Tag: Reims

The Retirees go Abroad – On the road to Beaune

We all arose early and packed. Breakfast was an enjoyable basket of croissants and baguettes with a hot chocolate. Our plan was to visit the House of Taittinger Champagne which was on our way to Beaune. After arriving a little too early for the opening of the cave we strolled through the gardens until the visitors door opened. But we were to be denied. The tour was in French only with the English tour starting an hour later. That meant we would arrive in Beaune too late to do anything there so we politely suggested that we would visit another time and got on the road again.

As it turns out we did not arrive in Beaune until after 1.00pm. After parking the car we found a delightful café for lunch then searched out the tourist information bureau. The town is very old and much of it appears to be unchanged from centuries past. Parts of the old defensive walls remain around the town and it has many caves peddling the wines of Burgundy. But this day we were in search of the Hotel Dieu. The Hospices de Beaune or Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune is a former charitable almshouse in Beaune, France. It was founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, as a hospital for the poor. The original hospital building, the Hôtel-Dieu, one of the finest examples of French fifteenth-century architecture, is now a museum.

The Hospices de Beaune consists of a pair of two-storied buildings arranged around a stone courtyard. The building are well-preserved and they contain half-timber galleries and ornate rooftops with dormer windows. The Hospices de Beaune received the first patient on 1 January 1452. Over the centuries, the hospital has radiated outwards, thanks to many donations – farms, property, woods, works of art and of course vineyards – were made to it, by grateful families and generous benefactors.

Kerry rushed off to meet our hosts and collect the keys for our 2nd floor apartment. When we caught up again unloading of the car and transporting the luggage into a very old building proved a challenge. The spiral stairs to the second floor were uneven in some places and difficult to climb with our suitcases. Inside the living space was delightful but the sleeping spaces were again challenging. Our bedroom was on the 3rd level up an even narrower set of stairs. This was a loft extension and the ceiling of the walkway to our bedroom was angled so that if I stood upright I would hit my shoulder as I walked along it. I have included a photo of our accommodation.

Unpacked and settled in we visited our local Carrefour Supermarket and in our ignorance bought a bottle of local cremant to have with our hamburgers for dinner.

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The Retirees go Abroad – Reims

After a tiring day yesterday we thought we would concentrate on Reims and planned visits to Reims Cathedral, Museum du Tau, and the Basilica of St Remi. It turns out that Reims is not such a big place and it was easy to walk to most places. It also turns out that the Kings of France came to Reims to be invested and crowned at the Cathedral and the banqueting hall beside it – now the Museum du Tau.

The cathedral is a towering grand church. Notre-Dame de Reims (Our Lady of Reims) is the seat of the Archdiocese of Reims and replaced an older church, destroyed by fire in 1211 that was built on the site of the basilica where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi, bishop of Reims, in AD 496. That original structure had itself been erected on the site of some Roman baths.

Alongside the cathedral is the Palais Archi-Episcopal, now the Museum of Tau. The Palais was the palace of the Archbishop of Reims. It is associated with the kings of France, whose coronation was held in Notre-Dame de Reims. Most of the early building has disappeared: the oldest part remaining is the chapel, from 1207. The building was largely rebuilt between 1498 and 1509, and modified again between 1671 and 1710. It was damaged by a fire on 19 September 1914, and not repaired until after the Second World War.

The Palace was the residence of the kings of France before their coronation in Notre-Dame de Reims. The king was dressed for the coronation at the palace before proceeding to the cathedral; afterwards, a banquet was held at the palace. The first recorded coronation banquet was held at the palace in 990, and the most recent in 1825.

The palace now houses statuary and tapestries from the cathedral, together with reliquaries and other objects associated with the coronation of the French kings.

The Basilica of St Remi started life as the Abbey of Saint-Remi. Founded in the sixth century by the Bishop of Reims who converted Clovis, King of the Franks, to Christianity at Christmas in AD 496, after he defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac. Since 1099 it has conserved the relics of Saint Remi who died in 553AD. The present basilica was the abbey church; it was consecrated by Pope Leo IX in 1049. It houses many other “illustrious persons” in the crypt of St Remi. It was fabulous to stand in a building that had seen more than 1000 years of service and was still in use today.

We had a picnic lunch at a park near the Basilica and after the visit to the basilica we went to the hotel for a nanna nap. Upon arising David suggested we visit the War Rooms where the German nation surrendered and brought to an end the Second World War on May 8, 1945. The Museum of the Surrender of May 7, 1945 is a history museum founded by the city of Reims in 1985 to mark the 40th anniversary of the signing of the first part of the acts of capitulation of Nazi Germany. A second signing took place the following day in Berlin, which ended the Second World War in the European theatre. It is located in part of the premises of the Franklin-Roosevelt High School in Reims

On the way to the museum we passed a roman gate still standing where once gallo-roman citizens passed into the city. After the museum, there was still plenty of sunlight so we walked over to a large nearby park and the monuments of remembrance.

We passed through the park into the city centre and soon found a place to stop for refreshment. The Ernest Hemingway Café took our fancy and we stopped in to catch our breath. After reviving ourselves we walked on through the city past the golden angel atop o tower and past the Kings Cross look alike fountain, past some clever graffiti and then to the Palais of Justice (here David and I had a close encounter with a very angry cat – hissing a scratching at us – we may have been a little inebriated as we shrugged and moved on). Time had passed quickly and we decided we wanted a simple pizza dinner. Veronica spotted the Domino Pizza rider on his scooter and hailed him down so we could find our way there. The poor fellow was so surprised to be hailed that he actually stopped but could not speak a word of English. Never the less we completed the quest and enjoyed our repast under the arches of Rome.

With significant indigestion we retired to bed as we were on the road again tomorrow.

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The Retirees go Abroad – Farewell and Hello Calais and Beyond

A beautiful day greeted us for our trip to Gatwick. Our new hood rack and carrier had been fitted and we got underway on time. The weather blessed us and the traffic took a holiday. We travelled without incident to Gatwick where we rendezvoused with David and Veronica. We have known them for over 25 years and in my case 35 years but had only limited contact during that time. Now travelling together may raise some issues but we would have to wait and see.

We changed over the luggage had a bite to eat and farewelled Rod and Kerry who were off to Norway and the Hurtigruten trip up the Norwegian coast. No time to waste we had to be at Dover for the ferry at 4.40pm. Again the traffic was kind even on the dreaded M25 and we reached Dover with a half hour to spare. After lining up we went to the terminal kiosk for a nature break and over stayed our time returning to the car to find the traffic by passing us to board the ferry. A salutary reminder to me about timing.

All’s well though. We boarded and landed in Calais without problem and stayed at our favourite Hotel Meurice – an older hotel in a classic style and a great breakfast.

Calais looked very different from the windy and cold place we saw at Xmas. There were clear skies and late evening sunshine to entice us into the old city for dinner, a red beer for David and me (Grimbergen Kriek) and a walk around the square. We even got to see Notre Dame Calais before circling around back to our hotel.

The next day we were on the road early to drive to Reims or Rheims the pre WW2 spelling in the Champagne region. The day was misty rather than overcast and everything appeared grey and a little fuzzy. We caught up with gossip and shared some memories as we travelled along finally arriving in Reims right on 12 noon Saturday. I went to the hotel to book us in and to my dismay found that the reception closed at 12 noon on Saturdays. After calling the hotel number we gained entry and the keys to our rooms on the 2nd floor.

That afternoon we did a little exploring but the travel had been exhausting, so after dinner it was off to bed for a big day tomorrow.