The cathedral at Reims has played a very important role in French history, as it was the place where the kings of France were crowned, with the most famous and cherished of these events, was the coronation of Charles VII in the company of Joan of Arc. The Cathedral, built from 1211 to replace the earlier one destroyed by fire, is a huge gothic design, and certainly suitable for the crowning of the royalty, and as you turn the corner into the road leading up to the cathedral you get your first glimpse, it’s an impressive sight indeed.

Reims is located in the Champagne region of France and when we asked the lady at the tourist office what else there was to see in the area she said, “champagne!” We ended up staying in a small town called Chateau-Thierry, which unfortunately the Chateau was now no more than the remains of the main gate with the interior now being a hill top park, lovely though, and the town is also located only 30 minutes from EuroDisney, so we were informed by the hotel pamphlet. In the local area we visited the “Cave” (Winery) of Pannier Champagne, we had a tour of their cave, which was once a quarry for the local stone used in the construction of the Chateau and Churches in the region. Unfortunately the lateness of our arrival in the area meant most of the vineyards were brown from their leaves dying, not really a pretty sight. Well this pretty much ends our driving section of the holiday ☹ before the last trip into Paris.

The Champagne Web gallery