Champagne Time!

Standing at the edge of Place Drouet d'Erlon in Reims, France

Since its been some time since we took a driving trip, Colin and I decided to head out to Reims, France for some champagne tasting.  At just under 4 hours away, we thought it would be refreshing to be in France for the weekend, so we did the usual packing up of Trusty and Lola and took off for champagne-land.

En route...

The trip was great!  Reims has some historical sites, but not so many that you can't spend a good portion of your day in the various champagne houses. :)  We focused our morning on the Reims Cathedral, the site where  26 French kings and queens were crowned and Joan of Arc led King Charles VII to be crowned in 1429.  Then we checked out the very cool art deco library donated by Andrew Carnegie, and the Palais du Tau.

These windows depict the champagne making process

There are more than 2000 statues on the inside and outside of the Cathedral

Colin with a bust of Mr. Carnegie

Art Deco Chandelier inside the Library

Palais du Tau

While its architecture is not as old as some other European cities due to its bombing during WWI, Reims is gorgeous because it was reconstructed during the Art Deco age.  Its a glamorous place to be able to sit at a sidewalk cafe on the main pedestrian street (the Place Drouet d'Erlon), sipping champagne (ok, Colin still got a Belgian beer...) while people watching.  Being part poodle, Lola fit in nicely to the scenery.

We got down to business at noon after doing our sightseeing.   We bussed to Taittinger for a tour of the champagne house and caves.  Champagne was first made in Reims in the 17th Century, and we toured Taittinger because it has some of the oldest champagne caves in the area.  The deepest part of the caves dates back to Roman times.   In the caves, you could still see the stairs that led up to a former abbey on the Taittinger site.  Apparently the monks used to have underground paths throughout the city of Reims, and some led from the abbey to the Cathedral, and another old church, the St. Remi Basilica (photo below).

There is over $300 million worth of champagne going through the double fermentation process in the caves.  We were very impressed and thirsty by the time the tour was over. ;)  After Taittinger, we walked to a smaller scale local champagne house called Martel where we enjoyed some additional tastings.  We did a little bit of damage buying some bottles for our own celebratory purposes, and kept using our upcoming 1 year anniversary as an excuse!  It was so fun!

The largest bottle contains 120 glasses of champagne!

Some 72,000 bottles of champagne are behind me!

Colin and I in the deepest part of the caves that date to Roman times

Happy shopper

our growing collection..

After our champagnaganza and a good nap, we were back on the tour scene.  We headed to the St. Remi Basilica, the Porte Mars (the last remaining Roman gate in Reims) and the Surrender Room.  The Surrender Room is where the Germans signed the document of surrender of all German forces, ending WWII in Europe on May 7, 1945.  It was neat to see that old room in tact just as it was in 1945, as well as view the location of the surrender in a very unassuming old school.

Porte de Mars - built in Second Century A.D.

St. Remi Basilica where St. Remi is buried

Actual document of surrender from the Surrender Room

Table where the surrender documents were signed by the Germans

Outside the Surrender Room

On Sunday, we returned to Heinsberg, but not without stopping for some French pastries first!  They are so delicious!  We picked up some croissants, pain au chocolat, eclairs and Fossiere biscuits roses (cookies the French dunk in champagne).  Colin couldn't wait till we got home, so you'll see a pic below of him enjoying his treat on our rest stop on the drive home!

Wir Haben Blumen!

 

It is FINALLY starting to get nice here in Heinsberg, Germany.  While the winter wasn't quite as bad as I'd braced myself for, having a few days of sunlight in a row is MUCH appreciated!  And now that the days are longer, it is much easier to get out for a bike ride when Colin comes home from work.  We are really enjoying getting the needed Vitamin D.

And what is also exciting about the spring is that our yard is in full bloom.  For most of winter, our front yard basically looked like pile of dirt, but we wanted to wait until spring to fix it up so we could actually see what was there to begin with.  Well, we planted some flowers, and then just this past week with the sun, all sorts of surprises have been creeping out.  Some pics are below.  Its definitely a disorganized array of gardening, which doesn't offend us in the least, but is polar opposite from the front yards of our German neighbors.  The hip thing with the Germans is no grass front yards, with rock sculptures, the occasional lawn ornament, and carefully manicured bushes and patches of flowers in distinct geometric shapes.

Since we've been here for almost 7 months now, its about time we 'fess up about our German skills.  While its pretty easy to translate some phrases in German (Wir haben Blumen = we have flowers), Colin and I have been a little shocked at how hard it is to really learn proper German.  We're in "German II", meaning we already finished up German I and should have some basis.  Well.... we do know some phrases, and background, and how to conjugate verbs, but we are having a hard time really being able to speak German and understand it.

Part of the problem is that we don't practice it enough, and part of the problem is that the grammar is difficult!  But we're still trying.  We usually attend our 2-days-a-week class (although I had to take a hiatus when I went to NYC), and for the most part, if we don't learn a lot, we get a good laugh out of it.  Its fun to see how adults in class have the same classroom personalities as they probably had as a first grader.  There is a slacker, a gunner and a group of 3 Polish ladies who spend about half the class whispering to each other.  As you might imagine, Colin tries to be a class clown, and I tend to think anything he says or does in class is hilarious, resulting in uncontrollable laugh attacks that usually baffle the non-English speakers in class...  So - for those who ask "how is the German coming along?" The answer is that its a work in progress!

Some pics of our flowers, front and backyards below.

I love ruffly ranunculas!

Our backyard - we have a heart-shaped koi pond with lily pads!

Those doors lead to our bedroom

Lola posing in the sun.  She's also happy that spring is here!

Bird's the Word. Karneval time!

Since our last trip to Trier, Colin and I have been busy working.  Colin finished up his training and is now in Squadron 2 of NATO, and I spent a bit of time working in NYC.  Amidst the work, both of us had really been looking forward to Karneval - basically a week of Mardi Gras type celebrations throughout Europe.  Its a REALLY big deal in Germany and the Netherlands, so we'd been talking for weeks with friends about costumes and what parades to attend.  Every city has a parade or celebration, so there are a ton of activities to choose from!

We ended up going to a parade in Sittard, NL with a group of friends and had a great time.  Colin was glad to once again wear his favorite costume - a chicken suit - which is always a hit.  To match him with a bird theme, I wore the most ridiculous pink flamingo costume we could find online.  As crazy as we looked, we knew there would be some Dutch folks who looked crazier, and we were right.  We saw one guy dressed up as Gadhafi... yikes.. and one special character we had to take a photo with (you'll see what I mean below...).  All in all, as you'll see from the pics, it was a very fun and festive day.

The girls!

 

 

 

The guys...

 

This guy was unreal...

The Chicken truly enjoys being in character...

Weekend in Trier

Porta Nigra

Colin and I just got back from a fabulous weekend in Trier.  Recommended by my grandfather and other friends as a great destination in Germany, we'd been meaning to get to the city, but hadn't had time until this weekend.

On Friday, Colin got out of work a bit early (thanks, NATO!) and we packed our travel uniforms and Lola and hopped in Trusty for another adventure.  As a side note, we apologize for wearing the same thing in every photo.  :)  We are so limited in this freezing weather!!

We stayed at an awesome "Castle hotel"  right outside the city of Trier.  It had gorgeous views of the Mosel River and the city, and a wait staff that helped us with our German as we enjoyed our dinners and drinks. Lola loved the hotel because they had a big beagle named Herr Mueller who was about the most relaxed dog we have ever encountered.  He did not even flinch when Lola introduced herself to him with her usual greeting: standing on two legs to look bigger and putting her paws in his face.  Of course, "Kleine Maus", as the Germans call her (little mouse), had a fabulous time in Trier because old cities have so many smells!!  We could hardly contain Kleine Maus during our walks through the old town.

On Friday night we went into the city for dinner, and we did most of our touring on Saturday.  For once, we had sunny weather!!  We haven't seen the sun for days, so it was great to get some blue skies.  But it was still freezing - coldest it has been since we toured Rothenberg.

Trier is famous for its Roman sites.  It was founded by Augustus in 16 B.C., and became the capital of the Roman western empire when Emperor Diocletian ruled (AD 285-305).   First, we saw the Porta Nigra, which is the only remaining gate of the now ruined city walls and has portions dating back to the fourth century.  While the other three city gates were ruined over time, this one survived as the home of St. Simeon, who lived there for seven years until he died in 1035.

View of Porta Nigra from inside the old town

St. Simeon Monastery (est. 1035)

As we walked into the town, we passed an interesting Venetian-style building with a door on its second story.  According to our BFF Rick Steves, this was constructed in the 13th Century as a place where rich people kept their gold and silver.  You could only access the building if the wooden steps leading down from the second story were in place.

House of the Three Magi (floating door on the second story)

Next up was the Hauptmarkt, or the Market Square.  A few pics below describe the sites in the Market Square.

Palace for the former archbishops of Trier (now an H&M)

Tower of St. Gangolfs Church - in Latin has inscription: "Stay awake and pray"

15th Century Town Hall

Entrance to St. Gangolf's Church

Inside St. Gangolf's Church

Pretty Ceiling Paintings

St. Peter's Fountain (1595)

We then toured the St. Peter's Cathedral in Trier.  This was pretty cool.  Its the oldest Christian church in Germany; Emperor Constantine started its construction around A.D. 326, at the same time he began the construction of St. Peter's in Rome.  Inside the church are a number of ornate alters dedicated to former archbishops.  As this was the "archbishop's church" as opposed to the "people's church" St. Gangolf, there was an ongoing competition to see who could have the higher tower.  The towers of St. Peter's and St. Gangolf bear Latin inscriptions described in the captions of these photos that also reference each other.  Also interesting, the Cathedral houses the supposed Holy Robe of Christ, thought to have been found by St. Helena (Constantine's mother) on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Colin outside St. Peter's Cathedral

Inscription reads: "For you never know the hour when the Lord will come."

12th Century Domkreuzgang Cloister

Inside St. Peter's facing alters

Back Alter of St. Peter's

Christ's Robe - relic from St. Helena housed in Cathedral

Our next stop was the largest intact Roman structure outside of Rome: the Konstantin Basilica, which started out as a throne room, but is now a practicing Protestant Church.  Its enormous - for some perspective, you can fit the entire Porta Nigra inside!  Next to the Basilica is the gorgeous Rococo Elector's Palace, added to the basilica in the 18th century to house the archbishop elector.

 

Finally, we went to the Imperial Baths and Amphitheater.  Built by Constantine but never finished, these were the most intricate baths of the Roman world.   The amphitheater, built around A.D. 200, seated at least 16,000.  It was fun to see the amphitheater sitting right next to the countryside and vineyards - all the Roman sites plus vineyards seemed much more Italian than German - a nice change!  

Imperial Baths (Kaisertherman)

Amphitheater