< Champagne
1. Reims Cathedral
Where kings were crowned
Jeanne d’Arc A statue of Joan of Arc in armour made by Prosper d’Epinay in 1902 stands in the apse.
The Cathédrale Notre-Dame at Reims was built to impress – for this was the place where the French kings were crowned. The coronation tradition goes back to AD 498, when Clovis, king of the Franks, was baptized as a Christian on this site at the age of 30. The classic Gothic structure was begun in 1211 and completed over the century that followed. Coronation ceremonies continued to take place here till 1825. Above its entrance is a frothy mass of sculpture; inside are soaring spaces.
Key Sights
2. Chagall Window The stained-glass windows in the axial chapel behind the high altar were designed by the Russian-born artist Marc Chagall. They were installed in 1974.
3. Flying buttresses High arches placed at the eastern end of the cathedral lend support to the building. This was done so that the walls around the altar could be filled with more stained glass.
5. Colossal scale The cathedral covers an area of 4,800 sq m (51,688 sq ft) – nearly the size of a soccer pitch. The exterior is nearly 149 m (489 ft) long.
6. The Nave The highest ceiling in Europe when it was built, this section rises to a height
of nearly 38 m (125 ft).
7. Smiling angel Above the left doorway is the most famous of the angels that has given
the cathedral its nickname “la cathédrale des anges”.
8. West façade This section looks completely encrusted with stone carvings and sculptures. Try to spot the recent additions in metal, featuring gargoyles of three monstrous heads – a laughing bull, a
rhino and a hound with chicken legs.
9. Great Rose Window The 13th-century stained-glass window with the Virgin Mary, 12 apostles, musical angels, kings and prophets looks spectacular at sunset.
Left
The Nave Middle Smiling angel Right West façade
Kids’ Corner
Look out for…
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The knight on horseback opposite the West façade of the cathedral. Who is waving that sword?
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Fifty-six kings, all in a row. Where are they?
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The sound of Charlotte comes from high up in the south tower. Who is Charlotte?
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The large petals in the Great Rose Window over the entrance. How many are there? What do they represent?
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The astronomical clock on the wooden clock in the choir. What does the blue and silver disk above the clockface represent?
Burnt at the stake
Already fêted as a great warrior at 17, in 1429 Joan of Arc stood at the side of Charles VII for his coronation in Reims Cathedral. Two years later, she was burnt, for heresy, at Rouen.
Caught in the wars
After the French Revolution, revolutionaries attacked churches in France. Reims Cathedral’s sculptures were hacked and stained-glass windows were smashed. During World War I, it was severely damaged by fire. Restoration was completed in 1938, but World War II brought further damage. It was fixed up just in time for the 1996 function that marked the baptism of King Clovis, 1,500 years ago.
< Champagne
2. Épernay
Underground bubbles
Wine barrels in the cellars of De Castellane, Épernay
A hub of champagne production, Épernay is not much to look at, but it is what goes on underground that makes it worth a visit. A number of major champagne marques (brands) such as Moët et Chandon have their headquarters here, with vast cellars chiselled out of the chalky hills and loaded with bottles. Tours explain the mysteries of champagne making – right down to how they get those bubbles in the bottle – by taking visitors to an underground world, where inverted bottles are turned every few days, a process called remuage. At Mercier, travel through some of its 18 km (11 miles) of cellars in a laser-guided electric train. De Castellane has a soaring tower; climb its 237 steps for spectacular views of the vineyards of Épernay and the Marne Valley.
Kids’ Corner
Make champagne cola!
In champagne, it is a mixture of yeast and sugar that creates the bubbles (carbon dioxide gas). Want to see how sugar makes bubbles? Pour some fizzy drink into a glass to about a third full. Now add a teaspoon of sugar. Fizz-pop! (In truth, this is not quite the same process that is used to make champagne: here the sugar is not making the carbon dioxide, but reacting with the carbon dioxide already dissolved in the fizzy drink.)
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3. Troyes
Wild art and knitwear
Half-timbered medieval houses in the old town of Troyes
The city centre of Troyes is said to be shaped like a champagne cork – appropriate for this former capital of the Champagne region. Troyes is a delightful historic city, with a largely pedestrianized old town, which has narrow alleys and is filled with multi-coloured half-timbered houses, hôtels (city mansions) and many churches. Do not miss the Ruelle des Chats, where houses are so close together that cats can supposedly jump from one house to the other across the street. The Gothic Cathédrale St-Pierre-et-St-Paul, begun in the 13th century and built over the course of 400 years, has beautiful interior proportions, magically illuminated by stained glass – a speciality of the city. The Musée d’Art Moderne, next to the cathedral, contains an interesting mix of works – the Fauves, the Cubists and African art. The unusual Musée de l’Outil et de la Pensée Ouvrière displays 10,000 17th–19th-century tools and their related craftwork. Troyes is also famed as the “capital of knitwear”, and has numerous clothing factory-outlet stores in the suburbs.
Kids’ Corner
A special sausage
Troyes’s speciality is a type of sausage called andouillette. It is made with strips of pork, seasoned with onion and pepper, as well as bits of intestines and tripe, which give a distinct smell and flavour. A company in Troyes makes 20 million andouillettes every year. The high quality andouillettes come with the label AAAAA (Association Amicale des Amateurs d’Andouillette Authentique) – the association of lovers of genuine andouillettes.
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4. Chaource
See it, smell it, taste it!
Nativity scene in wood in the 12th-century Église St-Jean Baptiste, Chaource
A modest but pretty town with half-timbered houses, Chaource has an old outdoor laundry and a cast-iron covered market built in 1892. But the town is best known for its eponymous soft and creamy cheese. The cheese used to be made on individual farms; visit the last surviving artisan producer at the Fromagerie de Mussy. There is a shop on site, tastings and a video film to watch. Go to the Musée du Fromage, which has a collection of historic cheese-making equipment.
Chaource is renowned for a remarkable sculpture: in its unusual 12th-century Église St-Jean Baptiste, the Entombment of Christ consists of 11 painted figures created in 1515 by the “Master of Chaource”. The church also has a 16th-century nativity scene in sculpted wood.
Kids’ Corner
The sound of a name
The coat of arms of Chaource (pronounced “sha–oorce”) shows two cats and a bear. In French, that is two chats (pronounced “sha”) and an ours (pronounced “oorce”). In heraldry, these are called “canting arms”: images that represent the sound of a name.
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5. Langres
Get ready for battle
Set on a rocky limestone spur, the little town of Langres has been a stronghold since Roman times and is almost entirely surrounded by medieval fortifications. These were erected to defend the borderlands between Champagne and Burgundy. There are breathtaking views in all directions, particularly splendid to the east over the Marne Valley and the Vosges mountains. Walk around the ramparts – a distance of 4 km (2 miles) – passing a series of towers and town gates. Or see the ramparts and the tightly packed streets of the town from the comfort of the Petit Train Touristique. The famous writer Denis Diderot, who was born here in 1713, went on to create the colossal Encyclopédie, one of the first modern encyclopaedias.
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6. Château Fort de Sedan
Medieval mega-fortress
Wax figures on display in the Château Fort de Sedan
Perhaps the largest medieval castle in Europe, the Château Fort de Sedan is massive, with monstrously thick walls, cavernous halls, dripping passages, arrow slits and cannon ports. It was founded on the Meuse river in 1424 by the warlord Everard de la Marck and became the base of the princes of Sedan, who ruled over a territory that stood independent from France until 1642. Seasonal events, festivals, displays of jousting and falconry help to bring the castle alive.
Key Features
1. Mighty walls The castle grew bigger and stronger over the centuries, to match the increasing power of cannons. Some 15th-century outer walls ended up 26 m (85 ft) thick.
2. Memorial During World War I, the castle was occupied by the Germans and used as a prison and place of execution, as recalled on a plaque beside the Grand Châtelet gate.
3. Hôtel le Château Fort A wing of the old castle has been turned into a luxury hotel. The hotel’s Restaurant Tour d’Auvergne recalls the family name of the princes of Sedan.
4. Bastions The pointed corner bastions, filled with earth and rubble, were built in the 1550s as a defence against the new cannons, which could destroy the older and weaker castle walls.
5. Le Tours Jumelles Built in the 1420s, this massive gate was flanked by twin towers, which have since lost their cone-shaped tops. Inside, the slot for the portcullis can still be seen.
6. Galerie des Princes The once-luxurious apartments of the princes now house a museum on the history of the Princedom of Sedan. Some artefacts recall the Battle of Sedan in 1870, which saw the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War.
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Le Tours Jumelles Middle Galerie des Princes Right Mighty walls
Kids’ Corner
In the castle, find out…
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Can you spot who is wearing huge pointy shoes?
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Which way do spiral staircases turn while going up: clockwise or anticlockwise? Do you know why?
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Who has got a picture of the sun on his chest (and loads of curly hair)?
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Do you know what jumelles means – as in Les Tours Jumelles?
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Chequerboards were part of the crest of the La Marck family. Where can you see them?
Down the hole
Go down the stairs beside La Boutique in the castle to find the deep hole that was once thought to be an oubliette – a dungeon where prisoners were thrown. It was in fact only a well.
The Sedan chair
This is an ancient form of taxi service without wheels: the passenger sat in an enclosed box and was lifted on a pair of poles by two strong men front and back. In the early 17th century, Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, prince of Sedan, used to be ferried like this from his new mansion to visit his young second wife, Elisabeth of Nassau, who preferred to live in the old castle.
