In the presence of the kings

I got out of the city again today for my second planned day trip to Reims, a city in the heart of Champagne. (Yes, where they make champagne.) This city has been of particular interest to me because this is where all but two French kings have been crowned since Clovis, the first king of the Franks, was crowned way back in 498.  Because he had recently converted to Christianity, he modeled his coronation after that of King David and was anointed with oil to communicate to his people that he was God's chosen leader. This ceremony was repeated for each French king. So after visiting Saint-Denis the other day where all the kings had been buried, now I was able to visit where all of their reigns had started. 

I started out this morning walking to Gare de l'Est to catch my train. This time, it was TGV (high-speed train) and I got to the area in about 40 minutes. I immediately changed trains to a regional one to take me the rest of the way to the city center of Reims. This part took only about ten minutes. When getting on, I asked the lady sitting there if it was first or second class and she struck up a conversation because she studies languages and caught a hint of my American accent. In fact, she kept saying over and over that I barely had an accent at all except for a few vowel sounds on certain words. That made me super happy, of course, because I want to sound as native as I can. So she continued to talk and talk and honestly, she was talking so fast, I had a hard time keeping up with her. By the end of our conversation, she wished me a good afternoon in Reims and gave me a book. I guess I'll have to read it to figure why she felt she needed or wanted to give it to me. But, wow, such a nice lady. 

So now again, map in hand (you know I love my maps), I made my way up to Place Royale and on to the Reims cathedral. 

Inside: 

Honestly, I've gotten to the point where all these churches start to look the same - at least on the inside. But sitting there thinking about how I was in the same spot as all of the kings, probably some of the queens and even Joan of Arc and how much history had been made there, I was in awe. 

After visiting the church, I went next door to Palace of Tau, which housed treasuries from the church, including the outfit Charles X wore for his coronation as well as pieces of gold finery used by the archbishops or whoever during the ceremonies. 

Charles X's outfit: 

His robe (sorry about the glare): 

They also had many old statues here from the church before they replaced them during a renovation. I thought it was interesting because there was a video with the renovation team and they discussed how to decide to keep, repair or replace broken or damaged items but still remain true to the history and integrity of the church - to make sure they try to keep as much of the original as possible. 

So the only other thing worth seeing (besides touring a champagne house which I didn't get to do for various reasons) was the Abbey of Saint Remi on the far side of town. Literally, the area was cut off on the map I was using. Saint Remi was the one that baptized Clovis 1100 years ago and he is buried here. This church is from the 1100's-1200's. 

Saint Remi's sepulchre:

Then I walked all the way back across town. Took a break at McDonald's because I was craving an iced tea and lo and behold, they had it - only in mint or peach flavors. Then I arrived back at the train station with about an hour to spare. My feet were killing me by this point so I gave them a rest. 

I got back in Paris just after 5pm after another 45 minutes on the TGV. Since I was in the area, I walked over to one of Paris's beautiful parks, Buttes-Chaumont. So pretty!! Lots of people were out enjoying this beautiful summer weather. It was so peaceful that one would almost forget they're in Paris and the craziness of the tourist traps just a few miles away. 

Then I finally took the subway back, grabbed dinner and after 23,000 steps and 9 1/2 miles today, I'm in for the night!  

So now, tomorrow is my last full day in Paris. I have one métro ticket left. Let's see what sort of fun I can get into tomorrow to say "au revoir" to my favorite city.