We really wanted to see a lot of Reims today; we really did! But we are just worn out! After roughly four weeks of non-stop going full speed we just ran out of gas! I think I slept until 10:00 AM; we didn't leave the hotel until noon, and then it was only to walk about 50 feet down the street to get breakfast (well lunch, I guess). And after a whole day, we only accomplished three things: seeing the famous Reims cathedral, stopping by the WWII Surrender Museum, and having a fantastic, although late, dinner! That was the extent of our day, and it was wonderful! We should've scheduled a few more lazy days like this! :-)
First up was the Reims cathedral of Notre Dame. It's actually a more politically powerful church than the Notre Dame in Paris because every king of France, except two, were crowned here! It's like the Westminster Abbey of France.
The cathedral is like a miniature (and lighter) version of its bigger sister in Paris. It's so beautiful! However a lot of my pictures turned out really dark and dreary looking so I used some of my photo effects buttons to make them look prettier. So you'll see some different kind of pics today.
These are Marc Chagall windows. He's one of my favorite modern artists, and these are so beautiful. I'm sorry my picture doesn't really show any of the details.
I took a few pictures of the streets and buildings in downtown Reims as we walked, but it's not as quaint and beautiful as the last two cities we were in. Reims is a big city, and it has all the typical issues big cities have: dirt, graffiti, lots of people, lots of big ugly signs, etc. So again, I used my "effects" button on my phone to make the streets look a little prettier! :-)
Our only other stop of the day was the WWII Surrender Museum. Now I say museum with a little bit of humor because there's really not much of a museum to see. There are a few display cases with mannequins and WWII relics and then there's THE ROOM! The actual room (with table and chair and maps) that the surrender was signed in. Pretty cool! The museum is in the building that Eisenhower used as his headquarters for the Allied command after D-Day.
This is the room, table, and chairs where WWII officially ended. Eisenhower wasn't actually in the room at the signing, though, because the other countries didn't all have someone of equal rank. So he let other lower ranking men take care of it and then he made the announcement over the radio from this room the next day.
After that it was pretty much just hanging out at a cafe drinking coffee until dinner. Then we had a really great dinner at Au Continental restaurant. Here's our lineup: First was an amuse bouche which was a tomato and cucumber gazpacho. Very light and zinging of tomato!
We split the appetizers like we normally do. One was three delicious, smelly cheeses, and the other was a lobster ravioli with a light seafood broth.
Next, I had turbot (white fish) with a light beurre blanc sauce, asparagus, potatoes, and a red pepper mousse. The fish was so delicious; it's so meaty it's like eating a fish steak! Yum!
Tammy had lamb wrapped in shoestring potatoes and sage with spring veggies and roasted potatoes. Another really delicious dish!
Then for dessert we were in heaven! Tammy's was a Breton shortbread with a crème bavaroise (molded mousse). It included a passionfruit puree, a tulle cookie and shards of chocolate. She loved it!
I had a dessert called "Plate of our Childhood" and it was to die for. It had all the candy flavors from a French childhood. On the left is a Carambar panna cotta (Carambar is like a chocolate caramel), then there's a Nutella creme brulee (my favorite by far!), then a Snickers muffin and strawberry milk! I'm definitely going to figure out how to make the Nutella creme brulee at home! It was beyond delicious!
So that was the extent of our lazy day, and it was fabulous! By tomorrow night we'll be in Paris, but we've got a couple stops to make along the way! I can't wait for Paris; it's my favorite city in the world!
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