyard stroll and a pause to admire the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard of the village church]

The ride home was in daylight this time. The girls were rather quiet. Snowy cherry blossom trees lined the roads. I marveled at how long you can drive through fields and farm without seeing a city in this region. The young one often asks me what I think it would be like to live in one of the lonely farm houses in the middle of nowhere. Or even in one of the tiny villages we periodically pass through. Personally, I think I could live a happy life there, waking up every morning to rolling green and spending evenings watching the landscape turn pink and gold. As long as I got to travel every so often. The young one would definitely go insane. We didn’t expect to be back in Bourges so early but it turned out that we saw everything we wanted to the day before and didn’t feel the need to stay. I was content to have spent the time with good company and in such a cozy place! That’s all folks! Cheers, Winslow

#reims #cathedral #france #travel #spring #champagne #epernay