Day 18: Bouconville-Vauclair to Reims

September 13, 2023

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Our first topics today are sort of linguistic. We start (as everyone should) with the eggs. Last night our lovely hostess at the Auberge asked about what we would like for breakfast, and I included in my wish list les oeufs "frites". This produced to my surprise 100% incomprehension. After a certain amount of Google Translating, she determined that what I wanted was oeufs "sur le plat". OK, so some kind of technical French cooking term, but surely "frites" or fried should have conveyed the message. But no, it did not compute at all. I decided that what she was hearing from me came across as maybe "eggs french fried potatoes". I also learned from Dodie that Natacha had told her that she had little idea of how to make oeufs sur le plat. On that basis, Dodie switched her request to omelette, but I was still on the books for the "plat".

This morning Natacha came up with perfect fried eggs over easy (we had also discussed the "over easy" concept last night). Hurrah! And now I know how to ask for them, not that another chance to do that is likely to come up in France!

Natacha - excellent hostess and now egg expert.

The second linguistic thing came up as Dodie found she had time to check the blog for my usual egregious typos and spelling errors, and gross misrepresentations. Usually I only have the strength to sort of get the words down, but not to check them. This time, Dodie's first detection was that I had spelled the name of the town we were at Vauclair. But from our window, the post office building could be seen, and on the front Dodie made out Vaucler. Accordingly she changed the blog spelling. But when she sent the blog live, wham! in came an email from my brother, pointing out that we are at Vauclair, according to our included map. Dodie picked up the email, and changed it back. All this happened when I was already asleep. But in the morning I went out to look at the post office. As you see it says not Vauclair nor Vaucler but Vauclerc! I asked Natacha how the various changes had come about, and she said she would check with a village elder and let us know. It's a minor point, but let it not be said that we ignore incoming emails, and we appreciate the readership paying close attention, even if it does have to be my own brother!

Aws we set out from Vauclair, it was neither too hot, as on past days, nor pouring rain, as yesterday, and I found I was much better able to appreciate the beauty and peace of the town. Unfortunately we were already at the tail end of it, so I really did not get a calm and appreciative look. However the surrounding countryside was also beautiful and peaceful, so I focussed on that.

Beautiful countryside to start the ride.

It turns out that I had chosen the wrong road for appreciating peace and beauty. The road was D18, also known as "Chemin des Dames". The road follows a ridge for 30 km between the valleys of the Aisne and the Ailette. In WW I, this ridge was the scene of three major battles. The Germans basically had the ridge and the French spent their time attacking it.

As we rolled along, we came to memorials of villages either totally destroyed, or so damaged that even as of today they have not really recovered. The panel below is included not for us to try to read it, but only to show all the information by the roadside that passing cyclists might try to absorb.

Craonne was another of the affected villages. It was almost wiped out. After the war a new city hall was built, but at a size that reflected anticipated recovery. This never happened. My random snap below does show a few of the buildings that are there now.

We could, of course, go back to appreciating the countryside. Here are some cows and birds, and a nice house in Pontavert, along those lines.

It was not all sweetness and light, however. We ran into a somewhat aggressive swan, or maybe it was me that tried to pick a fight with him. As you see from the photo, he could claim to have been just protecting his baby. Anyway, it did not come to blows.

Another tough situation came up in Dodie's endless quest to find post offices in various countries. Yesterday we had searched out one that turned out to be closed 12-1:30 for lunch, and then in the next town the hours were 8-12 only. Today we carefully landed in a town at 10:30 so what could go wrong? Closed on Wednesday! Haha. In the photo, the postal lady is busy explaining/justifying. Despite appearances, she was actually quite nice.

We returned to the canal (Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne), which we thought was a straight shot into Reims. It was really nice too:

The only thing about the straight shot was that the path fell to pieces and became a farm field. We frantically searched the GPS for a way out, but no. So we got to ride 6 km in the mud. Good thing it was not raining like yesterday!

One thing about cycling the farm field was that it was deserted and quiet. But once we arrived at the outskirts of Reims, things changed. Now we had that outskirts of a wonderful old city which are always a horrible phenomenon. Aside from the traffic, noise, and ugliness, we had a road with a tram line in the middle and a parking lane on the right. That left one narrow driving lane, and oops, no place for bikes. Jockeying with the cars in such a case is really wearing!

At last we got deep enough downtown that the traffic abated and we could begin to see beautiful buildings and interesting streets.

The cathedral itself is a totally astounding example of a world heritage treasure. It is packed with religious and political history, stemming from its inception in 401 a.d. It is one of those cathedrals (like the one at Koln) that impresses from the carved statues covering the exterior. In this case, there are 2302 of them! including 211 extremely large ones.

Those entrance arches are covered in statues.

An overview of the structure, from the front.

Walking around inside, and especially looking at the souvenir desk, I realized that the "Smiling Angel" was an icon chosen to represent the cathedral. I could see in a pamphlet where she was supposed to be, but I could not spot her. My first reaction was to cheat, and steal an image from a postcard. That's this one:

Next I thought I could go for a "real" but not smiling example. So here is my scowling angel:

Finally I decided to ask, and got directed to the correct angel:

Reims cathedral has been the site of numerous coronations. For example in a really famous one, in 1429 Charles VII was crowned here, in the presence of Joan of Arc. But the one most mentioned (in town tourist literature or posters) is the baptising of 15 year old Clovis, King of the Francs, by Bishop (Saint) Remi, in about 496. The spot for that is marked by a plaque in the floor:

Inside the cathedral another very notable thing is the stained glass work at either end. There are two large rose windows, one from the 13th century and one from 1937, and at the altar end, some major pieces by Marc Chagall (from 1974). We have seen Chagall in other churches too - he likes blue a lot!

This nearby contemporary window is by Knoebel.

Walking through the building, I noticed this complicated tapestry. discounted it at first, as too detailed to try to figure out. That remains true, but I was chastened to see that every bit of it had been carefully studied, and that sections were featured in their own explanatory posters.

Coming back to politics, the end of the second World War was signed near here, May 7, 1945, and in 1962 De Gaulle and Adenauer met here to cement French -German friendship.

Taking time to examine all those exterior statues a bit more, we see some of the incredible detail. There are also examples of extreme restoration, and cases where restoration must have been impossible.

But this area has been closed or fear some statues may fall.

I like the way this one is not looking at the public, but at her fellow statues.

The first violin was from the 1530's, which dates this carving.

Adjoining the cathedral is the Palace of Tau, former residence of the Archbishop. It was used for coronation ceremonies. It's closed for renovations, so we save time by not having to tour it!

We now set off in search of our third major thing to see, the St. Remi basilica. As you can see, the streets are picturesque, but tough with the bike. Technically we can ride down there, but not much room for the bikes when a car approaches.

The basilica of St Remi - Remi was the one who baptised Clovis.

Like the cathedral, the basilica has statues on the entrance, but they are very degraded.

The interior has very dramatic arches, and much stained glass.

The story of the stained glass is very complicated. I reproduce the poster here just to show how much you would have to study to really follow it.

Outside we have a statue depicting the baptism of Clovis by Remi. Clovis sure does not look 15!

Outside the building arches/ flying buttresses provide dramatic images as well.

At this point we come to a part of our visit to Reims that we really did not expect. We discovered that the town has a large pedestrian zone, stuffed with exciting shops and restaurants, and surrounded by beautiful buildings. Beautiful people are sitting out at restaurant tables, and the whole population is enjoying itself. At the centre of the area is a large statue, which makes it easy to stay oriented, and a little further on is a very attractive fountain.

And a giant nearby park, with a covered market that we did not quite find.

Our apartment (the one found by Booking after our first one cancelled out) was right by the shopping area. Only thing, the owner refused to have bikes inside, and there was no other place for them. As you see, we slightly twisted his arm.

We broke with tradition and went out into the commercial area to find supper. We settled on an Italian place, claiming to bring authentic cuisine from Calabria. The pasta was ok, but the pizza crust too thin, making it like cardboard.

Our summary for Reims is that despite the struggle to get into the town, it is a new favourite place for us in the world. The Cathedral and Basilica are astounding, and the commercial district could entertain for hours of strolling, ice cream eating, and dining. So cool!

p.s. Just for the record - entering the city and cycling cathedral to St Remi:

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And that commercial area:

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Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 899 km (558 miles)

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Kathleen ClassenBut does Reims have a post office 😂🤣😂?
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8 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Kathleen ClassenActually, it does, and we are now the proud possessors of enough stamps for the next month or so.
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8 months ago

Tricia GrahamYes it is a really lovely city. Have been enjoying following you through France just wish we hadnt stopped there but as we keep telling ourselves was the sensible thing to do although can now see other alternatives eg ditching my bike and getting a train to Moret and picking up my more suitable bike from Louise
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8 months ago

Patrick O'HaraThanks for refreshing our memories of the Chagall stained glass. Just so beautiful.
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7 months ago