Paris: A Day in Reims

Today were in Reims, the capital of the Champagne region of France. The proper pronunciation of Reims is Ranse (rhymes with France) while most English speakers will pronounce as Reems.  To pronounce Reims correctly does feel a bit odd to an English speaker as the French use a very nasal "r" but just go with it and do not feel self-conscious.

The train ride from Paris to Reims is only a 45 minute direct ride from Paris Garde de l'Est.  Upon arrival in Reims, a 2 minute tram ride takes you to the center of town.  Walk out of the front of the station, cross the street and make a slight left to the tram platform where you can purchase your day pass for less than $4.00.  For some very odd reason, Google Maps was not cooperating with us today so when you get off the tram at the Opera stop, turn left on Rue de Chanzy and just walk until the cathedral is on your left.  

The Cathedral of Notre Dame is one of the most important churches in France as it is the site of the coronation of 25 French kings.  Building of the cathedral began in 1211 and was completed in 1516...in 2011, the cathedral celebrated it's 800 anniversary.  Though the importance of the site of the cathedral actually dates back to 496 A.D. when Clovis (first king of the Franks) was baptized where the present day cathedral stands.

Joan of Arc received a message from Mary in 1429 to rally the French against the English.  Because of Joan, the French rallied around Charles IV as a result of the Battle of Orleans, the Hundred Year War came to an end.  There is a statue of Joan outside the church watching over it as well as one inside in her chapel.

One of the many beautiful features of the church are its three Chagall windows behind the altar.  While we were there, a choir was practicing below and it was the perfect sound for admiring these works of art.

Here are some pictures of the cathedral. It is absolutely one of the most beautiful churches I've visited and so glad we made the trip out here.

 

Following our visit to Notre Dame, we popped into a cafe for lunch before our visit to one of the area's champagne caves.  We strolled through the Christmas Market at the cathedral before hopping the #4 bus to Tattinger (pronounced tay-tan-zhay).












The outside of the cave is pretty non-descript but once you go inside and down 18 meters (~60 feet), it's a whole new world with 2 million bottles of bubbly in the making.  As we made our way deeper and deeper into the cave, the temps got a little cooler and we found more and more bottles at varying stages of the fermentation process.  

Once the wine is in its second fermentation phase, it is stacked so the active yeast can start "eating" the sugar.  During this part of the fermentation process, carbon dioxide  (CO2) develops and since it can't escape the bottle, it dissolves into the wine and we get the yummy bubbles.  

Sometimes during the second fermentation, the CO2 builds up so much the bottle will explode.  When that happens, it leaves a little hole where the bottle used to be.  Surprisingly, the whole stack of bottles does not collapse...reminded us of the way the stones were stacked in the fences in Ireland and England.

All 2 million bottles of champagne at Tattinger are riddled (turned) by hand.  The bottles are placed in these racks (at various angles throughout the aging process) and turned 1/2 to the right and then 1/4 back to the left.  This process loosens the yeast and forces it to the neck of the bottle so it can be extracted throughout the dosage process.  It takes approximately 2 months for the bottles to make a complete rotation.  The white marker on the bottle helps the riddler know where in the process the bottle is.  Because it is such a precise process, it is very important for visitors not to touch the bottles.  Our guide told us that once a visitor touches the bottle, it has to be removed and destroyed.

During World War II, soldiers camped out in the caves.  There are carvings all along the walls throughout the caves.  I was actually surprised to not see anything that said "Kilroy was here".

The Tattinger caves used to be an abbey and throughout the caves you see reference to its former life.  There are stairs that lead up to the former abbey as well as doors depicting various stages of the crucifixion of Jesus.

The hammer and nails

The pliers that removed the nails when
Jesus was taken down from the cross

The cross

The different sizes of bottles of happiness.  For the lowest level of champagne produced by Tattinger, it will age for 5 years before it ends up bringing happiness to the world.








After the tour, of course we had to do a little tasting.  We tasted their entry level champagne and then their top champagne.  We will leave it to you to guess which we preferred.

Paris: 50...Sacré Bleu!

Well somehow I went to sleep in my 40's and woke up a 50 year old!  How the heck did I get to be 50 when it seems like just yesterday I was 22 and graduating from college?!

We started our morning with a nice stroll down to Sainte-Chapelle.  The church was commissioned by Louis IX to house the Crown of Thorns (though there is no confirmation he truly possessed the Crown of Thorns) and built the altar very high to protect the crown.  Today the Crown of Thorns is housed at Notre Dame and brought out the first Friday of every month for adoration.

Our hotel is a 30 minute walk to Sainte-Chapelle and by the time we reached our destination, we were in need of the necessity room but as with most places in Europe, one can never be certain one will be available.  The best thing to do in situations of uncertainty is to pop in to a nearby cafe and order a cup of coffee or tea from the bar.  Don't sit at a table for service as it doubles or triples the price. As a patron, you are able to use the bathroom.  While it may seem a bit crazy to pay to use the facilities, it actually gives you a good excuse (as if one is ever needed) to pop in to a cafe where you have the chance to meet locals and get a better understanding of the place you're visiting.












Sainte-Chapelle chapel did not disappoint and the climb up the steep spiral staircase was most definitely worth it.  Beautiful stained glass windows fill the room with gorgeous lighting.  

Random shots around town...

Start of the next Love Lock Bridge

We had reservations at the Ritz Paris (not to be confused with a Ritz-Carlton) so we made our way over for what was by far the sweetest formal tea either of us have ever experienced.  High tea at the Ritz Paris is all sweetest and absolutely no savory.  As a result, we ate the top layer, sampled the second layer and so when the server said she could packaged up the remaining we gladly accepted (we really could not eat any more...shocking I know as we both adore sweets...but didn't want to be rude and ask for a take away box).  They knew it was my birthday so they brought out two glazed madeleines with a candle along with a chocolate birthday sign.  We decided the glazed madeleines were the French version of HOT Krispy Kreme.

After two hours at the Ritz Paris, we made our way back to the hotel to drop off our treats before heading to Notre Dame for Vespers.  To our surprise, the hotel had delivered yet another bottle of champagne (one each day of our stay) and this time with some macaroons!

Vespers at Notre Dame was lovely.  They had the most unusual advent wreath hanging from the ceiling. I placed the lens in my lap to record some of Vespers so you will not see any images in the video below.

While had our fill of sweets, we needed some savory so we headed over the Pont Saint Louis to the Ile Saint Louis and enjoyed a Croque Monsieur before making our way back to our hotel.  Tomorrow we will take the train to Reims for the day and wanted to make an early night.  Given that in three days we have walked 16 miles and climbed many many many stairs in the metro, we were ready for a relaxing evening.