Secrets of Paris

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Calendar of Paris Events

August 28-October 10
Carnival continues for the fall in the Bois de Boulogne for the annual Fête au Bois, at Porte de la Muette (16th, metro Rue de la Pompe or bus 63). See the big ferris wheel and all the traditional carnival rides.

August 28-September 5
The 9th annual Festival Silhouette features German short films this year, free open-air screenings at the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Cenquatre, and the Gethe Institute.

August 21-September 12
Attention garden lovers, come vote for your favorite dahlia at the Parc Floral (Bois de Vincennes) through September 12. The 22nd annual International Dahlia Competition includes 72 hybrids from France, Holland, Russia, Germany and Latvia.

Wednesdays through September 15
For the summer and early fall, the Sainte Chapelle is open late every Wednesday night from 6pm-9:30pm (last entry at 9pm)...

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Heather's Lady's Guide to the Sexy City

A Weekend in Reims

Monday, November 30, 2009

Earlier this month I spent two days in Reims updating part of the Fodor's France Guide. But being a guide to the whole country, you can imagine how small the chapter for Reims must be! There's never enough space to include everything interesting and worth seeing.

Reims is only 45 minutes from Paris by TGV, has a nice selection of hotels across the price range, and is currently constructing a tramway to make it even easier to get around town. There are more than enough good restaurants, pastry and chocolate shops, wine boutiques, and locally-made specialties to keep all of the foodies happy. Of course there is the famous cathedral where the kings of France were crowned, as well as noteworthy museums, and many sites commemorating World War I and World War II.

And yes, there are Champagne houses galore! Big ones, small ones, pretty ones...best to bring a designated driver with you!

Click here for the photo gallery of the pictures I took during my weekend, particularly of the places that didn't make the final cut (and trust me, I tried to sneak in the five pastry shops, but alas...).

Note: Click on the thumbnails to see the descriptions.

Update on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 by

Heather

This from a friend of mine who visited Reims last weekend:

We went on a Sunday, and it was absolutely dead. It was incredible how dead the place was. A freakin' ghost town. Impossible to get a taxi, so unfortunately we did a whole lot of walking! And thank god we brought some sandwiches with us; it would have been tough to find any kind of decent food (apart from the fare you get at train stations).

Since it was just a day-trip, it wasn't like we needed the city to be alive -- we were just visiting a couple of cellars (that are open on Sundays) and the Cathedral. And that pretty much filled up our time (along with all the walking in between!). We went to Martel and Mumm. The Martel tour was outstanding -- the guy was terrific and since there were only a few of us, we got to spend about twice the usual time for a tour there. Terrific tasting too. I really feel like a learned a lot about champagne on this trip. And Mumm was good too, though a bit more "corporate". And of course, I came home with some "souvenirs!" Hey, they were selling some bubbly that is tough to find, even in Paris!

The cathedral was very impressive too, as I'm sure you know.

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Reader Comments (2)

Lovely photos. I went to Reims a few years ago, the weather was dreary, but I loved exploring the city and the Champagne.

November 30, 2009 |

Chaz

Now that's what I call a proper job! Great photos. On my last visit to Reims a few years ago I recall hearing the gentle sound of bells while I was standing in the centre of town. They would ring quietly and then stop. Then a few moments later they would start again. But where was the sound coming from? The answer was the local buses. As each bus crossed the central area (pedstrianised?) the sound of bells would come from the front of the bus to warn unwary pedestrians. Unique to Reims?

November 30, 2009 |

Mirabeau

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