Residence Clairmarais Reims

... were walking out with carts full of Cases of wine, not to mention all the cheese, fois gras, ham, mushrooms, and other french goodies that were up for grabs. We spent a piddly 5 hours drinking wine, and now have a much better "education" of French wine. But after a couple hours, food was definitely in order. Istead of opting for the 9 euro fois gras sandwich, we got the pate en croute, which we soon found out is not supposed to be eaten ...

... even Glenn!<br><br>She said:<br><br>As usual, I begin with accommodations. We arrived in Reims with three hotel options.<br><br>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.<br><br>We ended up with a place in an ideal location, with a bathroom IN the room, but with some rather comical ...

... this stuff. And I doubt you have to be an architecture nerd to appreciate it, either. I still can&#8217;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&#8230;our hostel.

... time like we planned so no harm no foul. After a snack in the station we boarded our train and we were off to Reims!!<br><br>Reims is a very small town that is probably only a few miles wide. After getting off the train we walked through a park and were suddenly on the main boulevard in the town. Many of the streets are reserved for pedestrian use only and so it happened on the day we were in Reims that a festival was going on in the middle of this very wide ...

... entrance to France is not the most scenic but it gets better as you get on the motor way and start to see some of the countryside. It helped that it was a gorgeously sunny day with only a crisp wind. You could see that Autumn was on the way as every now and then trees and bushes had a sprinkling of light gold and orange, making the drive seem more beautiful.<br><br>By lunchtime we had reached Reims our destination for the weekend. Reims ...

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.<br><br>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 ...

... were famed for being the first to put the fizz into champagne, which until then had been still, and today also doubles as a modern art gallery. We descended into the depths of the murky and chilly caves, and were escorted around. Our guide enlightened us to the champagne distillation process, as we dodged the moving works of art: an inflating/deflating military tank, a room filled with birds that perched on guitars making music, an enormous propeller hanging from the ...

... in the jardins de Tuileries, drank wine at cafes, and bought delicious cakes from bakeries!!  On Sunday, we hosted a dinner at our apartment for one of the other assistants for his birthday!   We made a birthday cake from scratch.  That has probably been the biggest adventure I have had so far.  Between not have an already prepared mixed or a recipe, not having a conversion table, not really being sure what types of sugar ...

Today we decided to take James and Emma swimming. Richard purchased a 10 x swims card thinking we were likely to return often. However once in our swimmers Richard and James were informed that they could not go swimming in board shorts - speedo's only please. Out on the edge of the pool while waiting for Richard and James, I was told Emma was able to swim this time but next time she needs to wear swimmers with straps over the shoulders ...

The Charters' (Steve, Anita, Sophie and Lucy) invited us for an evening picnic this evening. It was in the Parc de Champagne (formerly Parc de Pommery), which is one of the highest points in town and certainly one of the largest parks. It used to be the site of one of Champagne Pommery's vineyards and now is partly wooded and partly large open, grassed terraces. It plays host to all sorts of events (a coming event being Journee Bien Bouger, Bien Manger - Day of good ...