Nov 25, 2012 - Arcis-sur-Aube

On Friday we travelled about 3 hours to Arcis sur Aube through miles and miles of flat agricultural land. At one point all we could see 180° in front of us was the flat horizon and huge sky – no trees or animals in sight. The land is mostly unfenced, various shades of green interspersed with big patches of ploughed earth. Where there were fences at the sides of the motorway, there were the odd hawks or falcons sitting, but we saw no cattle or sheep the whole trip. There are no tour buses either! We paid two lots of tolls, €12.40 and €8.50...

Oct 29, 2012 - Reims

In the late afternoon (18:00pm) we get on board our train for a 3 1/2 hour ride to the city of Reims the center of the champagne region of France and is also the city of coronations where the French kings were crowned. We will spend 2 nights here before heading off to Paris. Got checked into hotel and then out to a local bar for a beer (actually four but they were really small ones) lmao then back to hotel and bed. On the 30th of Oct we head off for a tour of Pommery champagne cellars, after the tour we get a glass of champagne was okay but...

Sep 20, 2012 - Reims and surrounds

Well, we woke up early enough to get breakfast this morning, which I had no idea if it was included or not, but we were hungry....It was traditional French fare, cheeses, cold meats, bread, pastries, and some english stuff (mmmm bacon and eggs!). We were a bit undecided what to do, but we had one task on our list, visit La Poste. We had a plan to buy whatever we wanted as souvenirs, and we'd do what we did on the last European trip, send things home via the post. When we were leaving Carcassonne (yes that long ago), I'd bought 4 boxes for...

Sep 19, 2012 - Reims and the Maison Ruinart

Early mornings. I hate early mornings. 6 months ago I arranged a tour in the Champagne region. The tour starts at 10am. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We have about 3 hours of driving ahead of us, and we needed to allow time for roadworks etc. So, at the latest, we had to be up for a 6.30 departure. I hate early mornings. We were up about 5.30, which gave us about 6hrs of sleep. Of course with just the one afternoon in Bruges, I wanted to milk every second out of it that I could, so we didn't get back in until late. The night...

Aug 3, 2012 - Reims ... la cité des rois en Champagne - Ardenne et ses environs

Sixième semaine du voyage Nous restons en Champagne mais délaissons la Champagne-Lorraine pour aller à Reims en Champagne-Ardenne. Reims est la ville des grandes maisons de champagne et haut lieu du sacre des rois en la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims. Nous avons visité la cave Taittinger. Une cave à plusieurs niveaux pour conserver les 3 millions de bouteille sur place et 10 millions dans une cave à Reims. La température naturelle passe de 12 degrés pour descendre à 10 et 8 degrés au dernier niveau. Heureusement que nous étions de courte...

Jun 12, 2012 - Epernay - Paris to Venice........so far

Norm takes over for a few anecdotes about the trip so far. Having a fabulous time. No photos at this stage. That's my fault of course. Haven't got the right app. Paris was fabulous, fell in love with it. The buildings are just like in the pictures. No more than six stories high. Five stories and a studio on top. Footpath shared by pedestrians, push bikes and Motor bikes. Traffic on the road is worse. And there are other issues on the footpath. I saw a bloke the other day (a bum), start to drop his strides on Rue Chenin Vert. What's he...

Jun 6, 2012 - Langres

Took the road less travelled today, keeping to all the minor roads. Made for a very interesting drive, going through the small villages and through some amazing scenery that changed from farmland, mountains, vineyards and forests. Took all day to drive about 250 kms. Just a pleasant day. Ended up at a place called Langres, which their advertising says is one of the 50 most beautiful towns in France. It is a walled city with heaps of impressive towers and belfries. You can walk around 3.5kms of parapet that gives a great panoramic view of the...

May 26, 2012 - Day 27: A TGV to Reims

A very early start allowed us to get a fast train to Reims at 08h00. The trip by TGV takes 45 minutes in contrast to the normal train which took over 2 hours. All was going well until the train stopped for 30 minutes outside Reims, delaying our arrival. Once in Reims, we walked though the parks bordering the  C19th station to a nearby Roman arch and then caught a tram to the Musee de Redition, where the formal surrender between the Western allied forces and the German army had been signed on 7 May 1945. The Musee was located in a huge...

Sep 19, 2011 - From Belgian beer to French wine

The weather in Bruges (most of Belgium, for that matter) is similar to Seattle: variable, with overcast and showers common, but glorious when the sun shines. During our 4 days in Bruges we experienced it all, although it was more good than bad. While I had noted that Thursday and Friday were sunny and warm, Saturday turned cool and windy - a great day to enjoy the indoor activites in the city. There are a couple of great museums in the city, the best, in our opinion, being the Groeninge. Not only because it is fun and challenging to...

Nov 10, 2010 - Safely Arrived!

We have arrived safely! We have crossed the Black Forest and the Vosges as well as the Danube, the Rhine and the Moselle. Mixed weather again but we did manage to see the beautiful scenery. We diverted slightly from the route to enjoy lunch with our friends George and Eila Walker in Strasbourg. What a treat! The group met at the last services before Reims to drive into the city together. The bollards in front of the cathedral had been lifted for us to park our cars and take photographs. We are going to have an extra drink tonight as...

Nov 8, 2010 - Reims

We make a last tour of Metz and happen upon the Pompidou Center – quite a piece of modern architecture! Then onto a Citroen dealer where we buy four wheel-covers to replacement the ones which were stolen in Nerja, Spain. Success, the forth dealership we have tried and voila, they have in stock! Everywhere in France we have seen that the wars, and appreciation for liberation, are still a very vital part of their conscientiousness. Today is no exception for our main destination today is Verdun – an area in Lorraine that was the location of...

Sep 19, 2010 - Champagne! campagna

Sorry for the delay for those who have been patiently awaiting a new update from us. we have had our challenges with accessing internet to post pictures and updates.. alas, we have found access. so, where did we leave off? ah yes, heading to Champagne...that s right, the only place in the world that produces champagne. We took the train to Epernay, just east of paris. spent three days there, first day to find ourselves, the second to find out that the only tour in the vineyards was closed on wednesday, ah well, just another day eating...