Reims

This morning we were up at 7am. We’d had a pretty good nights sleep except for being woken up at 1:15am by what sounded like someone banging some shoes together. We never did work out what or where the noise was or came from.
At 8:30am we were dressed and the bed was made and we were pretty much ready to leave sitting there drinking coffee. There was a lot of banging and clicking from the Motorhome that had parked next to us. In fact they had been clicking cupboards and banging doors ever since they arrived. We think it’s a hire vehicle and even though it’s as big as Wanda they seem to have anything they need stored in the outside lockers.
At 8:30am the man of the Motorhome got out and got something from the outside locker then climbed back in to his Motorhome. 30 seconds later he re-emerges carrying something with a long lead followed by his wife whose in her Pyjamas and dressing gown carrying a coffee cup. They both Wanda over to the water station and put whatever he was carrying on the top. It was a coffee machine, one of those ones that looks like a penguin, and to our amazement he’s looking around for a power point to plug it in. We couldn’t believe our eyes.
Luckily for normal humans there isn’t a plug socket at the water station and a minute later he had to do the walk of shame back to the Motorhome and she followed him carrying her empty coffee cup.
Just after 9am we left the park up still laughing about the Germans and their coffee machine. I think it would have been better if there had been a plug and we’d have watched them for 10 minutes while the coffee brewed and dripped out.
We had just a 15 mile journey to our stop of the day and for a big city we had a great parking spot at the football ground where all parking is free and it lets motorhomes stay there aslong as they want except on game days. From the park up it’s literally a straight line 10 minute walk right into the city centre.
Reims really surprised us as a city. It was easy to get into. Easy to find a parking space and easy to navigate into the city centre. Our first stop was Reims Cathedral which was very similar to Notre Damme in Paris. It has huge vaulted ceilings. Untold amounts of stained glass and the stained glass with Jesus being crucified dates back to the year 1245. Outside the sculptures and statues were amazing. I think we could have sat there all day and still not seen everything in the outside.
Once the cathedral was done we walked around the corner to the old royal palace which is now a hotel. Then we went to see the remains of an old convent and then we found the shops.
We’re not shoppers so except for one gift store we just wandered the streets and Reims seems like a very calm and civilised city. It has trams and electric buses running around but the streets were pretty quiet for first thing in a Monday morning.
With the sights done we headed back to Wanda stopping at a bakery and buying some fresh bread, and Ellie brought a fruit bread cake and I brought a pistachio cream eclair. It was all to good, especially the eclair. I should have brought 2.
It was now just after midday and with the city done and lunch out of the way we decided to move to a quieter park up half way to tomorrows stop and we set off.Read more