Hotel D'Alsace Reims

We worked our way all the way up to Reims, the heart of the Champagne region. While Reims does have a pretty cool cathedral and I'm sure there is some historic stuff, we came for the champagne. We followed the Rue de Champagne down through all the little towns and Epernay. Then as was our luck, the Salon de Vins festival was taking place, so over 250 vintners from all over France were there to let us taste (and buy) their best. Some ...

... back when, and how its made in present day Champagne with the new technology. Amazingly, to my surprise, in this day and age of machines and electronics, there is still quite a necessity for manual work. We descended far enough to need jackets and saw bottles from what appeared to be prehistoric times!

The first tour was a family owned brand, only distributed in France. This was a more intimate tour and supplied us with three tastings at the completion ...

... this stuff. And I doubt you have to be an architecture nerd to appreciate it, either. I still can’t wrap my head around how the master builders were able to construct these buildings without TI-89 Titaniums or at least computers! After sketching a few views of this building, it was back on the bus to head to our last destination of the day, the landmark building of…our hostel.

... and waited for about 10 minutes before the tour started. One of the amazing parts about the Pommery is that they not only house champagne in their cellars (or 'caves') but art is also displayed. While we were there a more modern artists had displays in many of the corridors as well as the cellars including a dress designed by the designer of the mini skirt and a race-car suspended from the ceiling.

Originally the caves were minbed for chalk that was used ...

... our dinner the french way with a glass of Kir Royale.

It was our last day in France and our Champagne exploration was not over. We headed off to Epernay the next Champagne capital in France to visit the famous Moet & Chandon, explore the cellars situated on Champagne avenue and of course get a picture with the famous Dom Perignon. No not the prestige cuvee of Moet and Chandon but the Benedictine Monk who doubled the size of ...

This morning after breakfast we finished packing our bags and ordered a taxi. Our driver spoke not a word of English so in very poor French I told her we were going to pick up our rental car and showed her the address.

More than half an hour later was quite clear that we were lost. I translated the directions from the rental company to our driver and she did eventually get us there, after ...

... surface of faces all the way up the imposing church front. In the spacious and empty foreground, we looked up in awe; we felt like we were seeing this magnificent structure at its zenith - the way it was meant to be seen and admired, and as though we were the only people sharing with it the secret of its full greatness and beauty. It instilled in me the feeling of a quiet satisfaction, almost euphoria. And maintaining that enriched feeling, we gaily walked home to bed.

... The first Fiset in Canada arrived in 1653 and his name was Abraham. He was a bachelor and his parents where Abraham Fizet and Catherine Labrecque from the Parish of Saint-Jacques in Dieppe, Normandy. He had a younger brother François and one older and one younger sister, both named Catherine. He married in 1664 to Denise Savard and they had 12 children. So we know the named changed from Fizet to Fiset when the Abraham came to Canada. Then a few ...

... toys which she put out for Emma, knowing that there are no girls toys here at the house (the home of one boy). Dinner consisted of hors d-oeuvres and then a main of cheeses, meats, potatoes and condiments that you cook on small pans at a communal grill in the centre of the table. It was great fun for the kids and very tasty. This was followed by a salad and a wonderful homemade ...

... and good eating). The current art installment is called L'art de la Sieste (The art of the Siesta), which has a beach with deck chairs, hammocks and various other unidentifiable sculptures. It is a brilliant evening kicking the ball around, playing on the playground, walking down to the 'beach' (by the way we are actually around 3 hours from the nearest beach) and watching the Squirrels run from tree to tree. The picnic consists of pate, baguettes, frommage ...