Reims and Rosnay

Reims, Friday, May 29
The day began well with a traditional French breakfast of croissants, pains au chocolat, fruit and yoghurt. However on our return to the room I noticed some serious black smudges on the carpeted floor. The more I looked, the more I found and suddenly I realised my right shoe was the culprit. Impressed into the sole was a small stick of eyeliner that had gone missing from my makeup kit. What is it with me and other people's floors??
Franticly we got down and scrubbed the spots out: mercifully they responded to soap and water. Feeling pleased that we'd been able to clean up, we stepped outside the room only to find that I had left a telltale black spot with every second step up three flights of stairs!! There was nothing to do but confess. Madame, our hostess, was very good about it and later in the day, much to our relief, we noticed all marks had been eradicated.

As we had woken early we had a brief walk around Reims. Glorious sunshine, not a cloud in the sky. We visited the rather sombre cathedral and noted the smiling angel statue at the
entrance. Joan also found the statue of Jeanne d'Arc and a typical patisserie after we passed the magnificent Hotel de Ville (Town Hall)




We then set off for Rosnay, a nearby small village, to visit friends. Our two GPS, map and seated navigator (me) were not enough to counter the huge confusion of blocked roads and new one-way streets created by the installation of a major new tramway system. So it took some time to negotiate, and then, all at once, we found a car coming straight at us. We momentarily assumed we were going the wrong way, but no, it was another very confused tourist.




At last, at Rosnay, we met up with Guy and Evelyne who made us very welcome.They served us petits fours and Roederer champagne. We later sat down to a delicious lunch which included guinea fowl and concluded with a home-made strawberry tart. We were astonished when Guy produced a chilled bottle of white wine with the Kingtree label, ( a product of my brother's winery) a bottle we had given him 12 years ago! We were very dubious about it after so much time, but were astonished to find it perfectly drinkable.

We conversed easily in my fractured French and Guy's reasonable English, with John and Evelyn speaking English and French respectively. Guy suggested that he take us sight-seeing and we drove through pretty local villages and through lush green fields of crops on our way to Laon, a 'crowned mountain', where the old high town is reached after a long winding drive. Although the magnificent towers of the enormous 12C cathedral are clearly evident on the approach to the town, they vanish once you are inside and we had some difficulty locating them again. It is a superb building with marvelous gargoyles, including a hippo and a rhino just over the entrance. High above us on the towers there are carvings of oxen in honour of the beasts who dragged the stones up the mountain for the cathedral's construction. Light filled the space from the sun streaming in through the stained glass windows and from the lantern tower construction in the centre of the church.

The sun remained high but it was now about 8pm when Guy drove us to La Garenne, a local gourmet restaurant, for dinner. The meal began with an 'amuse-bouche' of a type of creamy smoked fish souffle, followed in my case with delicious lamb and grilled aubergines, washed down with more champagne and followed by delicious sorbets, meringues and 'tuiles', crisp sweet biscuits, like brandy snaps.
We returned to collect our car and say our goodbyes. John and I were a little apprehensive about the drive back, now in total darkness, on unfamiliar roads at high speed, after a champagne or two.
But we made it back without a hitch. Fell into bed exhausted after a lovely day.