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Mary's Travels
We woke up early to catch the bus to go to Reims, the ride took about three hours. We weren't able to make Mass on Saturday night, so we had to rush into a cab to catch one of the few Sunday ones... There are a lot more Protestant churches in Reims than in Lille, and it was hard to find a Mass after 11am. But we made it just in time, and we got lucky and it ended up being le Basillique de Saint Remi... Saint Remi was the bishop who baptized Clovis, the first king of France. (Thanks French history class). His tomb is there, and it was a very impressive place. Beautiful and huge. Mass was nice, the scouts were there which was fun to see, reminded me of my time with Claire a few summers ago :)
After Mass we wandered around for a while, taking pictures of the gorgeous place, then headed to meet up with Marianna and Carolina at the Cathedrale de Reims. It was chilly and windy, but we finally made it and took a look inside. This church is extremely important in French history, more so than Notre Dame. This is where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi in 496, and where, from 815 to 1825, coronations took place (the king would not be legitimate if he was not coronated here). St. Joan of Arc's final destination in her journey during the war was this church, leading Henry XII to be legitimately coronated as the king of France after years of British rule. All in all, it's an important place. Learning about the history of the church in my French History class at Lille is what brought me here this weekend, I had to see it.
Unfortunately there was a bit of restoration work on the church, but it was still really impressive, especially knowing the history behind it.
By this time we were extremely hungry, and went on a hunt for food in a small town on a Sunday. We finally found a pizza place, and enjoyed the warmth. Then we headed out to a champagne tour, being that Reims is in the champagne region and is very famous for its champagne. The tour was really cool. We went through a cave in the middle of the city and learned all about champagne, or at least tried our best (the tour was in French). We ended upstairs with a tasting of three different champagnes, and let me tell you, I really like champagne. It's perfect. Granted we were trying 100€ bottle samplings...
After that we stopped by a chocolate shop and I got a chocolate tartlette, and I was officially in heaven. We made our way over to the "Surrender Museum" where the treaty for the end of WWII in Europe was signed. At the time, it was a high school that the government had taken over because it was a big building that was still in tact. The museum part itself wasn't super impressive haha but the room where they signed the treaty was really cool. It's still as it was on May 8, 1945 and they put name plaques where each person sat. Crazy to think that I was a foot or two away from where Alfred Jodl, a Nazi leader sat (Hitler had killed himself by then). It was really cool, and I had no idea it happened right there in Reims.
We took the tram to the bus station- but gotta talk about the train for a second. It was in the middle of the road, covered in grass, and quiet and clean. I loved it. For a bit it rode through a park alongside bike and walking trails. Very cool. We finally got to the bus and happy sat down for the three hour bus back. It was a long day but a very good one- we did a lot :)
After Mass we wandered around for a while, taking pictures of the gorgeous place, then headed to meet up with Marianna and Carolina at the Cathedrale de Reims. It was chilly and windy, but we finally made it and took a look inside. This church is extremely important in French history, more so than Notre Dame. This is where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi in 496, and where, from 815 to 1825, coronations took place (the king would not be legitimate if he was not coronated here). St. Joan of Arc's final destination in her journey during the war was this church, leading Henry XII to be legitimately coronated as the king of France after years of British rule. All in all, it's an important place. Learning about the history of the church in my French History class at Lille is what brought me here this weekend, I had to see it.
Unfortunately there was a bit of restoration work on the church, but it was still really impressive, especially knowing the history behind it.
By this time we were extremely hungry, and went on a hunt for food in a small town on a Sunday. We finally found a pizza place, and enjoyed the warmth. Then we headed out to a champagne tour, being that Reims is in the champagne region and is very famous for its champagne. The tour was really cool. We went through a cave in the middle of the city and learned all about champagne, or at least tried our best (the tour was in French). We ended upstairs with a tasting of three different champagnes, and let me tell you, I really like champagne. It's perfect. Granted we were trying 100€ bottle samplings...
After that we stopped by a chocolate shop and I got a chocolate tartlette, and I was officially in heaven. We made our way over to the "Surrender Museum" where the treaty for the end of WWII in Europe was signed. At the time, it was a high school that the government had taken over because it was a big building that was still in tact. The museum part itself wasn't super impressive haha but the room where they signed the treaty was really cool. It's still as it was on May 8, 1945 and they put name plaques where each person sat. Crazy to think that I was a foot or two away from where Alfred Jodl, a Nazi leader sat (Hitler had killed himself by then). It was really cool, and I had no idea it happened right there in Reims.
We took the tram to the bus station- but gotta talk about the train for a second. It was in the middle of the road, covered in grass, and quiet and clean. I loved it. For a bit it rode through a park alongside bike and walking trails. Very cool. We finally got to the bus and happy sat down for the three hour bus back. It was a long day but a very good one- we did a lot :)
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