That night in Reims, I had a nightmare. I was fighting with an evil witch. She turned my friends into rag dolls one by one. I was losing, feeling hopeless; my end was near. Birds signing in the inner courtyard woke me up. Where did that dream come from? Yesterday was a perfect day, I accomplished everything that was planned and I was not really stressed out about the route to Luxembourg.
It was Tuesday, the 8th of May and a holiday in France. The receptionist told me that it was a Victory Day; however, she was not sure what victory they were celebrating that day. France has several Victory Days. She consulted a desktop calendar and said that this one was to mark the victory in the World War II. The 10th of May, Thursday was another national holiday. That’s why many people also took Wednesday off, some adding Friday to their vacation too. Why bother to return to work for one day? I calculated that out of 13 days between May, 1 and 13, seven days were holidays and weekends in France.
I began the day with sightseeing and left solving the transportation problem until the afternoon. For my starting point, I chose the train station. While airports in Europe are usually built on the outskirts, the train stations, being a much older means of transportation, are historically located in city centers. If you arrive by train then you are within a walking distance from the main attractions. That’s the advantage of taking trains.
I went to the Notre Dame Cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture and the coronation place of the Kings of France. Among them was Charles VII who became king thanks to Joan of Arc. His coronation ceremony was simple. The crown, the scepter, and the orb remained in Paris that was still controlled by the English. Joan knelt before Charles VII and said “Noble King, now is executed the pleasure of God who wished I lift the siege of Orleans, and I bring you into this city of Rheims to receive your holy coronation to show you are the true king, and the one to whom the kingdom of France must belong.” The Hundred Years’ War was not over yet. Almost one year after the coronation, Joan was captured in a battle by the Burgundians who were allies of the English. Charles made no attempt to save her. A statue of St. Joan of Arc now stands outside of the cathedral to commemorate her presence at the coronation.
The Cathedral’s stained glass ranges from 13th to 20th century. Some of it was designed by Marc Chagall, a modernist artist who was born in Russia and moved to Paris after the World War I. Personally, I prefer the medieval stained glass, but here are photos of windows with contemporary design.
Next to the Cathedral, there is the Palace of Tau, the residence of the kings of France before their coronation and the place of the after coronation banquet.
The Palace’s Treasury keeps many precious objects.
Charlemagne had a sapphire talisman/amulet made for his wife by the sorcerers of the court of Haroun el Raschid, Emperor of the East. The talisman had two large cabochon sapphires. One was oval and the other was square. They were set into a remnant of the wood from the Holy Cross (the Cross of Jesus) and a small piece of the Virgin’s hair. It was to make their love constant. It must have worked, since he never stopped loving her. This talisman was buried with him at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 814, and re-discovered when the tomb was opened by Otto III in 1000. The talisman was then preserved in the treasury of the Cathedral until it was given, by the canons, to Empress Josephine in 1804, to wear at her coronation.
(Source: https://traveltoeat.com/treasures-of-the-tau-palace-reims-france/)
After seeing everything around the Cathedral I walked until I got lost again. This time, I used the Cathedral spire as my reference mark. It was visible from everywhere. I returned to the Cathedral and from it, I could find my hotel.
After a short rest in my room, I decided to go to the Champagne-Ardenne station and to have a look at what was going on there. The receptionist explained that there is a tram that goes there. I rode the tram to its last stop for almost one hour. That was a good opportunity to see Reims outside of the old town. The suburbs close to the TGV station were all new construction and mostly populated by migrants.
The station itself is relatively new too. It was open in 2007. The TGV trains run at 300 km/h (186 mi/h). Such speed requires tracks of higher quality and precise fitting. When a TGV train whooshed past me I felt a push from its airwave.
The timetable showed that a TGV train to Luxembourg was running tomorrow despite the strike. Intercity buses stopped in front of the Champagne-Ardenne station. I could not make up my mind if I should take a bus via Metz or a direct train to Luxembourg and skip visiting Metz. In a case like this, I simply wait for the circumstances to change or for more information that helps me to see the situation more clearly. I took the tram back to Reims, got off halfway to the hotel and walked the rest of the way.
Birds woke me up again at 5 am. It was wonderful to listen to their singing. I had to leave no later when 7.30 am and was going to check out of the hotel without breakfast since they started serving it at 8 am. However, the table downstairs in the breakfast area was already set. A young waitress greeted me in French. I replied in English. She immediately switched to Russian. My accent always gives me away. The waitress looked to me like a typical French girl – dark-haired with fine facial features and a slightly hooked nose. It turned out that she was born in Georgia, the former Soviet republic. Russian was one of her native languages.
I was at Champagne-Ardenne in time for the bus from Paris to Metz. Despite the long traveling distance, the bus arrived on the dot. I watched how its passengers got out to stretch their legs. The bus was full, but not 100% full. I was sure I could get a seat on it. To go to Metz, or not to go, that was my question. No, I could not go. It’s impossible to visit every interesting place. I had to limit myself. Otherwise, my trip would take months. I turned away from the bus and went to buy a train ticket.
Sitting on the platform, I mulled over choices that we make. Every minor decision matters. What if the fast train crashed? Or what if I went by bus and it had an accident? Or a terrorist act happened in Metz while I was there? Or perhaps I had met in Metz interesting people who I’d have never met because I chose to take a direct train? Nothing should be taken lightly in this life. The arriving train interrupted my philosophical thoughts. I shook off that mood and boarded the train to Luxembourg.
That is very true. May is the month of state holidays in many European countries.
Interesting story! On May 1-10 the holidays are everywhere in Europe (come to think of it, in ex-USSR too). Except for Germany, naturally, where May holidays are in the second half of May (Easter, Trinity, etc.).