On Friday, I spent most of the day relaxing and at night I went to Hotel de Ville (City Hall) to ice skate. I must admit that it was a lot more difficult than I remember. The little children ice skating made it look like a piece of cake. It was not. I did not last long and decided to give up before I got hurt (only fell once!). A few friends weren't skating so I watched the others skate with them. I also had an encounter with a french guy who attempted to invite me to coffee, though I declined. French men are extremely forward and do not hesitate to tell a girl they like her or to ask her out but this method of dating is a bit much for me. If a guy did that in the States, I'm pretty sure he would either get slapped in the face or be cursed off. Later, I went to dinner with my friend Amy. We both had delicious French onion soup! So good!
Saturday I had to wake up at 645am because we were all meeting at the Bastille Opera House to get on the bus to go to Reims. Reims is located in the Champagne Ardennes region of France. It's about a 2hr bus ride from Paris...plenty of time to get a good nap in :) The first thing we did in Reims was go to the cathedral. Cathedral Notre-Dame de Reims is beautiful. It looks very similar, architecturally, to Notre-Dame de Paris. Inside it had beautiful stained glass windows and an astrological clock, similar to the one I saw in Strasbourg. This church was very exciting to visit because my great aunt and uncle were married there during WWII.
After touring the cathedral, we all headed to find a cafe for lunch. We stumbled upon a restaurant that served some alsatian specialties as well as lots of seafood. I had poulet supreme (chicken) with a champagne-mushroom sauce and rice. It was so good. The desserts were extraordinary. A bunch of people got sundaes while I got creme caramel (similar to flan).
Following lunch we got back on the bus and headed to the Pommery estate. Pommery is a huge champagne maker in the region and we toured the cellar where champagne is made and stored. The bottles ranged from typical size of .75 litres to 1.5 litres to 9 litres. The 9 L bottles were gigantic and made the regular size bottles look tiny.
Later, we had a champagne tasting of extra brut Pommery champagne. I then went to the boutique where everyone had gathered to purchase some bottles. There were many choices available to us and I had decided I wanted to buy at least one bottle. I bought a bottle of "Brut Royale" and two bottles of "Pink Pop" (it's in a cute pink bottle!). I decided to save the bottle of Brut Royale for my 21st birthday because is supposed to be good for the next 2-3 years (and I won't be 21 for another 15 months).
Afterward we headed to Hautvillers, the town where Dom Perignon, the father of champagne, lived. We visited his grave, located in the town's church. The village has breathtaking views of the valley, where all you see is green pastures and lots and lots of vineyards. By this time it was
nearly 430 pm and we were all very exhausted from the long day we had. We got back on the bus and got to Paris around 715 pm.
Yesterday I spent the day doing work. For some reason I had so much homework and did not realize it until yesterday. I had a presentation on Airbus today for my International Marketing class as well as a marketing plan outline on Brazil and water filtration systems for the same class. I'm leaving for Brussels on Thursday night with my friend Sam. I'm so excited! I get to see my best friend from Pitt, Libby, and we
haven't seen each other since December...it's been way too long! It will be great to see a familiar face because it is tough not having someone to talk to about people and things from home.
Well that's all for now. I'll be sure to post something after my trip to Belgium!
Au revoir!
-MEP
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