Exploring Reims

Matt and I arrived in Reims last night, and took the long walk from our hotel to the center of town. It was a beautiful, warm night, and the city was very quiet. Most of the shops and restaurants are closed in Reims on Sunday, and the people that were out walking around the city center were there just to relax, stroll, lounge around, and talk. It was a very charming welcome to the city.

Reims is beautiful... It's bigger than I expected, and amazingly picturesque. There are quaint little botiques and cafes, and much of the city center is pedestrian-only. There is a wonderful grand opera house, many lovely and ancient buildings, and a cathedral more beautiful than any other I've seen.


While Matt was at his conference in Reims today, I had a really lovely day walking around and exploring the town. Photographic evidence to follow:

Reims is most famous for its champagne vineyards. Accordingly, we've had quite a bit of champagne during our stay. There are many different types from many different vineyards, and everything we've tried has been absolutely delicious. As I sit in our hotel writing this blog entry, I'm sipping from a bottle of "Charles de Cazanove Brut Azur" and cutting off big hunks of camembert. Pretty darn perfect.

The surprise of the day is that Matt is being asked to attend a meeting in the south of France on Wednesday, so we have to cut our stay in Reims tragically short and instead head three hours on the train down to Avignon. We'll stay in Avignon on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then it's home to the states on Thursday.

I don't know anything at all about Avignon, so it's going to be quite an adventure! Looking forward to exploring a bit more of France, though. So far, I'm really loving it here.