Reims

Say "France" in American English.  Now drop the F, and kind of gargle the R; that's how you pronounce Reims if you want the ticket agent to get you to what well may be the most beautiful cathedral in all of France (I haven't seen them all, so I can't speak definitively).  Notre Dame of Paris is definitely more compelling, if for no other reason than its size; but Notre Dame of Reims has a delicacy about it that makes you want to swirl it around in your mind like some of that champagne we tried last night.  In fact, its construction was started well after the Paris cathedral and some of the construction lessons learned in Paris were incorporated in Reims.

(If you notice a blur in these photographs, it's me and not you; I didn't notice the smudge on my lens until too late for these pictures.  Just use your imagination.)

Looking toward the altar choir, you see one of the traditional stained glass windows that by now you know I love so much about cathedrals.  Look very carefully and you'll see a smaller bluish window.  This was the work of Marc Chagall, who loved working in stained glass.  It is the center frame of a set of three windows that were added in 1974.

The cathedral was built on the site where Clovis, the first king of the Franks, had been baptized in 496.  Like Westminster Abby in London for English kings and queens, it has since been the site of every coronation of French kings since it was built.  One of those was Charles VII, who was crowned after some significant help from this young lass, whom we know as Joan of Arc.

The town of Reims is about 85 miles from Paris, a 45-minute train ride via this bad boy:

It is called the TGV, which is a French abbreviation for "Really Fast Train".  A similar train was clocked at 357 mph in 2007, but we came nowhere near that--the route was too short and not straight enough.  Still, being within 45 minutes station-to-station makes this trip a really nice diversion from the crowds of Paris.  For instance, there was no line queueing up to see the cathedral, and we could stroll around town and not feel like sardines.  Oh, by the way.  For lunch in Reims, we had quesadillas and enchiladas.  Both were very good, but neither Tex-Mex nor New Mexican.

Tomorrow we're meeting our new friends for a guided shopping trip.  Wish me luck!