Grand Hotel De L'Univers Reims

... 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!

... even Glenn!

She said:

As usual, I begin with accommodations. We arrived in Reims with three hotel options.

Since I was such a good sport in Paris, I was rewarded with the option of a bathroom in the room this time! Once again, Glenn and Pam waited with the bags as Chad and I began our ritual tour for an acceptable place to stay.

We ended up with a place in an ideal location, with a bathroom IN the room, but with some rather comical ...

... 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 ...

... to some very nice gentlemen.

The next morning we actually woke up on time and although we were a little sluggish we really weren't that late to the train station. Finding the ticket booth was an entirely different story though. By the time we found the right ticket counter and waited in line we had 10 minutes to board the train we wanted to get on. Needless to say we opted for a later train. We bought a little pricer ticket in order to get to Reims around ...

... br>
The channel tunnel trip back was not as smooth as the crossing over as we were delayed for a couple of hours - made worse by the fact that all we wanted to do was have a cuppa tea, slice of marmite toast and climb into a warm bed.

Was it a good trip? Naturally - selective memory is a great thing, especially when my most fond memory is watching those delicate bubbles escaping to the top of MY champagne glass :)

... around in the vicinity for at least another 20 minutes.

When we got to the rental office we were helped by a young man with excellent English. After some more time we loaded up our shiny new Ford Focus and drove out of Paris. Driving out of Paris is easier said than done, however. It really is a big and busy city. It took over an hour to get out. Even though it was midday by now, the ...

... set up with a ring of chairs for the 20 of us and it had an intimacy the other two tours didn't have. We were sad to see Lauren and Andrew leave to catch their train back to Paris, but we hope to keep in touch as they are stellar people (and that's not the champagne talking) and we think they'd like Portland if they wish to visit. One of the best parts of traveling is how a single afternoon's chance meeting can produce such close encounters with ...

... up the hole, open the gate, push the door open, and return my keys.  I then grabbed onto the fence next to the gate door, and swung myself around to the other side. Because holes like this pop up often everyday, and mostly everyday in a new place, it causes our bus stop to move as often as the holes.   And therefore, my new favorite game is titled: "Ou se trouve l'arret du bus aujourd'hui?"

... t la croiser. On se retrouve facilement dans Reims, le centre-ville est assez compact et linéaire, et la ville elle-même n'est pas très grande de toute façon (agglomération d'environ 200 000 habitants. La cathédrale est trouvée en un tour de main, et ô joie, nous constatons que le gars qui doit nous recevoir chez lui ce soir, un certain Samy Madoui, demeure à quelques pas à peine de celle-ci. Un fois nos repères acquis, nous allons longuement ...

... Armed with my French dictionary I found some antiseptic spray and James found the Mikey Mouse plasters. We completed our shopping and headed home loaded up with our purchases, stopping along the way to watch the road works. Lunch was 3 minute noodles we had found at the supermarket, last week we found 4 minute noodles so maybe next week we will find 2 minute noodles just like home. After lunch we made playdough which entertained James and Emma for some time. As the ...