Reims Day 8: Champagne!
Hit the road to Reims (pronounced ruhns) on the way back to Brussels for crazy party weekend. First stop was the amazing Gothic-style Cathedral of Notre Dame where all the French kings have been crowned since Clovis in 496 A.D., including the famous Charles VII, crowned in large part due to Joan of Arc.
Front view
Look at the amazing detail...
Back view
I can see why -- the high ceilings and long aisle make for a very kingly procession with the light streaming in from the stained glass for dramatic effect.
There's an interesting section of the cathedral with stained glass by Marc Chagall done in medieval blue ink. Lovely.
Stopped for lunch at a random restaurant. Can't believe the prices after having come from Disneyland Paris, possibly the most expensive combination around -- €14 for a 3-course set meal! I forget I'm in the province... I eagerly chow down my spaghetti with rognons (kidneys).
This is normal dinner fare for any Filipino-Chinese, the internal organs I mean, not the pasta. Ours is better, though surprisingly (since cheese was involved), I liked the feuillete au brie.
Of course, one can't be in the Champagne area and not make a trip to the caves. Sidebar: While the grapes and the process might be duplicated elsewhere, only the Champagne region in France has the right to call our favorite sparkling bubbly "champagne". The rest have to content with names like spumante in Italy or sparkling wine in the US because of some old treaty.
The cave of choice: Taittanger (tay-tan-jay), which is one of the biggest champagne producers in the world. Couple of interesting things I didn't know:
1) To this day, fermenting champagne bottles are still stored in caves which naturally regulate the temperature at about 10 degrees.
2) Standard brut bottles are fermented for 3 years and the good ones can stay in the bottles up to 7 years before being sold.
3) With all the new technology available, the twisting of the wine bottles to gather the yeast is still done by hand!
Guided tour + 1 glass of champagne at the end for €7 -- a definite must-do!
There were 2 other UNESCO World Heritage sites left though I only got to see one more, Saint Remi's Basilica and the connecting abbey.
Capped off the city tour with a walk around the town center. Wow, I did a lot today!
posted by moan @ 11:27 PM
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