Day 2 of North/East part of France trip!

So, on this second day we toured around Reims by foot. It is a beautiful city, founded in circa 80 BC, it is best known for being one of the major Champagne producers in France and the place for which King's of France have been crowned. The crowning would take place at Notre-Dame Cathedral located in the heart of the city.

 The Porte de Mars Arch, built in 200 BC
and served as the "City Gate" until 1544

Cravings on the arch

                             

Cathedral our Lady of Rheims

Inside the Cathedral

32 Kings were crowned in the
Notre-Dame

One of the most stunning
masterpieces of 13th Century
Gothic Art

Two cathedrals stood in this very spot prior
to this one built in 1211.
First one built in 401, in 852 a 
new cathedral was built
which was destroyed by a fire in
1210

The organ

Grand Altar

Exterior shot of the Cathedral

Ancienne Maison de Champagne Jules Mumm

Above the door to the Winery, picture
made out of mosaic tiles, 19th Century

The plaque telling the history of
the building.

Illustrations depicting the champagne process

Hôtel de ville

Louis XV

1765

Place Royale Square

An example of a pay to use toilet you
will find throughout France.

Place Drouet d'Erlon

Ernest Hemingway Cafe

We wanted to visit a Winery but unfortunately
the tour was too late in the day for us but we
will be going back to do the Tour our way back
to Paris.

Another Cemetery we came across during
our tour of France

Over a 1000 soldiers are laid to rest here

The Moulin de Valmy

The Battle of Valmy played out on these fields in 1792. What happened here shaped the next thirty years of European history and signalled the beginning of the Napoleonic Era. 

A scene from the battle

General Kellermann's Statue
1892
Kellermann was from Strasbourg

 The Lorraine American Cemetery and
 Memorial

is located just outside of Saint-Avold, France. It covers 113.5 acres and contains the largest number of graves of any American World War II cemetery in Europe. Those interred died mostly in the autumn of 1944 during the Drive to the Siegfried Line and were mainly part of the U.S. Third and Seventh Armies

Entrance to the Memorial

Inside


After the visit to the cemetery we
were on our way to stay with
friends of Philippe's, Martine
and Olivier.

Every friday night for 30 yrs Martine
and Olivier go to a restaurant
in their little town so that is what we
did that night! Had a great time,
 enjoyed foods and wines of the
 region, Alscian.
By the end of the evening you would
of thought that we have been
 friends for years! They are a
 lot of fun and l look forward to sharing
more wonderful meals and plenty of
laughter with them!

Long time friend of Philippe's, Olivier

Philippe and Olivier

My "new" french boyfriend!

Martine and l

"The Gang"

This concludes the 2 day of our tour. Tomorrow we are off to visit a concentration camp just outside of Strasbourg and then spend another great night with Olivier and Martine!

Day One of North/East France Trip.

I has been a busy 6 days since we left Beaumont Le Roger. We left on the 18th in the morning heading to the North/east part of France. The drive was a nice one and relaxing, our first destination was Reims, the Champagne region of France.

During our drive l was reminded of the past history that France experienced....... war, The Battle of the Aisne and Oise, 1914-1918. It was along the side of the road a cemetery stood, filled with soldiers that died during the battle.

1914-1918

Approx 1,000 soldiers lay to rest in this cemetery

Pierrefonds Castle

Near Compiegne, France

Originally built in 1391 by Charles's V's
second son, Louis of Orleans

1616, Louis XIII laid a fatal siege
against the castle and sections were destroyed

Front steps to the chapel

 In 1810, Napoleon I bought the
ruins.

Inside the chapel

One of two spiral staircases.

Original paint and wallpaper decorate
the walls in the reception room.

The study

Paintings along the ceiling in the
emperor's bedchamber

Entrance to the Salle des Preuses

The courtroom where feasts took
place during the Second Empire.

Inside the Salle des Preuses, looking out
the hallway.

Statues of the Empress Eugnie and her
ladies in waiting

One of many statues throughout
the castle.

In the basement of the castle there is
 over 25 tombs and statues. These three are
the first ones you see as you walk down
to the lower level.

This is what it looks like where the tombs are located,
picture taken without flash.

Some of the tombs

Philippe IV (Lebel)
King of France from 1285-1314

More of the tombs and statues

One of the lists of names of statues and tombs

View from the castle

Down spout for the rain water

View from the front steps

Creatures that greet you on the main
staircase 

Over looking the village

L'Alambic

We arrived at Reims, the champagne region of France. After a nice day of driving it was time to have a relaxing and enjoyable dinner in Reims!
Philippe found this lovely little jewel and a jewel it was!

www.restaurant-lalambic.fr

Enjoyed a lovely dinner in the "Cave"

I would highly recommend this restaurant!

And of course, if you are in the Champagne capital
you have to have Champagne!!!

 

 Just some of the Champagne that was in our
hotel, plenty to choose from!

Our Hotel

Very old building equals very
old elevator, small elevator!

Looking down the elevator shaft
from our floor...

So this concludes are first day of our North/east trip of France. Tomorrow we will explore some of Reims and hopefully visit a vineyard before we leave. After visiting Reims, we will be making our way to Philippe's aunt's place where we will be spending the night.