Hotel le Bristol, Reims: 49°15’24.3″N 4°01’36.0″E

Hotel Sophie Germain, Paris: 48°49’51.5″N 2°19’50.4″E

We have a fast train at noon to Paris. It was only a short walk from our hotel so with bags in tow we set out on the next phase of our adventure! We got separated in the train station in Reims before boarding the train. We had about 45 minutes before boarding so I went out to the train platform to find a place to sit and I thought Cath was following me, but when I turned around she was not there.

Reims train station (photo copied from the internet because I was on the platform)

I wasn’t worried because I thought she stayed inside looking for information about the boarding platform. Instead she was looking for me and she went outside to the front of the station to try and find me. WhatsApp to the rescue. Where are you she texted? I’m on the platform – where are you? Cath asked “what platform?”

Reims train station platform (photo copied from the internet because I was inside looking for Cath)

She was relieved when she “found” me – thought I had been swept up by the Police who had a (highly visible and) strong presence in the train station and taken away for interrogation.

The train journey was about 90 minutes. We arrived at Gard de l’Est which was a fair distance from our hotel.

Gare de l’Est train station interior (photo copied from the internet because I was in the bathroom)

Gare de l’Est train station exterior (photo copied from the internet because we were arguing with the scammer taxi driver)

We were reluctant to take the subway because of our luggage so we got in the taxi line. We were loaded into a taxi, expecting to pay about 20-30 Euros for the trip (based on Google Maps’ taxi fee estimate). The driver asked us for cash, said his credit card machine was not working. He wanted 65 Euros because the traffic was bad. We told him we had no cash. He said he would take us to a cash machine. We made him stop the car and let us out. We found out afterwards that this is a common taxi driver scam and that all taxis must, by law, always have a working credit card machine. Were we that obvious tourists? Guess our English Canadian accents gave us away. I wish I would have taken a photo of the car license plate-I would have sent it off with a complaint to someone in authority. We ended up taking the Metro (subway) which was only 2 Euros each – significantly cheaper but a whole lot more stairs and no escalators. To our surprise and relief we got off at a stop that was only a 3 minute walk to our hotel.

Hotel Sophie Germain (photo copied from the internet because I was carrying my overpacked luggage)

We couldn’t check in right away so we left our bags with hotel security and went to have lunch at a café. Then a rest in the hotel before we went to meet up with Emily. She took the subway from her hotel to meet us for dinner.

We had a nice dinner at an East Indian restaurant just a few minutes from our hotel and had a great time catching up with her.

I actually took this picture 🙂

We planned an easy day in this beautiful city. A well earned rest from our busy week of driving.

View of the beginning of the esplanade just a few steps from our hotel.

After a very good breakfast at the hotel we headed out to find the famous Reims Cathedral. It celebrated its 800th birthday in 2011 and is to France what Westminster Abbey is to England with 26 French kings being coronated here. The front of the cathedral resembles Notre Dame de Paris. It was severely damaged during WW I and was rebuilt in the 1920s. Luckily the church was spared throughout WW II.

Some of the stained glass windows destroyed in WW I were replaced through funding provided by local champagne producers.

There are also modern stained glass windows including a set designed by Marc Chagall in 1974.

We enjoyed walking around the city and had a picnic lunch in a park close to our hotel.

Reims was pretty much leveled during WW I and was rebuilt with a mixture of classic and art deco style architecture.  I really like the galleria off the esplanade.

A typical business/hotel facade on the esplanade.

After lunch we visited the Musee de la Reddition (Museum of the Surrender) – the actual building where the allied forces planned their operations and where the official documents ending WW II in Europe were signed between the Allies and Germany.

The museum artifacts and short documentary film were very moving – well worth the visit. The war operations room in the museum is unchanged from when it was in use during the war. The major part of the entire building remains in use as a public school – again the same as it was during the war.

Photo of the exterior of the building copied from the internet.

Photo of the war operations and document signing room copied from the internet.

After a full day we decided to splash out on a nice dinner on the esplanade. Cath had mussels which she shared with me.

I had a Hawaiian poke bowl which is very popular in France – but not as impressive as this pot of mussels!

After dinner we walked around the esplanade enjoying the night life and checked out the other dining options available. It was surprising to see the number of American fast food outlets mixed in with the more traditional French restaurants, cafes and bistros. The question “why” comes to mind.

Dining at the Ernest Hemingway Cafe?

Or is KFC more to your liking? Hard to believe these restaurants exist across the street from each other.

Sube fountain at Place d’Erlon – the far end of the esplanade.

Another fountain at Place d’Erlon.

Busy night life of the esplanade – but that’s enough for us today – time for bed!

Ancien moulin Creancy, Creancy: 47°14’53.7″N 4°35’03.1″E

Hotel le Bristol, Reims: 49°15’24.3″N 4°01’36.0″E

Bernard prepared a beautiful breakfast for us, complete with bowls of café au lait and fresh croissants served on his grandmother’s best china. It’s going to be hard going back to instant coffee with toast and peanut butter ☹.

Oscar the dog kept us company in his favourite chair.

Bernard advised us to take a route that included the toll highway, otherwise our cross-country trip could take 6 or more hours.

Fifi was waiting patiently for us under the tree for this our last road trip with her.

Our route ended up being a mixture of back country roads through little towns, open countryside and major highways. We were impressed with the number of modern windmills all along the toll highway. There were hundreds of them!

We dropped Fifi off at the TGV train station just outside of Reims & then took taxi to our hotel in the center of the city. Fifi, our Fiat 500 with a 6-speed manual transmission was a great little car, carrying us safely over 1,200 kilometers around France.

Our hotel room was not quite ready so we stored our luggage with the hotel security, found a place for lunch and did a little exploring. The pedestrian esplanade right in front of our hotel is a busy, vibrant area with dozens of cafes and bistros and attractive architecture.

Hotel Athanor Centre, Beaune: 47°01’25.7″N 4°50’07.5″E

Ancien moulin Creancy, Creancy: 47°14’53.7″N 4°35’03.1″E

Today we drove a backroads tour from Beaune through the Burgundy wine region to Creancy. We were motivated to take this particular route after reading about it in Rick Steves’ France Guidebook. Along the way we had some really nice view of the canal and saw many people on biking tours.

The Canal de Bourgogne (Burgundy Canal) looked pretty inviting!

Our first stop was the hill town of Chateauneuf-en-Auxois. At 2,000 feet elevation this town was visible from a long distance and reminded us of medieval castle scenes in movies. It must have been really impressive to people on foot and riding horses or in carriages “back in the day”.

The castle was built in the 14th century and was surrounded by the village.

Today it’s a busy tourist town. It’s like stepping back in time and all of the buildings looked pretty much like the day they were built – very well preserved and respectful of their heritage many centuries later.

Several of the homes in the village had walled gardens. It was fun to peek over the walls to see what was inside.

We stopped for coffee at a café outside the castle after walking around the village enjoying the gardens and architecture.

I also found a nice car for Cath – a very well preserved Citroen 2CV but lost interest quickly when I found out that they were worth about $20,000 and higher back home.

After leaving the hill village we headed north to Flavigny-sur-Ozerain. On our way there we passed through Posanges and drove quickly by a small castle right beside the road. It was so intriguing we turned around and stopped to take a closer look.

This is the Chateau de Posanges, built in year 1440, complete with drawbridge and moat.

Sadly it is no longer open to the public. Definitely worth turning around to see it even from the outside and I would have gladly paid 10 Euros to take a tour though it. I wonder if it will be for sale someday – could be an “Escape to the Chateau” for Cath and I.

We arrived in Flavigny at lunch time. It is really old town that has been home to an abbey since the year 719! Stuff around here is really old!

The abbey is still in use – in fact there are 50 Benedictine monks living at the abbey of St. Joseph. We saw some of them walking down the street but thought it would be rude to take a photo.

This town also had another “15 minutes of fame” in year 2000 when the movie “Chocolat” starring Johnny Depp was filmed here.

We had lunch in a candy factory in the town that is famous for its licorice candies. A very charming location and they serve up a great quiche too!

Just before leaving town we found another classic Citroen for me 🙂

Our last stop was to visit the abbey at Fontenay featured in Rick Steves’ book and on his PBS TV show.

This abbey was founded in year 1118 and was created to recapture the simplicity and solitude of the early church. It is now privately owned and open to the public. The grounds and the buildings are in pristine shape.

It was interesting to see that the abbey church is the same today as when it was built – the floor is earth, there are no furnishings, no stained glass windows and only 1 statue which was of the Virgin Mary.

The simplicity of the architecture added to its beauty.

We drove back south to the little town of Creancy where our B&B host Bernard and his friendly dog Oscar were waiting for us at the Ancien Moulin (the old mill).

Le Jardins de Beauvoir B&B, Lyon: 45°45’22.1″N 4°49’07.2″E

(8 Rue de Trion, 69005 Lyon, France)

Hospices de Beaune: 47°01’19.3″N 4°50’11.2″E

We were up for an early breakfast again so we could get started on our next road trip – driving from Lyon to Beaune, a town famous for the charity hospital built in the 1400’s by a wealthy patron.

If we took the freeway route it would take us about 90 minutes to drive about 160 kilometers from our B&B in Lyon but we have had enough of white knuckle driving on the freeway so we took the cross county route.

We had a few missed turns on the way out of Lyon but the GPS got us back on track without too much stress. Our cross country route added another 90 minutes to our driving time but it was much more relaxing & we got to see some of the best of rural France. Lots of small towns in between acres of vineyards, olive groves & a variety of food crops (squash, pumpkin, leeks, corn, etc.).

Traffic on this route was much more manageable

We arrived in Beaune around 2:00pm & were able to check in to our hotel – the Hôtel Athanor Beaune Centre. It truly is in the center of the town & it was only a five minute walk to the Hospices de Beaune. We took a brief rest in our room & then went in search of a place for a light lunch. It started raining pretty hard so we lingered in the shelter of our cafe until the worst of the weather had passed through.

After lunch we took a tour of the hospice. The hospital, officially known as: Hôtel-Dieu Museum – Hospices de Beaune Hôtel-Dieu – Hospices de Beaune was built in In 1441 by Nicolas Rolin, a wealthy Duke of Burgundy and his wife Guigone de Salins. This was an act of philanthropy & it also put the patrons in good stead with the Catholic church & the French aristocracy.

Our admission fee included a personal hand held audio device that provided commentary for our self guided tour. This is an excellent arrangement because it allows you to tour the entire facility at your own pace. The commentary is excellent & you don’t have to listen to tour guides shouting out to their groups. It makes for a much more relaxing & quieter experience for everyone.

Below are several photos of the hospice. It was one of the most interesting historical places we have seen on this trip. A definite “must see” place if you are traveling in this part of France.

The hospice main courtyard

The interior of the main hospital area – a total of 30 beds – 15 on each side

Each bed had the same arrangements for the patients.

The architectural details were amazing. Note the dragon’s head holding the cross beams and the carved faces of people in between the beams

Every carved face is different & a bit whimsical – perhaps to cheer up the patients

Even the kitchen had some very interesting plumbing! Note the swan head & neck taps.

The entire facility is maintained in pristine condition & has a lot to do with the prosperity of the town of Beaune. If you are interested in knowing more about this fascinating place here is a link to a travel video by Rick Steves on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kri_sWf0upg?si=b8_FApCd_CQyCU2u

When we were planning our trip to France his travel program and this segment about the hospice was a big motivation for us to come here.

The town of Beaune is very busy with traffic & tourists & the number of restaurants within a 20 minute walk from our hotel is astonishing. We were thinking of going out for dinner but this area is definitely for “high rollers” with many restaurant dinner menu suggestions starting at 100 Euros per person plus wine!

We chose a much more modest option & went to the local grocery store to buy some cold meat, veggies & crackers supplemented with a value priced wine.

Just outside the grocery store I saw this “outdoor laundromat” in the parking lot & had to take a photo of it. Toss your laundry in while you are shopping for groceries!

A pretty sharp contrast to the 1400 AD circa hospice!

Tomorrow we explore more of the Burgendy region  

Cheers!