Campanile - Reims - Tinqueux

... a hot pocket. It was very good, albeit messy; and went great with the Bordeaux that we had been trying. All in all, the Champage region treated us very well. But alas, our wine days are over. Now it is off to Paris to drop off the car and get back to the hostel living, metro taking, sight seeing routine. But at least we'll be doing it with some good wine for dinner. Here's hoping the rain that plagued us all week decides to take a break!

... are or what the lessons teach, but the sheer enormity of the structure and the beauty of the art gives me the same sense of awe and humility that the stories themselves are supposed to convey in the first place.

In the Notre Dame de Reims, there is also one small gem of modern art. Stained glass windows from the Russian-French artist, Marc Chagall, were installed in the axis of the cathedral’s apse in 1974, and they added an almost dreamy ...

... perfect lair for a comic-book villain, but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t what the builders were going for. One thing that’s kind of surprising about these churches is the fact that they don’t really have grand plazas or entrance courts like you would expect. The approach to Laon was basically winding street – another narrow winding street – another street ...

... br>The bus was.... well it was a bus. A little crowded but a very short ride dropped us off at the base of the St. Remi Cathedral which was huge. It seemed much larger than that of Notre Dame. Since we had a reservation at the Pommery however we did not stop.

The Pommery label is one of the oldest champagne labels in the region so we were very excited when we saw the place. It consisted of multiple buildings, some clearly older than others. We bought our ...

... back and had further entertainment when rushing into one of the service stations to find police with guns. We were told in French by a policeman that the service station was closed. I of course had no idea what he was telling me and must have wrinkled my eyes in confusion as it was quickly translated into English. It was only then did I spot the four people sitting on the floor handcuffed - I guess that was the reason why it was closed ...

... on. It was already getting quite late in the day considering we still had more than five hours of driving ahead of us. We stopped only for food and in Rheims to check out the cathedral. We had planned to make a few trips along the route but we had also planned on being out of Paris a lot earlier in the day, and I have to work tomorrow, so we didn't get to have much fun driving through France.

-We drove through Reims on the way back to Maastricht and stopped at the Pommery estate for a tour of its cellars. It felt like we were spelunking in the underground cellars, which are more similar to mining caves, housing over 20 million bottles of champagne. It was even complete with riddling racks, though they don't use that technique anymore. After the tour, we had a tasting, which ended in purchasing four bottles that complete with the Pommery logo straws... weird french people.

I think I might have paid on average 4-7 euros a glass of champagne. This was nothing compared to the 14 euros for a tour of the all fabulous and luxurious Moet cellars.

Kept at a temperature of between 10 and 12°C, champagne goes through a long process before being put on the shelves at your local supermarket.

It was really interesting to see the ...

... if you approach it via motorway. You are automatically directed into Switzerland with major signs about not entering the country without a 'vignette' or car sticker indicating that you have paid to use their roads. So, plan B - drive without stopping back into France. I took the road to Dijon, leaving the motorway at Nyon at dusk and it was utterly astonishing. The added frisson of being very low on petrol actually made just a little bit more exciting. As I ...

Salut à tous, I have been in France for awhile now and I think that there are some things that need to be said. First, the good things: - Cheap wine - Cheap cheese - Cheap beer - The French and now, the bad things: - The French - French bureaucracy Everything takes time here. Whether it is opening a bank account or ordering a meal, it is so inefficient that the French have invented the two-hour lunch break. Can you believe that? 2 hours to eat ...