Reims rhymes with....

Here's some pictures from Reims. I enjoyed it very much; it's very much a party town and a beer town. I went to a microbrewery (as mentioned before) and met some nice British women who told me that going to France is just something the Brits do for a weekend trip! Must be nice, although I wouldn't give up "up north" for anything.

The prime attraction, to me, of Reims, nay, all of France, is the mighty Reims Cathedral...


Count 'em. Not one, but four rose windows. You can't imagine how huge this place is.


Close-up of one of the smaller rose windows


Detail of the flying buttresses. Hehe. Buttress.


The organ, in the French classic tradition. It has a spectacular statue of Christ on top of the middle pedal tower.


The great American capitalist Andrew Carnegie built a library in Reims.

I went on a champagne tour:


This kept me occupied for about an hour and a half.


Different sizes of champagne bottles, excluding the Nebuchadnezzar, which holds 24 regular bottles' worth


Quickly, Robin! To the Champagnemobile! 25 km of Champagne cellars...


I didn't realize it until I got home and checked my guidebook, but this is an ancient Roman doorway to the city that still stands!

And tomorrow I leave France for Germany. I can't say I liked France as much as Holland... the people are MUCH worse at English than the Dutch; they have more silly rules on etiquette (vous/tu) but ignore common-sense ideas (don't use your cell phone at dinner, clean up dog leavings, respect for bicyclists). And yet, as much as I'm ready to move on to elsewhere, I'm sad that Recklinghausen will be the last leg of my trip!