The Good Life France Magazine Spring 2018 | Page 38

Reims

The city of Kings has treasures above, and below, ground.

Reims train station is in the centre of town making it easy to walk to all the sites and there are many. UNESCO heritage sites abound here, perhaps the most well-known is the iconic Cathedral of Notre Dame.

33 Kings were crowned in Reims from 816 to 1825 including Charles VII in 1429, accompanied by Joan of Arc. It comes as a shock to many visitors to discover that many of the sculptures featured on its façade are copies or casts. Damaged badly by bombing in World War I, the Cathedral was rebuilt. It says much about the integrity of the work carried out that this Cathedral is still considered one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the world. Statues of 63 kings, 3m high and weighing 6 tonnes each adorn the façade. It’s no less impressive inside where stained-glass windows dating to the 13th century vie for attention along-side the magnificent stained-glass windows designed by Marc Chagall.

Next door, visit the Palais du Tau, the former Bishops’ Palace, and residence of Kings whilst awaiting coronation, is now a museum dedicated to the Cathedral. The St Remi Basilica which was mostly built in the 12th century is named after the Bishop of Reims who baptised Clovis, the King of the Franks in 496.

Even older is the Roman legacy, the huge Port de Mars which stands majestically at the end of a busy road, it is quite simply astonishing.

A huge area of Champagne itself has UNESCO status, including Reims, granted in 2015 in recognition of its Paysages de Champagne.