Monday 30 July - Paris to Reims - 21C

This morning we caught the train to Reims from Paris' Gare de l'Est, It took just 45 minutes on a fast train travelling up to speeds of 240km/hr. It was a very comfortable trip and for the first time the train was not full.

Once we arrived, we walked to the hotel in about 10 minutes and dropped off our bags, picked up our jumpers and went for a walk. First thing we noticed was that the shops were still shut. We found out that on Monday in Reims they don’t open until 1, 2 or perhaps 3 o'clock in the afternoon - France is seriously damaging retail therapy....

The benefit of this (there is one) is that it gave us an opportunity to visit the amazing Notre Dame Cathedral. This is one of the spectacular looking gothic ones and although it (and the rest of Reims) received a significant amount of German artillery damage during the early stages of World War One, restoration and refurbishment has been going on pretty much continuously ever since.

It bears a striking resemblance to Notre Dame in Paris with its buttresses, gargoyles and towers although it is considerably smaller. One benefit of the refurbishment is the spectacular Marc Chagall windows made from traditional glass making methods and installed in the Baptistry in 1974 at the axis of the apse.

Reims is a clean town with some lovely streets and buildings and, of course, a wine/champagne shop across from the Cathedral that sells the locally made Champagnes at reasonable prices. We stopped in at a bar in the main street for a glass of local champagne - Verve Clicquot - after a long day of sightseeing and shopping..