Sightseeing in Reims

Places to see: Reims Cathedral and Palais du Tau (an absolute must), Musee des Beaux Arts, and Basilique St Remi (with a museum that has tapestries of St Remi).

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I also wanted to visit Troyes, but my rental car died on me near St Remi church and by the time the mechanic came and fixed it (which took about two hours), it was too late to go to Troyes and I simply went back to Paris – maybe next time I am in France, I’ll visit more of Champagne and Picardie.

We arrived in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, rented a car, and were on our way to Reims. To get to Reims, take A4 and follow it to the city. I reserved the hotel in advance, and based on its address, I could tell that we should see it right from the road. It was true. You exit from A4, turn left, go across the bridge, then another left and you are on the embankment with all the hotel chain names staring right at you – Le Meridien, Holiday Inn, Quality Inn. We were staying at Holiday Inn Express, the entrance to which is on the corner and is easy to miss. To park, you need to go along the embankment further to the light, turn right, go straight for 2 blocks, turn right again, and then again and essentially come back almost all the way to the embankment. About a block away from it, there is an entrance to the parking under the bridge, and parking is free over night (from 7pm to 9am).

The hotel is very close to the cathedral - it is about 4 blocks away. It has a small reception area with a large eating area on one side and elevators on the other side. The rooms are very small and a triple room has two beds in it and the third you are supposed to find – it’s in the drawer of one of the other two single beds, you are supposed to pull it out. But the room is so small that you cannot walk anywhere once you have all three beds set up, just stay in your place for the rest of the night. There is no real wardrobe, just a couple of shelves with a tiny TV on top. There is no closet and our luggage was literally scattered all over the room, wherever there was a spot to put a bag – there it was. Bathroom is a decent size, with a bathtub, sink and toilet.

As at every Holiday Inn Express, there is free continental breakfast which is served in the large eating area. You can have cereal, orange juice, muffins and pastries for breakfast.

This hotel has a great location, and if you are traveling alone or as a couple, the size of the room may be OK; however, these rooms are just too small for three people and can hardly be called triple. If you decide to stay here, reserve online through www.hiexpress.com to get a better price. If you walk in without a reservation, you will pay extra 10-15 euros/night.

Reims is well known for its cathedral. This was why I made the trip – I wanted to see the place where French kings were crowned for centuries. You cannot see the cathedral from the road when you are approaching the city, but when you turn to the hotels, and drive along the embankment to the first light and turn right there on rue Chantecler, all of a sudden, there it is - what you came here to see – the Reims cathedral – straight in front of you. The cathedral's west façade is what you see first, staring at you in all its grandeur, and if you first see it at night, the cathedral looks really surreal – like something out of a fairy tale. But in the morning, in the rays of sun, it looks very real and amazingly tall, a real masterpiece of the 13th-century Gothic.

There is partial scaffolding on the right side of the entrance. However, when looking at it from the beginning of rue Chantecler, you can only see the immense proportions of the cathedral. Yellow stone, Gothic rose windows above the entrance, smiling angel among the others are welcoming you in. Under the restoration are the figures of Abraham, Moses and prophets, as well as Christ and the evangelists. The cathedral has very tall naives. Thirteenth-century Gothic stained-glass windows have been severely damaged during WWI, and a lot of new stained glass is unremarkable since it was put in the 20th century. However, the remaining stained glass is well preserved. Two large rose windows above the entrance are a vision in the evening light, with bright blue, red, green and yellow colors creating a kaleidoscope of images. Stained-glass windows above the choir show various saints. There are two organs: one looks like a Gothic mini-church ending in spires of dark wood, the other - a large organ on the left of the altar - is a great work of art with angels on top right below another rose window. Across from it are more 19th-century stained-glass windows. You can see also modern stained-glass windows with images that look like icebergs. The jewel of the modern stained-glass windows is behind the altar – it is by Marc Chagall, painted in 1971. There are three windows in that chapel – the central window shows Abraham and Christ, principal events in the life of Abraham, line of descent from Abraham to Christ, Christ on the cross, and accomplishing act of salvation. The left window shows expectations of Old Testament, rose windows show prophets denouncing birth of Christ. The right window shows momentous occasions in the lives of kings of France in coronation cathedral.

The palace is located right next door to the cathedral and is connected to it. You can enter the palais from the cathedral - there is a ticket office near the south gate. Or you can enter through the separate entrance on the righthand side of the cathedral. There is a bookshop next to the entrance to the museum.

The palais was built in the 12th century as archiepiscopal palace, rebuilt after the fire in the 13th century, refurbished several times over the next 700 years, until it was severely damaged during WWI and restored in the 1970s. Inside the palace is an interesting mixture of styles: several rooms are early Gothic, several are flamboyant Gothic of the 15th century, and several have classical décor. The palace has a collection of tapestries showing the life of the Virgin made in the 16th century. They were donated to the cathedral by Robert de Lenoncourt. Each tapestry is inspired by the Legende Doree de Jacques de Voragine and illustrated editions of the Bible for the poor. There are also sculptures from the cathedral dating back to the 13th-16th centuries. A very interesting feature of the palais is a large hall with domed ceilings, walls covered with royal lilies, and an enormous fireplace with coats of arms and Valois lilies that has tapestries showing the story of Clovis, the first Christian French king. The tapestries are 17th-century and made in Brussels.

Then there is also the treasury of the cathedral, with golden artifacts from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, sacred ornaments of Charles X (who was the last king crowned in Reims in the 19th century), vases and carafes, crowns, crosses, chains with medals. Also, behind the glass, you can see the lower chapel discovered in the 1920s, which has fragments of sculptures from that chapel from 1211-1221.

The museum is located inside of the old abbey Saint-Denis. To get to the museum, walk down the street following the arrow pointing in the direction of the museum from the cathedral. If you find yourself right next to the Grand Theater, you went too far. Retrace your steps a couple of buildings along the right side of the street, and you will see an entrance to the museum.

The ticket which is called Pass decouverte gives access not only to the Museum of Fine Arts, but also to Musee Saint Remi, Musee de la Reddition ("museum of the surrender"), College de Jesuites, Planetarium and Chapelle Foujita. The pass works for 1 month. Unless you are spending more than a day in Reims, you will probably are going to visit only the Museum of Fine Arts and Saint-Remi Museum.

The permanent collection of paintings is on the second floor. Here you can see paintings by Cranach (both the father and the son), Teniers, Jordaens, Le Brun, Millet, Rousseau, Courbet, Corot, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Matisse, Dufy, Gauguin. The jewel of the collection, in my opinion, is David’s "Death of Marat." There are also statues by Rodin and his contemporaries and a great collection of French porcelain on the first floor, including Galle’s Art Nouveau vases.

The church has an organ that was rebuilt several times and organ recitals can be heard every week on Sundays.

Around the corner there is Saint-Remi Museum. (Address: 53 rue Simon, phone: 33 03 26 85 23 36, open: daily 2pm – 6:30pm, Sat. and Sun. 2pm – 7pm, closed: Jan. 1, May 1, July 14, Nov. 1 and 11, Dec. 25. When some of the rooms in the museum are closed, the entrance is free. Also, free entrance first Sunday of the month.)

The most interesting parts of the museum are a collection of tapestries depicting the life of St. Remi and well-preserved 12th-13th century chapter house with Romanesque columns and windows.