A Georgia Girl in Germany

After sending Zachary off to battle the torrential rain in England, MacKenzie, Benjamin and I set off with the USO to Reims, France. The weekend we were there coincided with the town’s annual Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc) Festival. The two-day festival celebrates the life of the great battle matriarch Joan of Arc, including a wide variety of historic events dedicated to the French heroine.

When we arrived, the town was still setting up for the festival, so it was a perfect time for a city tour. We started off at the last royal square built in France -- built in the late 18th century. In the center is a statue of King Louis XV, boxed in by buildings on all four sides. Each of the buildings had balconies, which hid the roofs...for security, so no one could see who was up there from the ground. The lady petting the lion at the foot of this statue represents good guidance and symbolized the same in the king.

From there we went to the Cryptoportiques -- a 3rd century Roman market place. There were only four such Roman markets in France. The building in the background on the left was a former medieval cathedral that was restored during World War I and is now a museum.


After the destruction they city saw during World War II, a significant amount of work went into restoring the town. There were several interesting aspects of this reconstruction. One change from previous building standards was the shape of buildings. Original half-timbered houses could have larger second and third floors (as high as the house was built). The new standard was that the upper floors could no longer be larger than the main floor. So, the new symbol of wealth was height. This interesting-looking narrow house was a prime example of building up in lieu of building out. You can also see part of the Roman market in the foreground.

Another interesting change in architecture during the reconstruction comes from American influence. Several influential Americans provided funds and suggestions for rebuilding the town, including the suggestion to round out the corners of buildings when they were on a street corner. The style was supposed to give a less harsh, and more peaceful feel...something the town definitely wanted after the destruction it suffered during the war. This building doesn’t have an arched corner, but still keeps in line with the trend by not having a harsh 90-degree angle corner.


Reims is also in the heart of the champagne region of France -- the only place where true champagne is produced. The town is very proud of its heritage in that regard, as is evident throughout the town. This building above has five large 19th century mosaics showing the different phases of champagne production.

I liked this door on the 16th century Hotel de la Salle. It has a slanted arch and was wide enough to allow carriages to pass through. The statues on either side are Adam and Eve.


In addition to champagne, another specialty of the region is the biscuits roses de Reims -- rose biscuits. These biscuits are baked twice so they won’t crumble when dipped in champagne and are always included after wedding masses on the tables beside the champagne. We all enjoyed our samples, so ended up buying two boxes to bring home.

From there, we came to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims (Notre-Dame Cathedral, or Our Lady of Reims Cathedral), which, yes, reminded me of the Notre-Dame in Paris. It was absolutely stunning -- both inside and out! This gothic cathedral was built in the 13th century and was the site of 25 coronations. French Kings have been baptized and crowned on the site since 498, and in 1429 Joan of Arc succeeded in getting the Dauphin, Charles VII, crowned king, allowing him to regain his legitimacy as monarch. Reims’ most notable claim to fame is that for hundreds of years, it was the only place in France where kings were crowned.

I liked the rose windows and all the magnificent detail in the cathedral's more than 2,500 statues. What’s even more interesting about the statues is that they are all by different 13th century sculptors, so they are noticeably different in styles. The photo at left shows the upper rose window above the entrance. The statue at the bottom right of the window is the shepherd-boy, David, and the headless statue at the top left is Goliath. The photo below is of the lower rose window, with a statue of the Madonna between the two large entrance doors.



Here’s a close-up of the statues to the right of the entrance. The angel at the far left is the famous Smiling Angel with open wings. Her smile is supposedly representative of French enjoyment. I saw a few references to her as the giggling angel. This cathedral is also the only cathedral to display angels with open wings.


This stained glass rose window above is the lower one at the cathedral’s entrance. Notice all the detailed statues surrounding the window! Absolutely amazing! It's even more beautiful when you see both rose windows together from the middle of the nave!

The cathedral has quite the variety of stained glass windows, dating from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.


This plaque recognizes the sacrifice of a million British soldiers who died during World War I, many of whom found their final resting place in France.

The stained glass window below, from 1961 and just above the World War I plaque, is supposed to invoke feelings of sadness and an urge to pray.

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The stained glass windows above the sides of the nave are unique in that they are the only ones in any cathedral that display kings above bishops...symbolizing the higher power that the kings supposedly had over the bishops of the time. Interesting.

Again, the people of Reims are proud of their champagne-making traditions, and wanted to advertise themselves. However, since stained glass windows could only show scenes from the Bible, they had to get creative in such endeavors. Soooo, this set of three windows, built in 1954 but in the older-style, was designed to tell the parable of Jesus turning water into wine. However, it also shows the champagne production process and includes the names of nearby towns where champagne is produced.

I simply liked the shape of the window below.

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By far, the most famous set of windows in the cathedral is the Chagall Windows in the back of the cathedral. Marc Chagall was a French painter of Russian origin who used medieval techniques used in 13th century Reims to create these windows...including the special blue that forms the background.

The center window shows key events from Abraham’s life and Jesus on the cross and rising from the tomb. The left window shows scenes from the Old Testament, while the right window shows momentous occasions in the lives of the kings of France.

This mechanical clock was really magnificent, and our tour was timed perfectly so we saw it chime at high noon.

The chairs in the cathedral were also unique. They were designed for sitting, and, when the seat is lifted (as shown in the one chair below), for kneeling. The only downside was the tremendous noise of all the chairs being lifted and turned around when time for the congregation to kneel, followed by the repeat sound when time for the congregation to sit again.


This is the back of the cathedral. The spires are absolutely amazing, and what remind me the most of the Notre-Dame in Paris.

After our tour, we wandered around the town, which had finished setting up for the festival. There were medieval reenactors giving performances. However, (and unfortunately) I think the guy in the red hat didn’t have to alter his teeth for his performance.


I thought the forest creatures were rather interesting, especially the living tree that came up to MacKenzie!

As always, we had to sample the ice cream. This time all we could find was a basic soft-serve, but MacKenzie didn’t seem to mind. Benjamin was conked out and completely oblivious that he was missing out on the treat!


Toward the end of our day in Riems, we watched several costumed dance troupes -- from Germany, Kenya, Turkey, and others -- perform traditional dances. They were all quite good.

Then, the parade began, complete with French soldiers and musicians marching from the royal square through the streets of town. Unfortunately, we were there on the first day of the festival, and the second day is what includes the 2,000-person reenactment of Joan of Arc returning to Reims to get the Dauphin crowned as King Charles VII. But we still enjoyed the medieval market, and Benjamin enjoyed picking out his new sword!


Reims also holds a significant part of more recent history in that it is where the German army surrendered and ended World War II in Europe on May 7, 1945. The Musée de la Reddition (Surrender Museum) has the intact map room that was used as Gen. Dwight Eisenhower’s headquarters. Unfortunately, the museum was a little farther out from the city center than I expected, and we weren’t able to find it.

Labels: Benjamin, France, MacKenzie, Travel