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SuperDave's Adventures in Eastern France's Wine Country


SuperDave

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Dave,

Your photos are stunning - thanks for sharing them with us. I've lost track of the amount you drank :D - but you've got a great knowledge of wines.

Returned to the Saint Germain area by Metro to the Odeon station around 11 pm. Went to the same cafe as last night Cafe des Deux Magots. Another famous cafe is across the street being Cafe Flore. Went to the former as the person I hung out with last night was there with his girlfriend from London. He works in London.

So she only stayed for a little while and we had a couple of cognacs and went to an Irish pub close by for a few beers. I did buy a round this time as I insisted, but he put the rest of the drinks on his expense account. Stayed out to after 2 am and would find out the next day that this was a mistake on two consecutive nights. :dont:

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Saint Germain area in the early hours of Sunday morning.

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Dave,

Your photos are stunning - thanks for sharing them with us. I've lost track of the amount you drank :D - but you've got a great knowledge of wines.

I lost track of that too! :drinks: And this is only two days into my trip! :unsure: Glad you're enjoying this with plenty more ahead.

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Great stuff, Dave. I'm having flashbacks and hunger pangs reading your travel diary.

Wow, the Ponts des Arts has certainly changed since I last saw it...it had just reopened in 1984 after being closed for rebuilding. I don't remember any locks on the bridge back then. I think Richard Linklater's 'Paris' movies with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke have jumpstarted the trend.

The green column is the Place Vendôme Column.

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Beautiful pictures, Dave. Thanks for sharing all of this. I haven't been to Paris in just over 20 years, but I do remember loving the Musee D'Orsay much more than The Louvre... Also loved the Opera building, although we didn't see an opera.

Keep it coming!! :)

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Beautiful pictures, Dave. Thanks for sharing all of this. I haven't been to Paris in just over 20 years, but I do remember loving the Musee D'Orsay much more than The Louvre... Also loved the Opera building, although we didn't see an opera.

Keep it coming!! :)

It's kind of funny that in my five visits to Paris that I have yet to visit the Louvre or Orsay. Although, I plan to one day. Must make it a priority in my next visit on a more extended stay. Certainly within a few years. The Orsay will be my first choice of the two. Of all the museums in Paris, have only visited the Centre Pompidou.. Really liked it and more graphic art than paintings. This was back in 1997. To me I just love walking the city, taking in the cafes with lots of people watching and enjoying a great meal or a glass of wine or expresso, rather being inside in a museum. Probably has something to do with the great weather in all my visits in this city. Very little rain!

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Great stuff, Dave. I'm having flashbacks and hunger pangs reading your travel diary.

Wow, the Ponts des Arts has certainly changed since I last saw it...it had just reopened in 1984 after being closed for rebuilding. I don't remember any locks on the bridge back then. I think Richard Linklater's 'Paris' movies with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke have jumpstarted the trend.

The green column is the Place Vendôme Column.

I think the only movie Linllater did there with the two of them was the second in the series being "After Sunset." That's my favorite of the trilogy with the most recent being "Before Midnight", which takes place in the islands of Greece and was released just recently. Just saw it a few weeks ago and I highly recommend it.

Thanks for pointing out Place Vendome as it's been a while since my visit there. I think that is the area where Princess Diana stayed just before her fatal accident near the Place de la Concorde. She stayed at The Ritz, I believe which is in that area.

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Great photos Dave and thanks for sharing the adventure. Sounds like you had a great time! Look forward to more. :peace:

Glad you're enjoying it! Better to come, once this gets into the wine country.

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Sunday, 5 May

Well it was time to leave Paris. Well, after being out to 2 am the last two night, it caught up with me. I overslept and woke up around 9:30 am. Unfortunately, I had a train reservation at 10:30 am. :wakeup:

I still had to check out of the hotel, pack up my bags and make sure I didn't leave any thing behind. After this, I walked the few minutes to the Metro station and one came almost immediately. It was about 10:20 and there were six stops to Le Gare d'Est station, where I would take the high speed TGV to Reims. I knew for sure, I wasn't going to make it.

I arrived at the station at just before 10:35, but unfortunately, it's quite a walk from the Metro station to the trains. Well, I missed my train so I asked a few people, in my limited French, where the ticket office was. Went to an information office and they told me where to go. The office is for SNCF line, which is like the French equivalent of Amtrak. Well, since I had a reservation and it was prepaid and missed my train, I knew I'd be paying extra. Next time, I'll buy a Flex-ticket. I didn't since, I wasn't traveling to Reims on my arrival day in Paris. The woman in the office was very helpful and got a reservation on the next TGV to Reims, which was 12:55 pm. I wound up paying an extra $40, but at least I'd be getting to Reims in a few hours. Might be best not to stay out so late on consecutive nights! :wall: I suppose this counters the free drinks I got in Paris?

I had a bit under two hour till my train, so grabbed a coffee and a croissant and just basically hung out at the station, which is quite nice and clean. Very organized with the train departures and arrivals on many monitors throughout. The station is very open and you can see all the trains arriving and departing. Many of the European rail stations are like this.

Just before getting on the train, I validated my ticket in one of the portable machines near the tracks. You don't have to this in the USA, but most of Europe you have to, even if you have a valid ticket. I think if you don't and they check your ticket, you may have to pay a small fee.

About 15 minutes before departure it was time to board and I had a seat on the upper deck of the train in the Premier Class section. It was comfortable and quiet. The train left on time for the 45 minute journey to Reims. It took a while to get up to speed, but when it finally did, the speed we were traveling at was incredible and smooth! :flying: A monitor in the car had the speed at one point at 330 KPH or 190 mph. That's fast, but I know some of the trains in Japan are even higher than this. It took about 10 minutes to slow the train down and arrived in time at around 1:45 pm. I would be meeting my group for the first time in a few hour to begin the tour and actually a few of them were on the train with me.

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Exiting Reims train station was a bit tricky as you came off the train and had to downstairs and into a bit of a tunnel and come upstairs again. Just to get from one side of the tracks to the station itself. We were provided directions to are first hotel, but really didn't need them, since as soon as I left the station and crossed the street, my hotel was right there. That's convenience! :thumbsup:

Staying at the Hotel Continental. Have a good room on the 2nd floor with a very spacious bath.

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The hotel is located in probably the best part of Reims, being close to the train station and bus lines. There are many cafes, restaurants and bars lined all along this street. Quite convenient. It's basically the pedestrian city center as no cars are allowed here, until you walk a bit north as there is just roundabout they're allowed to use for access to the other avenues.

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It was time for some lunch and it was about 2:30 pm. Most of the restaurants were closing down until dinner at this point in this area. Found a place still open, just across the street from my hotel. It was another nice day, so having lunch outside was the way to go. Funny, that this same eatery would be also where I'd have dinner with my group tonight! We'd be inside tonight and the menu quite different.

The place was Le Grand Cafe and they have quite an extensive menu. I went with the smoked and raw salmon tartare. It was much better than the one I had in Paris. This was accompanied by more bread of course and a glass of white wine from the Bourgogne region. It seemed similar to a Sauvignon Blanc.

At 5 pm we our Rick Steves' Wine Regions of Eastern France group met for the first time. Just to get to know one another and our tour director Toni, who lives in the Britanny region of France, but is originally from England. We had a small group of 14 of us from different parts of the USA including, southern and northern California, Oregon, Arizona, Montana, Minnesota, myself from Connecticut and another from Vancouver, Canada. Just went over what we'd be covering and seeing during the next 13 nights together. This lasted about an hour and of course there was wine to go along with it.

Later around 6:30 or so Toni gave us a brief walking tour of the area, to become familiar with the town and locations for eateries, stores and ATMs. I have plenty of info in my guidebook, but it's always good to get a little tour like this to become familiar with a particular area.

It was time for dinner at Le Grand Cafe and was quite impressed with the cuisine. It wasn't a completely set menu, being we had a group but we had three choices in each appetizer, main course and dessert. Prior to this, enjoyed a Kir aperitif. It's a combination of black currant liqueur and white wine. Sometimes champagne is substituted. Surprised, being that we're in the Champagne capital.

For an appetizer had a platter of mixed salad with various hams, salamis and cornichons. The main course was duck confit for me. It's a duck leg cooked in it's own fat. It doesn't stay within the meat but you get the flavor. I've had this a few times and this was easily the best I've had. Real good. Dessert was a French cliche and Creme Brulee. During the meal I enjoyed a nice helping of red Bordeaux wine. Overall, an excellent meal. With many tours, when you have group dinners, the food isn't always that good and this certainly was. Rick Steves' tour as I found out from the previous tour to Italy I took, that all the dinners with the group were all very good and usually have several choices. There was no supplement fee for this as many tour do. They get you in at a lower price and tack in all these optional and supplement fees for meals, sightseeing trips and tipping.

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A few of us sometime after dinner around 9:45 or so went to visit Notre Dame Cathedral of Reims. Not to be confused with Quasimoto's. They have a light show which is projected on the facade of the church with various images.

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Fountain on the pedestrian street, while walking to Notre Dame. Looks pretty cool all lit up.

We arrived at Notre Dame, just as the show was starting. It was accompanied by some classical music. Can't remember exactly what it was.

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These look amazing and a great way to begin my trip in Eastern France. I took many more than these of the show, but since it was night, some photos didn't turn out well.

After the show stopped at a cafe for an expresso and a cognac. Headed in much earlier than Paris at around 11:30 pm.

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Monday, 6 May

Woke up at around 7 am and slept quite well. Breakfast selections downstairs in the dining room are mostly continental fair. This isn't the USA so no eggs, sausage or bacon. A croissant, orange juice and coffee is enough to get me started for the day.

One thing I've noticed about Europe is no matter what hotel or country I'm in the coffee for breakfast is pretty bad. If you want good coffee for breakfast your best bet is at a cafe.

Relaxed in the lobby of our hotel, waiting for our group on a walking tour of Reims. The chairs were so comfortable here, that it would be easy to take a little siesta here. :zzz: Didn't want to get up!

Left on our walking tour of Reims at around 9:15 am or so. Not sure how the weather would hold out as it was completely overcast and rain was foercasted.

Reims was quite a historic town at one time, until much of it was bombed by the Germans during World War I from 1914-18. It's been completely rebuilt in much of the same style of architecture that it was before WWI. There are many tributes and sites relating to WW as well as WWII in Reims. Unfortunately, I didn't write down what all my photos are, but I'll do my best to recall them.

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This is the World War II Garden in Reims. One of the many French soldiers from Reims who died in combat during the war.

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Tram tracks in center of town with Notre Dame Cathedral in background. The main purpose of the trams isn't for getting around town, but bringing in people from the suburbs who work in Reims. Most use the buses to get around town.

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Like the style of architecture on this building. Looks like style in Bavaria or other parts of Germany. Not too far from the German border in Reims.

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Hotel de Ville, which is just the town hall. But quite a striking one.

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Not exactly sure about this building, but may be military related.

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Love the look of this building. Sort of modern on the left and right with stores and a historic part in the center, which was preserved from many years ago. This part was pre-WWI.

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Love small specialized shops like the two of these. I'll take these over any of those superstores we have in the states any day. I hate those and who needs them! :nuke:

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The final stop of our morning tour of Reims was at Notre Dame Cathedrale. It began to pour, just before we went inside. Unfortunately, the photos I took inside, didn't come out that well, so I just have a few exterior shots and show the beauty and grandness of this magnificent church.

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Notre Dame was almost completely destroyed in World War I, but was rebuilt during the 1920's with a lot of the money needed to rebuilt it from some of the wealthiest Americans at the time. Those being the Rockefellers, Carnegies and Vanderbilts.

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The rain didn't last too long, but came down quite hard for a while. After this I went to grab some lunch before our visit to a local Champagne producer in Reims. Our first tasting of the tour.

Lunch was at a small cafe near my hotel. Ate inside this time as it was a bit wet to enjoy the outside. It was at Cafe Pain CIA and had a festive salad with mixed greens, various hams and meats, foie gras in a vinaigrette. Also more bread and a glass of their house white wine. Enjoyed it and was one of the least expensive meals of my trip.

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The pedestrian street near my hotel with cafes lined up along. Like the statue, but don't know what it is.

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Good reading as always Dave & I'm enjoying the photos, really beautiful places you went to & apparently plenty of good wine.

:toast:

Thanks Paul. Lots of good wine and food and just warming up on day 4 of 15.

Will resume this sometime Sunday. A lot here today!

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Now back to Reims.

It was now time for my first visit to one of the four wine producers on this tour. It was right in town as most of the Champagne producers are or just on the outskirts of town. There are miles of Champagne caves underneath the city. Pretty amazing if you think about it. Took one of the city buses, right next to my hotel and it was only four stops in about ten minutes. That was easy enough.

We visited a small producer of fine Champagnes in Reims. Not one of the big producers like Taittinger, who was located close to G.H. Martel, who we were visiting. We arrived around 2 pm for our visit, which began with a short film about Champagne production in this area, which we viewed in the caves below.

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We had a guide who explained a lot of what goes into Champagne production. The caves are located about 60 meters below street level. It is also quite cool down here in the caves. Also down here were some of the old machinery that went into the production years ago, but now are sort of obsolete and not as effective economically.

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Some of the old Champagne production devices.

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Bottles of Champagne aging and fermenting in the cave,

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More racks of Champagne.

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After the tour of the caves we headed up the narrow concrete steps and sampled three of their Champagnes. This was quite interesting to learn and see how Champagne is produced. None of the bottling is done right here as that's done close by. We basically saw the caves and how the Champagne is stored and aged. It was a worth while visit and of course the Champagne was good! :toast:

Headed back to town by bus again. It was now raining a bit again. A bit dreary of a day, but not horrible. Got back around 4 pm. Decided to nap a bit as I think I was still recovering from the late nights in Paris. :zzz:

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There is a funny thing about the French language as many words are not pronounced the way they look. That is especially true when it comes to this city now, Reims. It looks like it could be pronounced Rhymes or Rems, but is neither. It is pronounced Rahs. Very strange. :huh: Go figure!

That brings me to a story our tour director Toni, told us. She had a person on her tour who was taking a train from Paris to Reims to start the tour last year. He went to the train station to buy his ticket from one of the ticket booths and told the person where he was going. He had pronounced it Rems to ticket vendor. The vendor thought this traveler said something else. So instead of going from Paris to Reims this person arrived in Rennes, which is in Brittany in the northwest part of the country. :wtf::ohmy: Probably best to write something down for the person in this situation, when a certain language isn't your expertise. This traveler might want to check his ticket next time to as the spelling is different. Thought, that was a good one to share.

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After a rest in the afternoon it was early evening an time to find a place for dinner. Walked the area extensively as time wasn't a priority. Checked a number of different restaurants on the pedestrian street and in the area and settled on a sort of upscale eatery next to where our group ate last night. So you see, not all dinners are with the group. Many are on your own, which I like.

The name is Cafe Flo. The menu outside looked a bit pricey, but the selections look good, so I was sold. The place was quite crowded but I was seated after waiting for just a few minutes.

Instead of the usual bread on the table there were small toasts with an olive tapenade, which I really enjoyed. Had another Kir for the second straight night with blackberry liqueur and white wine. Went with a 1/2 bottle of Chinon red from the Loire Valley. Lighter than a cab but quite good. My appetizer was another French staple in escargots with parsley and garlic butter. The main course was sliced lamb with garlic, thyme and rosemary with brussel sprouts and snap peas. Finished off the meal with a trio of sorbets (citron, caissis and raspberry) along with an expresso and a Grand Marnier Rouge. Everything was quite good.

Went back to my hotel after a stop at the James Joyce Pub near my hotel for an after dinner drink. Sat outside as it was pretty nice out and took in the scenery. Very relaxing and one of my favorite things to do in France or Europe in general.

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Tuesday, 7 May

Had the usual for breakfast this morning with a croissant, OJ and coffee. Also a yogurt too. It's departure day and off to our next stay in the Alsatian town of Colmar. But before arriving their would be a stop in Verdun and it's World War I memorial, cemetery and Forte Douaumont.

Left at around 8:15 am. with our bus driver Hilde who is from Belgium. She is always giggling and is so energetic. She was a lot of fun on this tour and just great to have with us.

On the way to Verdun, there were lots of vineyards, which began just outside of Reims and field of rape seed, which are so beautiful with their bright yellow color. Just great to look at. Just before arriving in Verdun, the surrounding land is littered with big round impression all over the place as these were the shell impressions from the German bombings nearly 100 years ago back in World War I. We also saw many remnants of the trenches of the hellish warfare back then. It was pretty stunning to see this. Arrived in Verdun around 10 am.

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Town of Verdun

Our first visit was to Forte Douaumont and the barracks for the French soldiers in this area during WWI. The conditions here were not great at all and a lot of the artillery were stored here as well. In Verdun over 130,000 French and German soldiers were killed during the war and over one million shells being dropped on the town itself by the German military. Quite astonishing.

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May have been some sort of entrance into the barracks at one time.

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One of the cool and damp tunnels.

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French soldiers quarters. Amazing how anyone can live in these conditions. At times many of the soldiers were on top of one another and many slept on the cold wet floor.

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I think this is a memorial to a unknown German soldier who was killed here

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It was now on to the World War I memorial at Forte Douaumont.

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Outside of memorial building

Once inside we first saw a film about Forte Douaumont the memorial and the amount of death in devastation that occurred in Verdun during the war. Inside was set up like a museum with different photos and artifacts from the war and tributes to various soldiers.

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This reminds me in the beginning of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" and seeing the American cemetery there. Never been to Normandy or the D-Day beaches in northwest France, but would like to some day. Definitely in my bucket list.

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A memorial to those buried here.

It was kind of strange taking the above photo as I backed up to get the right view I didn't realize I had stepped in this gravel infested wet gooey clay. I almost lost my shoes in it and was a pain the neck to get the stuff out of the soles of my shoes! :oops::ohmy:

This was amazing to see and on such a large scale of how many soldiers lost their lives here. People talk about the wars in the present day and the loss of life, but the numbers are quite staggering during the two World Wars.

It was about 12:30 or so and had some lunch on the premises at a cafe. Nothing fancy, just a ham and cheese sandwich, a piece of chocolate cake and a glass of white wine too.

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