Day Tripping II: Reims

On Tuesday, I set out for my second round of day-tripping from Paris. This time I decided to go to Reims, a town in the Champagne region, for the day. (Reims is actually pronounced like "rance" but with a gutteral "r", FYI) In the morning, I hung around the Cathédrale de Reims, which for centuries served as the coronation location for French Kings. The weather was absolutely beautiful all day, which also made the experience all the more pleasant.

The cathedral itself is very beautiful, with intricate stone statues and good natural light. (At least this is the conclusion that I've come to because my pictures of the inside turned out relatively well.)

After looking around the Cathedral for a bit, I decided to go to the Palais du Tau to look at some of the remains of the cathedral. (It was heavily damaged in both WWI and WWII). Here are some of the old stone angels from the church.

Then, after lunch, I went to the House of Mumm (a champagne house located in central Reims), for a tour of the cellars and tasting. We also learned a bit about how champagne is made.

I tried the traditional Mumm champagne, as well as the 2002 vintage, and both were great! It was interesting how you can taste the difference between the two. Overall, another excellent day trip...I'm looking forward to more in the coming week (and of course, Nice/Monaco on Friday!)

Bonne soirée!