60 minutes to see Reims in the rain!

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I love a challenge, and as I was returning from eastern France this week, I decided that I needed to make a quick stop in Reims. I have been to Reims a number of times, but I have never done the city justice, and this quick stop would be just as bad. But I have always suscribed to the school of thought "a quick trip somewhere is always better than no trip at all" -- so I left the road to Paris (the A4) and took the A34 spur which goes through the heart of the city. The weather was awful.

I parked along one of the central esplanades, currently occupied by a fun fair.





I am a sucker for colourful lights, so I took a look there first -- who cares about the cathedral?



The place was not exactly overrun with visitors.

I was quite alarmed to see that the principal attraction of the fun fair, scattered all over the place, were boxing machines. There were dozens of them. Does this mean that the youth of Reims are particularly violent? Do they practice on these machines before pummeling innocent visitors with their bloody knuckles?

I hurried away. If the fun fair had not been there, I might have looked at this instead.



Of course it was nice to see the tramway now in operation.







The majority of visitors probably arrive at the train station.





On days like this, you slog your way across the wet esplanade to the downtown area.





There are some nice looking eating establishments on the other side.





And there was a Christmas market just as busy as the fun fair.

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A downtown cinema is noteworthy in many downtown areas now -- most places are suburban multiplexes.



Luckily, there are arcades downtown to protect people from the weather.









One thing I had already noticed in the past was that Reims (like many cities) loves imposing commercial corner buildings.









Fancy chocolates are on the Christmas agenda everywhere.



Ah, there's the cathedral!







The tourist office next to the cathedral is in ruins. In ruins, not ruined itself!



At the moment the cathedral displays excellent examples of "before" and "after" renovation.









I'll see if I can squeeze inside through this itty bitty hobbit door.

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One thing that has always impressed me about Notre Dame de Reims is that it reminds one of Notre Dame de Paris -- but empty!





The crèche is waiting for a baby to appear on the 25th.



Aren't we all suckers for stained glass windows?





Here is the Marc Chagall window.





From a distance, I thought that this was some sort of Japanese samurai.



But no, it was Sainte Jeanne d'Arc. (I'm sure she would have been an excellent samurai.)



It was damned cold in this place. I could see my breath.





Here's a tiny bit of warmth.





I took a candle and lit it all by itself, just to be contrary.



There it is on the right, doing just fine.







The merchants of the temple were ready to sell graven idols.





a reminder of the unfortunate incident of 1914

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Well, my time was running out in Reims and it was certainly time to leave the cathedral since I did not pay for my candle -- the avenging angels might be out to get me. So what else might I come across in the streets of the city?

For some reason, most of the cities of France seem determined to build a modern building directly across from their ancient cathedral. Amiens did it, Rouen did it, I seem to recall that Chartres did it, and Reims has done it as well. In the defense of Reims, I must say that its own building on the cathedral square is one of the less horrifying ones.

French buildings that have suffered battle wounds from bullets like to leave them on display.



Don't you just love saints who calmly hold their severed heads?



One rarely gets to see it rain hard enough for gargoyles to do their goyling gargling. No problem today!







still some work to do on the cathedral

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Damn those raindrops on my lens!















There was a holiday skating rink....





....and also a square devoted to small children.





There was a school contest for best Christmas tree. In some places I suppose they would have to call it a "holiday tree" or some such.

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More flamboyant corner buildings, this first one a former department store.



I love offices that look like aquariums!





The cathedral is now illuminated, but I just can't wait until total darkness.





Maybe I'll take the tramway during my next visit.





Reims has really cleared the cars out of a lot of streets. I love it.









getting back towards the fun fair to find my car









Really sorry to have to leave so soon -- the illuminations are looking better and better. And maybe the rain will stop.

There will always be a next time, maybe even longer than 60 minutes....

[htmb]

I spent a full day in Reims this past summer when the weather was not so good, but it was better than yours! Thank you for this quick look at a darker, colder, and wetter Reims, Kerouac.

It's a lovely little city. I took lots of photos, but don't think I've done any type if a report here other than posting a few pics in the images section. I did take pictures of the stained glass, Joan of Arc, and some of the same angles of the cathedral as you.

My friend and I did a good bit of walking, even going down to the canal. I was struck by how very friendly the residents of the city we encountered were to us. My friend is French, so I am sure that helped, but every person we stopped to ask directions of was friendly, helpful, and most talkative. We also enjoyed visiting the Taittinger cellars that day, something my friend had reminisced about from a past visit. We never did ride the tram, but the two bus drivers we encountered went out of their way to be helpful to us and making sure we were headed in the right direction.

[tod2]

Thank you for having that ' Let's go to Reims' moment Kerouac!
It's on my list of things still to see but it will never be at Xmas time so I thank you very much for the lovely tour!
I thought the Ghost Ride was the most colourful of all on show - beautiful vibrant colours.

From my family to yours, all good wishes for Christmas and the New Year

[bjd]

Thanks for this -- I didn't have any idea what Reims looks like.

These pictures are also why I prefer living in the south of France. Yesterday we had about 17° and sunshine -- went for a walk in the countryside.

[mossie]

Just got to this report.
Boy !! Kerouac, you sure suffer for your art. That must have been a cold wet miserable walk, but you stuck with it and have given us an interesting taste of the City.
Had it been me, I wouldn't have got past the first cafe, thanks again.