The rain was really coming down when we got up this morning. There goes my plans for a morning run. We planned to walk all around the city today, but we’re not sure how it’s going to go with the rain. By the time we are dressed and ready to go, the rain is very light, so we decide to just go for it.

I forgot my camera, so all of these photos are courtesy of Stefan’s iphone

//Stefan Note: .. , and artistic genius.

I think they still tell our story well.

//Stefan Note: The last sentence but positive.

Our Airbnb is just across the railroad tracks from the main city center. It’s an easy walk, and we go directly to Brasserie Boulingrin, recommended by Lonely Planet. We are seated in the perfect spot and enjoy an incredible meal. There is something so special about French food. We can’t remember seeing Oly so happy to eat anything. The service was excellent. It was fun watching a regular be seated at the booth next to us, with his very own personalized “Reserved” card for the table. I love places like this. 

//Stefan Note: thats my favorite angel, last one on the right, right above Ll.  He’s just feelin’ it.  Ll is doing her best impression of it.

After lunch we walked to the Notre Dame Cathedral. 24 kings have been coronated here, and it is exceptional. I can’t get over the enormity and beauty of such places. The kids do not really see the point, but I can tell Lillian tries. And Oly found the gargoyles very interesting. They spout rain runoff from their mouths! Okay I found that pretty cool too.

Reims is an interesting town. While it’s known as the center of the Champagne world, it really is so much more. First we loved that it was small enough to walk all the way through and around, with kids. While most of the town may look ordinary (if you can say that about anything in Europe), we stumbled upon beautiful old places, like an old Abbey and ruins of amazing sites destroyed during the Revolution. It’s full of charming surprises.

On the other side of town, we reached Taittinger, a champagne cellar we read has a great tour. By the time we reached it, the sun was shining and it was actually warm outside! What a pleasant surprise for a day that was supposed to be rainy and cold. Taittinger has a tour that runs at specific times, but you don’t need a reservation. We joined the tour that started ten minutes before our arrival. It’s down in the cellars underneath the building. While California wine tours spend time showing you the fermentation tanks and explaining the science of making wine, this tour focused on the impressive caves storing an incredible number of bottles of Champagne. These caves and passageways date back to Roman times. The small short chisel marks on the wall give you an idea of the amount of work it took to build these caves. It’s very impressive. Parts of the cellar used to be an abbey, so you can see a couple staircases that used to lead up to different parts of the abbey and original doors from the 12th century. These caves were used by Reims citizens during World War I, and there are some markings on the walls left from that time too. It’s fascinating.

The glass of champagne served at the end was good too.

About halfway home, our luck with the rain ran out. It started to downpour! We found refuge under a store awning and watched the storm. It was beautiful. It even started hailing! And I thought it was cool Lillian saw lightning for the first time. Each time it thundered, Oly asked,”What was that?!” It was awesome.

When the rain started to let up, we ran to the Cryptoportique. Turns out it’s free! It’s super cool. They don’t even know how old it is, but it’s likely from Roman times, near the time of Christ. No one even supervised us as we roamed this ancient underground space. Reims is full of these sweet surprises. Reminders of how people have lived in these same places for so many years, and we are only temporary visitors traveling in the same space. It’s beautiful and weird.

//Stefan Note: Kimbo was happy

We bought fresh baguettes and fancy French cheese (at La Cave aux Fromages) on the way home. And of course we had to stop at a local wine shop to buy some small production Champagne. We were all weary when we finally made it home. Lillian, Oly and I took a warm bath. Ah the bath tub. Cheers to another perfect, yet super rainy day.