The City of Reims

Reims was the perfect city to transition us back into Germany. The hotel was in listening distance of the church so we could hear the bells and there was a towel warmer in the bathroom - just like home! The city itself was walk-able, people friendly, not crowded, and had lots of green spaces.

There were plenty of great restaurants to choose from, like this place where we had a nice brunch outside:

The weekend we went also happened to be the weekend of their Renaissance Festival.

While neat, hubby and I had grown accustomed to drinking at festivals and unfortunately France is lame when it comes to this - there was no booze at this fest.














But there was a crazy looking buzzard and what I can only assume was an escapee from Hogwarts:

We also got to go to the Museum of the Surrender. Hubby chuckled when I first mentioned this to him, joking that it was so appropriate to have such a museum in France. Har har har - this was actual location of the German surrender of WWII. They left the room totally intact:

Reims, like most cities between Paris and Germany, had tons of rebuildling to do after the war and, you know, bombings. One thing that remained, though, was this Roman arch:

Pretty neat. We also were treated to a fancy music and lighting show at the Notre Dame Cathedral on Sunday evening:

I'd love to come back here, too :-) There was a grocery store across from our hotel, so on our final night we got some tasty rolls, ham, and cheese for sandwiches. We also got some small cheesecakes and these chips (which tasted EXACTLY like cheeseburgers! Yum.)

Sadly, all great trips must come to an end sometime. After 10 days in France, we were ready to get back home. We stocked up on necessities for the train:

... it really made the four hour trip sail by :-)