Tag Archives: Reims

Posts from Base Camp

My Enduring Connection to St. Pierre & Miquelon

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

I recently reviewed my site traffic and discovered something very interesting about my posts.  For the past three years, the most popular ones have been a series of posts I wrote in 2015 on the remote French islands of St. Pierre & Miquelon.  The traffic on those posts is remarkable – it far surpasses anything else I’ve written.

A large crowd remains after the fireworks (and the arrival of fog) at the Bastille Day celebrations

I think this is mostly attributable to visitor numbers: millions of people visit places like Switzerland and Italy, but the visitor numbers to St. Pierre & Miquelon are considerably lower.  The tourist season is also quite short, with relatively few visitors outside the May to September high season.   And, of course, with fewer visitors, there are fewer bloggers.    It also didn’t hurt that a St. Pierre & Miquelon discussion group posted a link to one of my articles!

Zazpiak Bat: the local Basque pelota court in the centre of St. Pierre

The most popular individual post, by a considerable margin, is my report on Bastille Day 2015 in St. Pierre & Miquelon.  Which leads me  to a discussion of Bastille Day 2018…because we will once again be in  France!  As I mentioned a couple of months ago, I found a great summer airfare to Paris for the two of us.  At the time, I was still a little unsure of what our itinerary would be for that trip.  However, in the meantime, the picture has become considerably clearer.

Red-shirted volunteers distribute the vin d’honneur (and local cold cuts) on Bastille Day in St. Pierre

Lithuania and Latvia remain on hold.  Instead, I have booked accommodations in a number of towns in Normandy and Brittany.  We will be travelling by train and staying in small and characterful local hotels.   And we will be spending this Bastille Day (a.k.a. le 14 juillet) in an ancient Brittany town called Vitré!  I didn’t know anything about it until  I started researching this trip, but a number of sources (including the Michelin Guide) rank it quite highly.   It looks like a great place to spend France’s national day.

Reims supporters show their colours

Having booked the accommodation, my main task now is continuing to work on my French language skills.  For the past month, I’ve been spending at least 30 minutes each day on on-line French courses.  Reading French is not a problem but I need to work on the other elements of speaking, listening, and writing.  However, with a goal in mind, developing language skills is much more enjoyable!

Post-tour tasting at Vranken-Pommery champagne house (Reims, France)

To celebrate our upcoming trip to France, I’ve included some of my favourite pictures from St. Pierre & Miquelon and my 2014 trip to Reims, France.  In the meantime, stay tuned for some general posts about travel and a focus on some local destinations!

 

 

Posts from the road

Professional Soccer…in Reims!

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(Reims, France)

When preparing for this trip, I wanted to make sure that I attended at least one professional soccer match. Focusing on the Netherlands, I found a game featuring my favourite Dutch team (Feyenoord) and made arrangements with a couple of my cousins to attend it.  I’m really looking forward to it.  As I was spending so little time in France, I didn’t even bother checking if there would be a game during my visit.  Professional games generally are on Saturdays and I was leaving Reims on Saturday morning.

However, shortly after arriving in Reims, I stumbled across an article that discussed the opening match of the top French professional league.  It was in Reims, they were playing Paris St.-Germain, and the game would be played Friday night!  I still had my doubts that tickets would be available:  Paris has so many internationally-renowned players (at least 10 of them play for their respective national teams) and Paris was close enough that its many fans could probably buy up any remaining tickets.  However, the stadium wasn’t too far from downtown and I decided to visit the ticket office between champagne house tours, just in case.

The opening kickoff is still close to an hour away. Paris is in blue, Reims is in red.
The opening kickoff is still close to an hour away.

Sure enough, there were still tickets available.  It wasn’t cheap but I ended up with a seat in the 7th row, about 12 yards from midfield!  I was expecting to be in a nosebleed-inducing corner seat with an obstructed view, as I had bought my ticket mere hours before the season-opening match against such a fabled opponent.

...but for the warm-up, Paris wears white jerseys.
Reims wears red and Paris wears blue…but for the warm-up, Paris wears white jerseys.

I went to the stadium very early so that I could see part of the warm-up and get familiar with the players.  That was a good idea – it was very crowded near the stadium and there were police everywhere trying to maintain order.  Everybody was frisked before being admitted.  I found out later that Paris has had problems with some of its hardcore fans in the past.

Reims supporters show their colours
Reims supporters show their colours

The skill level, even in the warm-up, was astonishing.  I recognized Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) and Edinson Cavani (Uruguay) almost immediately – yes, they really do have tremendous ball control and vision.  Finally, it was time for the game to start…and for the rain to fall!  It rained for most of the first half, and the seats were very cramped, but it was still great to be seeing soccer played at such a high level:  the French league is one of the best in Europe.

Paris hammers a free kick into the Reims wall
Paris hammers a free kick into the Reims wall

Paris was clearly more skilled and they dominated possession of the ball.  Indeed, they made it 1-0 only six minutes into the match and I thought that I would be watching a one-sided slaughter.  But after scoring the first goal, Ibrahimovic hit the goal post on an easy tip-in opportunity and then missed a penalty kick.  Perhaps sensing that they still had a chance, Reims struck a free kick that seemed to catch Paris off-guard and suddenly the game was tied.  Then, shortly before half, a rare Reims counter-attack was perfectly executed and the home team took a 2-1 lead!

The fans were delirious.  It was unthinkable for Reims to be leading against such a  powerful club.  While Reims used to be one of the top French teams, it was out of the top division for more than 30 years and only returned last season.

Ibrahimovic argues with the referee, while the remainder of Paris St.-Germain shows little interest
Ibrahimovic argues with the referee, while the other players (on both teams) show little interest

Paris tied the match almost midway through the second half and it seemed like just a matter of time before they took the lead again.  However, Reims never gave up and their goalkeeper (see photo at the top of this post) played a sensational game.  Unbelievably, they held on for the tie and the crowd was overjoyed.  The police were everywhere and the stadium managed to empty rather peacefully.

This was a great (unexpected) experience and it will be very interesting to  compare this to the Dutch game I’ll be seeing next week.  First, however, I need to visit another country or two!

Posts from the road

Touring the Champagne Houses

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(Reims, France)

August 8 was a much better day.  It began with guided tours of two different champagne houses; a great way to learn about the famous drink that can only be made here.  Sparkling wine from anywhere else (or sparkling wine made here but not in accordance with the strict rules) cannot legally be called “champagne”.  The principles of champagne-making were essentially the same at both houses but the presentation was quite different.

Descent to the Vranken-Pommery champagne cellars (Reims, France)
Descent to the Vranken-Pommery champagne cellars (Reims, France)

I began with a tour of the Vranken-Pommery Champagne House (see photo at top of this post). This appeared to be a more traditional and higher-end champagne house. Their website claims that their champagne is ranked number two in the world…but that their rose is actually number one.  While the tour cost was a little higher than some other Reims tours, I discovered that a “standard” bottle of Pommery champagne costs more than C$60.00 in the on-site shop.

We descended 60 metres below the ground and were shown a portion of their extensive cellars: they have 18 km of cellars and millions of bottles. It was very difficult to take meaningful pictures because of the dim light but it was certainly very atmospheric.  After the stifling heat and humidity outside, it was also very comfortable in the cellars as the temperature remains constant at 10’C throughout the year.  We even saw champagne in huge 9-litre bottles and a collection of extra-old vintages that are still aging from as far back as 1874.

Bottle sculpture in one of the "portals" at the Vranken-Pommery champagne cellars (Reims, France)
Bottle sculpture in one of the “portals” at the Vranken-Pommery champagne cellars (Reims, France)

In addition to the cellars, there are several “portals” (60 metres high) that reach up to the ground level from the tunnel network.  Vranken-Pommery has installed some art in these oddly shaped spaces as they cannot be used to store champagne.

In the afternoon, I visited the G H Martel champagne caves.  This tour was a little less expensive even though it provided 3 (somewhat smaller) tastings instead of one.  However, it turns out that these caves are no longer used by Martel for champagne as they have a new facility in nearby Epernay.  The Martel caves in Reims are more like a museum:  I didn’t mind, as the lighting was much better and I had already seen a working cave in the morning.   The Martel tour was also considerably shorter and started with a video, so it was less of an experience than the Pommery tour.

Slightly less posh entrance to the G H Martel champagne cellars (Reims, France)
Slightly less posh entrance to the G H Martel champagne cellars (Reims, France)

The new Martel facility is almost entirely mechanized, while the Pommery facility is still labour intensive.  The Pommery bottles are still turned by hand in order to deal with the sediment that accumulates during the yeast-induced carbonation process.   This may be one reason why Martel’s products are considerably less expensive (about C$35 per bottle) than the Pommery products.

Bottles being "turned" to remove sediment, in the G H Martel champagne house (Reims, France)
Bottles being “turned” to remove sediment, in the G H Martel champagne house (Reims, France)

And what about the results of the tasting?  The time gap between tastings made it very difficult to compare between the two houses, although I preferred the sweeter champagnes to the drier ones at Martel.  Pommery is certainly marketed as a more upscale product, so for the casual champagne drinker it may simply be a question of image.  While I don’t think I will become more of a champagne drinker (I actually prefer the cider that I’ve had with my dinners here in Reims), at least I now understand a bit of what the champagne fuss is all about.

Post-tour tasting at Vranken-Pommery champagne house (Reims, France)
Post-tour tasting at Vranken-Pommery champagne house (Reims, France)

The day didn’t end with the champagne tours.  I also managed to see another UNESCO World Heritage Site (Basilique Saint-Remi) and to discover that there was a professional soccer game in town that evening.  The basilica was similar to the cathedral I saw the day before, except that there weren’t as many people.  As for the soccer game, it requires a separate entry and so I’ll report on that in my next posting.

Posts from the road

I’m in Champagne!

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(Reims, France)

The mysterious “City A” referenced in my previous post is Paris! However, upon arrival at Charles de Gaulle airport, I immediately caught a train to the historic city of Reims in the French region of Champagne.

Close-up of the stained glass in the Notre-Dame Cathedral (Reims, France)
Close-up of the stained glass in the Notre-Dame Cathedral (Reims, France)

I briefly considered spending some time in Paris, as it is unquestionably one of the great cities of Europe.   However, I have visited Paris before and my wife would like to visit “La Ville-Lumière” (the City of Light) together with me someday. With August also being one of the worst times of year to visit Paris, I thought it made sense to bypass it for now.  I also have a feeling that I will have an opportunity to visit Paris again soon!

Instead of Paris, I am in the less intimidating city of Reims for two nights.  I have never been here before but I do know that it is known as, among other things, the home of true champagne. There are many famous champagne houses here and I will be touring a couple of them tomorrow.  I am especially looking forward to visiting the caves deep underground.  I’ll be reporting on my champagne tours (including the tastings) in my next post.

Place-Royale in Reims, France
Place-Royale in Reims, France

My main focus today was supposed to be on fighting the jet lag and acclimatizing myself to European time.  Alas, there has been a luggage snag.  My backpack was partially open (and damaged) when it arrived on the luggage carousel in Paris…and some stuff was missing from the opened compartment.  I will need to do some shopping in order to replace the missing/damaged items.  It’s certainly an inconvenience but it could have been a lot worse.

I suppose that I have had quite a few challenges already on this trip.  I intended to take the train from Kingston to Toronto, but we only made it as far as Belleville.  We then had to transfer to buses because the freight train in front of us hit a car.  We found out later that there had been at least one fatality.  We arrived in Toronto two hours late but fortunately I had built quite a bit of slack into my schedule.

Even under scaffolding, the Notre-Dame Cathedral is overwhelming (Reims France)
Even under scaffolding, the Notre-Dame Cathedral is overwhelming (Reims France)

Then, when I arrived a little early at my hotel in Reims, I was told that it would be another 90 minutes before my room would be ready.  When I returned after 90 minutes, I was told that my room needed repairs and that I would have to go to a different hotel (which had a room ready).  Alas, when I arrived at the second hotel, they told me to return in 2.5 hours…because the room wasn’t ready (putting my occupancy far beyond the published check-in time).  Normally, this wouldn’t upset me too much, but I was feeling kind of grimy and really wanted to rest a bit after a sleepless night on the plane.  I also wasn’t impressed with the aim of a local pigeon.   There were some other frustrations with the tourist office and a few of the local vendors:  let’s just say that I was feeling a little victimized by the end of the afternoon.

Galette Mexicaine et cidre doux
Not your typical crepe: galette mexicaine et cidre doux

Anyway, the day ended with a nice dinner.  My wife really likes crepes, so I took it as an omen when I found a creperie named after her.  I enjoyed my galette mexicaine very much and I think this points the way to a better day tomorrow!  Travel has its ups and downs: the key is to move on from the disappointments and find some new highlights.