Reims

My husband and I went here to celebrate our first anniversary. Reims is a fascinating little place.

We walked to the Pommery and Veuve Clicquot houses from town. I loved the fountain there. The rest of Reims is a bit run down, which surprised me. It has a lot of character though.

If you’re there also check out the high school behind the train station that the papers ending WWII were signed at!

We are heading to Paris for our one year anniversary and I am hoping to make a day trip to Reims and at least one of the wonderful champagne houses (probably Pommery or Veuve Clicquot).

I wanted to surprise my husband but that might be too difficult… I will however buy a Pommery ‘Pop’ and put a note on it for a taste of what’s to come!

Historicaly, Reims is the city where french kings was crowned.
Also, Jeanne d’Arc came there to free Reims to crown Charles VII. Then in early june there are “Les fêtes Johaniques” witch celebrate this event.
There is also a Jazz festival and a classical one.

About WWII, Reims is where the germans sign the surrender act at may 7th 1945 and a little museum in a high school (Lycée Roosevelt) can be visited.

After all that, there are champagne wine and the famous smiling angel on the cathedral.

I stayed here for one month to learn french at EF School in 1995. I stayed with a french family and the food they provide for dinner everyday was really really delicious, complete with cheese plate and great dessert. I attended lots of free concerts here as well. Great music stores too. Then I visited champagne cellars and tasted my first champagne there, three glasses of brut ones!

Four of us trogged over on a coach from North-West England to see the solar eclipse in 1999 (not at all Space-y). We weren’t disappointed by the celestial light show and the place was cool too.

Thanks Stompy. You said it all !
I also like the restaurant “L’Apostrophe” ans walking down the “Place d’Erlon”.

I’m a fan of cathedrals. Ours is the most beautiful !

Reims is in the heart of champagne land in France. My partner and I had a great time here – we visited three of the champagne houses – Veuve Clicquot, Pommery and Taittinger, and tasted the wine at each one. We also went on the tour at Pommery and Taittinger where you go down into the caves (cellars) which are constructed in the old chalk quarries that the romans used when they quarried chalk for all their buildings. After all the wine, we wobbled back to our hotel.
There is a great place to eat in the main mall in town – L’Apostrophe. The trio of creme brulees is not to be missed (Vanilla, Mango and Spiced Bread). Reims is a very beautiful town and has many of the sights you hope to see in other parts of France (grand cathererals, roman ruins, etc) but is much less busy than Paris.
Definitely worth a visit and spend at least three days. I recommend you do one tour at a champagne house, but one is enough – the second one we did was pretty much more of the same. I think Pommery was a little more interesting that Taittinger – it has a much larger complex of tunnels and some amazing art work carved into the walls of the caves.