Reims

Reims, pronounced something along the lines of "RRRAAANCE" is the largest city in Champagne. It's only a 45 minute train ride from Paris, so it's a possible day trip, but in order to get the whole Champagne experience, we decided to spend two nights.

Reims is probably best know for its cathedral. This is where the crowning of the French kings occurred. It was heavily damaged during WW1 and is constantly under construction. 

It also has a large Christmas market. I think it is the third biggest in France.

Unlike the markets in Paris, this market was lacking in the food department (other than crepes). After wandering the city for hours, we were really tired and slightly cold. We needed something hearty and we stumbled upon this:

It was the best thing ever....

Reims is also where the Nazis surrendered to the Allies in WW2. The Musée de la Reddition is where you can find the actual map room where it happened. 

On the bottom right, I think you can actually see them tweeting the surrender.

There was also a Christmas fair, which for some reason had a haunted house. Nothing says Christmas like a haunted house. We did play a dart game, and won!

The food was one of the highlights of the trip. I swear it was half the price of a meal in Paris. We tended to take advantage of the menu, which was around 20 euros and included an entrée, plat, and desert. 

Entrée.

Plats.

Desert (Okay one of these is actually an appetizer). A "poire au vin rouge" is a must have.

Oh I almost forgot, we drank a ton of champagne. More on actual champagne later this week.

It's Christmas Eve! What better day to look at nice pictures of Champagne. Merry Christmas!