Drinking Champagne in Champagne

We took a day trip to beautiful Reims yesterday. As this city is located in the Champagne region of France, Reims is known for it's tasty bubbles, the city where the Germans surrendered in WWII, as well as it being the city of where the crowning of French kings took place. It is also home to some beautiful and eclectic architecture!

Initially, Adam and I were ho-hum about going to Reims. We're both burned out from traveling and are looking forward to going back to Portland. So you could say our motivation levels have been pretty low. It also didn't help that when we got to the train station, the train we were intending to get on was completely sold out. The ONE time we didn't buy tickets in advance, the train ends up being sold out, and the next train would take almost 2 hours to get there as opposed to 45 minutes. After spending some time trying to figure out what to do with ourselves, we finally decided to just take the plunge and go to Reims...even if we weren't exactly feeling the want to go. I was afraid I'd regret not going, even if I wasn't feeling up for it at that moment. When will we have the chance to go to Champagne after this trip? Chances are pretty slim. So with that idea in mind, we bought our tickets and off we went.

Within a half hour of being on the train, Adam said that he was happy that we decided to go, and so was I. The scenery was absolutely beautiful!

We got to Reims at 12:30...just in time for lunch! The main street in Reims, Place Drouet d'Erlon is right next to the train station, so we found a delicious brewery within minutes. 

After lunch, we walked down Place Drouet d'Erlon to check out the fountains, shops, and just to see the sites. 

At this time we had about an hour left before our tour of G.H. Mumm, so we just kept wandering through the city. What is really unique about Reims is the architecture. One building can be completely different from the one right next to it, and there's a reason why. WWI pretty much demolished Reims, where 65% of the city was destroyed. So in the 1920s, the mayor at the time just said to build whatever you wanted. It didn't matter the style, the goal was just to build.

While walking around, we saw sites like an old Roman Forum, the City Hall (Hôtel de Ville), and a WWII memorial.

Hôtel de Ville

WWII Memorial

Just after 2:30, we made our way over to G.H. Mumm for our champagne tour! The lady who toured us was very nice and explained the champagne making process very well. 

After a 5-minute introductory video, we went 7 meters (about 23 feet) underground where we saw where G.H. Mumm used to ferment the wines to make champagne. Initially, they used barrels, then moved on to cement vats, and now they use steel vats.

Cement vats that were once used

Inside the cement vat

Then we went down an additional 7 meters underground! This is where 8 million bottles of champagne are stored. Mouth drop!

Total length of the caves was 25 kilometers

At the end of the tour, we had a tasty glass of their champagne. Unlike the States, Champagne cellars only give you 1 glass of champagne after a tour. But I'll take it!

Tasty bubbles

The tour left me wanting for more! It was really cool to learn how champagne is made, and going 14 meters underground to see their cellars (or caves) was really awesome. If given the chance to come back to the Champagne region, I would love to rent a car and just drive to all the different champagne cellars (there are TONS). That would be so much fun!

After G.H. Mumm, we walked over to Reims Cathedral. Looking a lot like Notre Dame, this Gothic-style church carries a lot of interesting history. Just 4 years ago, the church celebrated it's 800th birthday. The first Christian king of the "Franks," Clovis, was baptized here in 496. Additionally, since his baptism, this church has served as the place for the coronation of 26 French kings.

Unfortunately there was scaffolding right in the middle of the front of the church. But the rest of the church was absolutely beautiful to look at. I could probably stare at this church all day! 

The scaffolding was a bit of an eyesore

Marker where Clovis was baptized

We spent some time in the church, just resting our feet and reading up on its history. By the time we left, we had just over an hour before our train was scheduled to depart. So we walked down the beautiful and busy streets, did a little bit of window shopping and ended up back at the train station early.

We are so happy we decided to go to Reims. It's a beautiful city, and worth a day trip. The region itself is stunning, and I hope to see more of this area one day in the future!