Freakin’ Maison Blanche: Voyage à Champagne

Katie encore, essaying (teehee, Franglish) to play catch up with the past events before they become too overwhelming to recount.

Epernay and Reims:

This was an interesting voyage in that we had quite a bit of resting time, some of it intentional and some of it not. We had a bit of confusion with our tickets, because the SNCF site, the major train system in France doesn’t really have a grand format for describing their gares (stations) as opposed to their stops. The first set of tickets I bought had the destination of Champagne, which turned out to be the name of a teeny tiny stop in the middle of absolute nowhere land. So our lovely Director’s Assistant, Dabia called SNCF for us and was able to switch out our tickets. That was during the week prior to the weekend voyage. Our hotel was in Reims, and Dabia managed to work in a stop at Epernay, a nearby village that is instrumental in the champagne making industry. We three boarded the train Friday morning (Oct. 11) and arrived in Epernay around 9am. We wandered a bit to find the Tourist office and they were able to inform us of our options for Champagne tastings and tours. It was actually pretty amazing because almost as soon as we walked out of the train station, especially as we got closer to the caves, we could smell the champagne in the air.

We selected one, the Georges Cartier Caves, and made our way over. The lady allowed us to store our bags behind the counter and said that we were good-humoured ladies. I think we were all charmed by her as well. It was a little while yet before the tour so we returned to the town and went into a shop or two. When we returned, we went on the tour and learned about the process of making Champagne. Sections of the caves were dedicated to the maturation of the champagne but they also had a section where the walls were completely covered in murals and another with a lineup of old machines that they used to use for bottling and corking. At the end of the tour we got to taste some Traditional champagne, and when I say taste, I mean thoroughly: we all got a full glass, and by the time we finished it, we were feeling a bit rosy and more optimistic about the world. We made some purchases and said goodbye to the nice lady. It felt like we almost made a friend (which reminds me, I need to go on and like their Facebook page so I can drop them a line about how much we enjoyed it!). We got lunch and caught the train afterward. That part of the journey worked out perfectly, and it was so nice again to get out of the city into a cleaner area with a slower pace. We could all just take a moment to breathe. 

 

Our Tour Guide Lady who was super nice

 

 



 

Caves holding the Champagne while it ages.

 

 

Wall murals in the cave passages.



 

As we got closer to Reims, we checked our tickets for the name of the arrêt (stop) that we would need—they said Reims: Maison Blanche. We were a little confused because Dabia told us our stop would be the last one on the line, but when we got off there were still people on the train and tracks left ahead of us. Unfortunately, no sooner had we gotten off then the train had shut its doors and sped off into the distance. We took a moment to look around us. We had landed in nowhere land suburbia. There was a little windblock shelter for people waiting to board the trains that stopped, and that was it. It was literally a stop, with a weathered information board that gave the train times for the week. And then houses. That was it.

So we huddled together around the board with our bags and determined that the next train would not be stopping for another two and a half hours. And I mean huddled, because it was frigid and the wind was blowing. There was a couple occupying that shelter and they seemed firmly cocooned in lovey-dovey time so we just stayed by the sign, a bit of a ways away and cursed Maison Blanche. Eventually they wandered somewhere else. They’d just been hanging out at the train stop. Who does that? Especially when it’s that cold. I’ve got ten bucks saying they weren’t supposed to be together. Anyway, after they vacated we went over to the seats and sort of sat on each other to keep warm.

After a bit of munching time, some laughter, more cursing (this would be where the title came from), Rachael and Katie started to read together and I pulled out my book. The train came and we boarded as people popsickles. Really fun stuff there. And a glorious 7 minutes later we arrived at the real train station from which we were supposed to disembark. SNCF people…I just don’t understand them sometimes. But we’d made it in one piece. We found our way to our hotel, which was thankfully only a fifteen minute walk. We checked in with the lady who maintains the hotel. She noticed we were English-speaking of course, but when we told her we could speak a bit of French, she visibly relaxed and started chattering away at us, so that was amusing. We got our key and she told us about breakfast. We had to give her a time to bring the tray up because they didn’t have an actual dining room. And as soon as we got to the room, we all flopped and didn’t move for a while. Later we went out to get picnic food from the grocery store right around the corner and went back to the room. Ate. Read and cuddled some more. And then slept. So a really accomplished Friday afternoon/evening for us. In actuality though, I think the downtime did us good. The pace living here and studying here in Paris is brutal and we’ve all been feeling the strain.

Are you all ready for oversharing time!? :D So I had been neglecting the whole shaving regime for the legsies for a while now. I wear jeans or leggings all the time and the showerhead that I have here in my homestay is one of which I have to hold above my head to actually use because the mount is at the level of my waist. So I was not going to try to fight with that just to have smooth legs. But it got to the point where I was going mad with not being able to shave. So the trip held even more excitement for me because I thought I would get to use a normal shower for once, which would enable me to invoke a happy shaving experience.

That was not to be. The happy part anyway. First of all, we got a partition in our room that contained our shower and a sink. The bathroom was a shared toilet room in the hallway that liked to get plugged up if anyone even sneezed at it. But that’s a different part of the adventure. The shower was amusing because we could continue conversations while one of us was bathing and frequently we just threw our clothes over the top of the wall. The problem was that the shower set up was the same as the one I have here. Waist high and everything! Gah! Katie showered first and then when I expressed frustration after seeing it, she said in a quiet voice “yeah I noticed that. I didn’t want to tell you…” Rachael and Katie both offered me condolences throughout the weekend for my situation. I think they were both relieved to return to their abodes for that reason alone. It’s just so inconvenient and unwieldy!

Anywho, long distraction there. Despite the deterrence, I had made a vow that my legs would be shaved that weekend, so shaved they became! It just took me close to five hours.

I’m kidding that would be horrendous time, even for me. But it did take me a good chunk of time. The infinite irritation with the manner in which I had to achieve that goal only slightly marred the absolute delight with smooth legs. I pet them for a while after I got out, and then made Rachael pet them some. It was an exciting time for me.  

Saturday was a slow start. The breakfast tray came up at 7:40 am which violently awakened all of us. Katie was alright, because she normally gets up at that time, but after Rachael and I drank our tea and hot chocolate, we fell back asleep. And as if to boycott the morning for its rude interruption, we slept until about 10. By the time we were dressed and in people form, it was close to 11:30. The breakfast was really tasty and satisfying which is another thing we all appreciate when we go on trips. They literally brought us a pile of baguette pieces and croissants, yogurt, juice, and our choice of a hot drink.

Notable occurrences on Saturday: We visited the Cathédrale de Reims, which as I have mentioned before, is where Clovis, the first King of France was baptized, and where many of the subsequent kings were crowned. It’s a huge cathédrale with rose and stained glass windows, columns leading up to a vaulted ceiling (voute d’ogives—literally translates to vaulted ribs, which refers to the intersecting suspended stonework, almost like beams, that serve as a support system for the ceiling common in Gothic Architecture), and a decorous alter complete with radiating chapels all around. I’m surprised we didn’t get a crick in our necks from looking at everything so high up. That’s another architectural decision common to the Gothic style—they favored verticalité over horizontalité, which was a theme of the preceding architectural fashion. Like most large religious structures built in this time period, construction began in one century (XIII siècle) and finished in another (XIV) so it possesses characteristics from different phases of Gothic architectural theory. It’s also been reconstructed and restored several times since then, suffering from the effects of time and war, specifically WWI. Shortly thereafter though, the lovely Rockefeller family donated a crapton of money, something like 500,000 francs. I could be wrong about that number though.

Here’s a link to learn more or just look at pretty pictures à http://www.cathedrale-reims.culture.fr/

You can click on the little British flag in the top right corner and it will translate everything to English for you fine folks who aren’t savvy en Français.   

But here are some of my pictures that I took. :D

 

 

Exterior of the Cathedral

 

 

Newer additions to the Cathedral



 

Later that evening, we found an early dinner at an awesome place called “Chez Ali Baba” with delicious chicken sandwiches. Our stomachs were thrilled to eat something it recognized. Later Katie and I went out to do some shopping while Rachael rested in the room. Unfortunately none of us were really feeling that well, but Katie and I had need of some warm clothes and we’d seen a variety of shops in the town centre. We actually both found different sweaters for 12 euros without too much difficulty or frustration. In an out, just how I like my shopping. Then we returned to the Rachael-kins bearing gifts of chocolate. We munched a bit on that and apricots and then all turned inwards to read.

It was kind of funny because when Katie and I got back into the hotel, the man at the desk asked if we would be going out again and suggested that we find a bar or something. I think he was confused by the fact that we didn’t seem to be very active lol.

Sunday morning, we returned to the area of the Cathédrale to go to the museum next door, Le Palais Tau, which we got into for free because we’re students under 26 years. It’s awesome…

Most of the items were dated from the Moyen age (middle ages) and up a couple centuries. We’re so pokey in museums, the three of us, because we end up lingering. The museum consumed our morning, and after we left, we didn’t have much time to get pulled into anything else, so we collected our bags and walked to the train station. Munched on snack food to tide us over and took the train directly back to Paris, where we split up to our respective homestays to complete homework or other errands.

As a general side note: Its freaking cold here. Yesterday during our architecture class (at noon), I could see my breath while we were walking around. Also it decides to rain at the most random of times, which does not make the cold any more enjoyable. I know, I was shocked too! But so far we remain in relatively good health. Rachael’s been having difficulties with the whole nation-wide obsession with all things bread, and honestly I think I have been too. That gluten gets to you when you eat it all the time. But we’re striving to find alternative options, particularly for lunch, where the cost is a bit higher for everything that is not a sandwich.

This weekend, Rachael and I are going to visit Chartres, another cathedral outside of Paris, for a day trip, and we are all going on a school trip to the Loire Valley to visit the chateaux. So that should be a lot of fun. Nous sommes toujours occupées!  

Wish everyone well back home <3