Reims used to be a quaint medieval village until the city and its cathedral were bombed on September 4, 1914 by Germans during WWI. The bombing went on for almost 3.5 years destroying 80% of the buildings and badly damaging the Cathedral. That’s Reims Cathedral as a backdrop for this US army recruiting poster from 1917.
The mayor at the time told the townspeople they could rebuild in whatever style they wanted and that’s exactly what they did. Many Art Deco buildings from the 20’s sit next to modern structures and traditional French Provincial style buildings.
Today, the city is thriving and represents the champagne region of France. It is a quick 1.5 hr ride on the bullet train from Paris to Reims, so it is a day trip for “foodie-tourists” and a getaway for Parisians. NOTE: according to a couple that we met, while the bullet train is fast, at least the track between the two cities is mostly surrounded by berms, so you won’t get amazing views of vineyards along the way.
We are here for 4 nights so we immediately start to make ourselves at home. At our lovely Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2443408
In the park:
At the Butcher’s:
At the Chocolateir:
About town:
Grabbing a bite on the street (aka people don’t buy ugly fruit & vegetables so they are put on the street each evening):
Reims Cathedral was the site of 33 coronations of the kings of France, from Louis VIII in 1223 to Charles X in 1825, including the crowning of Charles VII in 1429 in the presence of Joan of Arc. It is considered a Gothic art masterpiece and was modeled after the Cathedrals in Chartres and Notre Dame in Paris. The original church on this site was the basilica where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi, bishop of Reims, in 496 AD. The Rockefeller Foundation provided major funding to assist in the restoration which is still ongoing.
On our way to visit a champagne house ( there are several you can walk to in town) we stopped by another pilgrimage site, the Abbey of Saint Remi which contains the relics of Saint Remi who died in 553 and the Bishop of Reims who converted Clovis, King of the Franks to Christianity on Christmas in 496 AD.
So our worthy travelers are about two months into their France experience and have marveled at more than a dozen Cathedrals, Chapels and Basilicas. With time, even the beauty of a flying buttress starts to lose some of its architectural wonder. Stained Glass seems to have somewhat longer legs in this area because of time. Some churches have original stained glass that dates back 100s of years, others have glass going back decades and some maybe only a few years.
Reims Cathedral includes ancient glass works, some new works commissioned by the area Champagne growers, works by Marc Chagall, and modern abstract works all coming together in one location…plus beautiful rose windows undergoing renovation.
Traditional works:
Abstract works:
Champagne producer commissioned works featuring tending to wine vines, harvesting grapes, and creating the champagne:
Marc Chagall works:
and now we are off to sample more champagne…Happy 4th of July !
