After a well-deserved rest, we began the next day fuelled by strong French coffee and croissants. The essential combination when enjoying “petit dejeuner” in France. Ready for another day exploring France’s champagne capital – Reims.

Our second day began with a trip to “Le Golf De Reims”, an international golf course founded in 1928 and set in the beautiful surroundings of Chateau des Dames. This chateau was built in the 15th century, housed several French royals and during the war served as a hospital ward and an escape from Nazi troops. It was an interesting insight into the sights and sounds of the golfing world and even on a chilly winter’s morning such as this, the most passionate of sportsmen were enjoying a round in the Champagne region.

Continuing on our journey, the next destination was to be the Fujita Chapel. This tiny chapel is a celebration of the Japanese artist Leonard Fujita’s conversion to Catholicism and his illustration of his conversion with a series of frescos painted on the walls of the Chapel. Leonard’s godfather was chairman of the Mumm champagne company which leads me nicely onto our next venture.

The Mumm champagne factory offered us the perfect opportunity to discover a few facts about this celebrated drink. Very friendly and informative guides led us through the maze of underground cellars decorated with bottle after bottle of finely distilled champagne. The caves included historic tools of the trade demonstrating the complex processes the workers undertook to create a perfect bottle of fizz. A great value must-see experience in Reims complete with complimentary tasters of the real thing!

Next stop was lunch at Brasserie Flo, a beautiful brasserie residing in a former mansion and a firm favourite with the locals. We dined on an authentic selection of French foods such as foie gras, veal steak and “Champagnissime” dessert with traditional Reims biscuits and ice-cream. You can even try steak tartare if you’re feeling particularly brave. All washed down with the Reims specialty, a glass of locally produced champagne.

Once we had finished our long lunch, we just had time to say a fond farewell to our group and a last-minute browse of the Christmas market to purchase some macaroons and other local treats. We headed back to the train station for our 4pm departure to Paris. Once we were comfortably seated on the train it was just a brief 45 minute journey back to the French capital. We hopped on a metro from Gare de l’Est to Gare du Nord and had plenty of time for a brief wander around the local area before our Eurostar train.

Our 2 days in Reims had flown by and we were very pleasantly surprised with the amount of history, culture, quality cuisine and excellent Christmas markets Reims has to offer and all just 45 minutes away from Paris. An ideal location for a year-round city break to the famed Champagne creators of the world!

Read about day 1 of Hayley’s and Stephanie’s trip to Reims

Tags: Champagne, Food and Drink, France, Reims | Posted in: France, Reims | Author: Stephanie