Stars Hotel Reims Tinqueux

... seen. These windows were modeled after those windows and were incredibly beautiful. The next windows were the Chagall windows. Another amazing work of art with all its colors and figures.

After the audio tour, we picked up food from a local market and had picnic by an old abbey. This before the next three hours were to be spent in the champagne caves learning all about where champagne started (yup, those monks knew what they were doing), how it was made ...

The next destination on our itinerary was the Notre-Dame of Laon Cathedral. My pamphlet tells me this is "one of the earliest Gothic edifices constructed in France," so there you go. It's a lot different than the famous Notre Dame in Paris, being a lot less ordered and therefore more “exuberant.” It’s on a site that’s a lot higher than the rest of town, so you get lots ...

... Canadian Bar. The Moose we were told plays Gator games often and in anticipation for the upcoming game on Saturday, Angela and I wanted to make sure. We went in for one beer but after talking with the (English speaking) bartenders and meeting a few people we had a couple more rounds. We got home around 3am which would explain my headache the next morning, however please don't mistake this as a complaint because Angela and I did not pay a cent for the drinks ...

... Our tour ended with a delicious glass of Taittinger Brut Reserve.

In to the swing of things now, we freshened up at our hotel before making our way to the balcony of Le Lion to relaxingly sip some Canard-Duchene while watching the Golden Angel of the Sube fountain glisten in the sunlight. Dinner at Bistrot de Boucher was a great end to the evening as we sampled Foie gras, honey coated duck and peppered steak but not before ...

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 ...

-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.

... were overly keen I think, desperate to make it to bed and sleep off the previous days' excesses, but Ed pushed us to walk off the heavy food and clear our heads before bed. As we rounded the corner, the cathedral took our breath away. It glowed, literally divinely, from the black night surrounding it, proudly demanding and consuming the attention of its environs. Its ornate figures created, and yet were simultaneously shrouded, by their own formation, making a ...

... minimal tools there but 4 computers with links to 3 websites and 4 or 5 books on the tables. Only 1 of the books was about general genealogy of the first French Settlers. The others were about Quebec and specific families. There was less than a page in the book on the name Fisette or Fiset, or Fizet as it was originally written in France. What I did find from this limited source of information was actually quite informative. The websites had the following ...

This evening we headed to Mary-Jo's (the neighbours) for apertif. As we were unsure about how long and what exactly was on offer we fed the children and ourselfs first. This turned out to be a good move as we were also invited for dinner and it was quite late before we ate. Mary-Jo looks after pre-school children so has heaps of toys which James and Emma enjoyed. She also had heaps of ...