John, his coworker Nicole (Boo's new BFF - I think we swore her off having kids for a bit!), and Boo and I left around 10am, so we could have a full day of sightseeing, plus arrive in time for lunch. Turns out we didn't need near a full day, but it was fine.
When we arrived, we had about 2 hours before our champagne cellar tour with G.H. Mumm ("Moom"), so we went to find a quick snack and see the cathedral. We ended up at a British pub that was basically a TGI Friday's, because Boo had to pee and it was directly next to the cathedral. Works for us.
The cathedral was extremely beautiful, but had scaffolding inside and out, which took away from it a bit. It WAS cool to see that they were restoring some of the stained glass windows.
On to our champagne tour! I reserved one in English, which lasted about 75 minutes and ended with a tasting of our choice.
From Wiki:
Reims functions as one of the centres of champagne production. Many of the largest champagne-producing houses, known as les grandes marques, have their headquarters in Reims, and most open for tasting and tours.
Champagne ages in the many caves and tunnels under Reims, which form a sort of maze below the city. Carved from chalk, some of these passages date back to Roman times.
The Mumm cellar was very large, with around 25,000,000 (yes, million) bottles being aged at the time of our visit. We learned about the different types of champagne (e.g., Brut, semi-sec, rosé), how champagne is bottled and aged, all the good stuff. It was an excellent and informative tour, and it was both literally and figuratively cool to walk around in the (musty-smelling, lichen-covered) caves.
Next were the tastings. We each picked a different level of tasting (ranging from €20-39) so we could try everything.
Nicole got the Courdon Rouge, which is Mumm's classic champagne.
I went for the "Dare the G.H. Mumm Experience," which was one of their "unexpected" cuvèe. Cuvèe refers to a specific blend or batch of wine. Mine wasn't vintage (all grapes from the same year), but was aged five years like Mumm vintage champagnes (non-vintage Mumm is aged at least three years... To be considered champagne and not sparkling wine, non-vintage must be aged 15 months, vintage 3 years).
They gave me a box with test tubes of scents, which I guessed before tasting. It was fun. Boo loved smelling them too. They ended up being mango, vanilla, jasmine, and peach. I'm not sophisticated enough to know which flavors were actually in the cuvèe, but it was my second favorite, after one of John's.
John got the coolest tasting: En Noirs & Blancs Experience.
The champagnes are both white, but the Blanc de Blancs comes from Chardonnay grapes, while Blanc de Noirs come from pinot noir grapes. Blanc de Noirs was both our top choice. Blanc de Blancs tasted like a very classic champagne, but the Noirs was superb.
I happened to ask the guide which was her favorite, and she said the Noirs, so now we feel sophisticated. We then learned that Blanc de Noirs isn't exported out of France (not just Europe, France). Of course that's the one we love and might never have again. Sooooo,
we bought a bottle and now I have to figure out how I'm going to get it to Cleveland without exploding.
Besides him being the reason I reserved
Mumm, one thing Rick Steves also recommended was trying Biscuits Roses, which are meant to be dipped into champagne before being eaten. They were sold in a souvenir shop outside the cathedral so I grabbed some, plus some pretty cookies, for later.
Once our tour finished, we had about three hours to kill before dinner. We made online reservations at an Italian restaurant, go figure. It was rated 50th/300+ so we thought we'd give it a whirl. Eating frog legs will have to wait for Paris. No biggie.
We got on Trip Advisor (fantastic app, highly recommend) and found the La Porte de Mars (Mars Gate). The gate is a triumphal arch dating from third century AD, and was the widest arch in the Roman world This is what it is supposed to look like:
Unfortunately, the entire thing was covered in canvas and is under construction or something. Bummer.
So, on to check out Basilica Saint-Remi. The GPS took us to a different basilica first, so we ended up seeing three churches in one day. The last basilica was my favorite, though the cathedral has the cool coronation history.
Some history:
The Abbey of Saint-Remi is an abbey in Reims, France, founded in the sixth century. Since 1099[1] it has conserved the relics of Saint Remi (died 553), 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.
The present basilica was the abbey church; it was consecrated by Pope Leo IX in 1049.
Saint Rèmi is an interesting person to read about. I'll spare my readers, but check him out if you are so inclined. He was kind of a big deal.
The outside of the basilica was neat as well. Flying buttresses and all that fun stuff I vaguely remember from history class and "Pillars of the Earth."
At this point, we were all tired, there really wasn't much else to see (other than pointing out names of champagne cellars we recognized as we passed by), and all we wanted was to eat and head home. We still had 40 minutes before the restaurant opened! I am not ashamed to admit that we just parked near the restaurant and sat and relaxed for that amount of time.
Dinner was incredibly underwhelming. I guess it had to happen at some point, and it isn't like I can be surprised that it would be an Italian restaurant in France.
My starter was a bruschetta trio. One had anchovies (warm) on it, which I've never had other than in a Caesar salad. I would describe it as a fishier-tasting tuna. I didn't like it. The others were caprese and something with pancetta and were MUCH tastier.
John had some kind of fondue with croutons in it, that was to be spread on bread. It was good, but a taste was enough because the cheese was pretty strong.
Then, dinner. I wish I had ordered John's. He had gnocchi with Parmesan, some kind of crisp pork, and mushrooms.
I didn't see any children's options, so I went with a "safe" pasta that Boo would eat with me: Tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms. Super plain and barely any flavor.
Of course, as soon as I ordered, the waitress offered a kid's plate, which was penne with ham and cheese. And hers was probably the best out of our three, go figure.
Dessert was a disappointment as well.
I ordered pannacotta, didn't bother eating more than a few bites. Not worth the calories. John's tiramisu was pretty good, and Boo's strawberry gelato ROCKED. Nicole ordered some kind of deconstructed pistachio cannoli, which was tasty but looked kind of like snot.
Tired and full (I wouldn't say I was satisfied), it was time to drive the two hours back home. Reims was fun, but if you don't drink champagne, I wouldn't bother and would stick to Lyon and/or Paris.
We were supposed to go to Belgium tonight (Sunday), but it got pushed back to Monday night for all day Tuesday. We might not be there all day Wednesday as originally planned. I'm fine with that, because there isn't a ton to do in Brussels, and I've made the executive decision that we are not going to Bruges. I want to, but it'll be an extra four hours of driving and I can't see Boo being super entertained by pretty bridges and water like I'd be.
So, Brussels day trip on Tuesday. We only have about five weekends left, and next weekend we are here with Boo's Mimi. The last weekend is the one before we leave, meaning we will stay in Lux to pack and all that fun stuff. So, really only three weekends to travel with :(
One weekend will be England, one Paris, and I'm really really wanting Munich and Neuschwanstein Castle for the third, but John's work schedule may decide if that happens.
For any who wonder why I don't just go alone with Boo, 1. I want to see these places with John, too; 2. Some trips are just easier with a car; and 3. Would YOU travel alone for four days, with a four-year-old, over five hours away from anyone you know, without a car, in a country where you don't know the language, with spotty cell service? I wouldn't, thanks. I've traveled enough with Boo to know that we'd be fine, but it wouldn't be a lot of fun and would be kind of stressful.
Accordingly, I will leave with a few regrets of places I've missed or not explored enough, but overall we've been very successful working with what we've got and I'll just have to come back some day. And hats off to Boo. She's been a fantastic traveler and doesnt complain about car rides or long walks (much) anymore.
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