Touring Rheims: Visiting France’s Coronation Town of French
Kings with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Rheims
in eastern France is the modern capital of Champagne country and the “ancient”
site where the Kings of France have been coronated in the Cathedral.
My
husband Laurent and I set out on a chilly, fall day to visit the Cathedral and
the Palais de Tau next door, which houses the coronation regalia and holy oil
used to consecrate France’s kings.
We
had gone to Saumur a few months before and went on the production tour at
Gratien et Meyer, so we already knew about “methode champenoise” production and
decided to focus our tour on the Cathedral and the Palais de Tau Museum.
I
was surprised to see how different the architecture was from that of
Paris. The residential and office
buildings had a central doorway with three or four steps leading up to the
doorway.
Windows
were very tall and had borders around them.
The architectural ornamentation appeared heavier than that of buildings
in Paris. Buildings in Paris look delicate
in comparison – fragile even.
We
were able to park right in front of the Cathedral. The gigantesque statues on the façade are
visible at a distance. My favorite
statue was of an angel with a sweet smile and a tilt of the head.
The
statues on the Cathedral take up half the building. You can see them from a distance for miles
around. The Cathedral itself is a rust
color and very imposing due to the gigantesque statues on it.
We
went next door to the Palais de Tau, which houses the tapestries, priests’
sacramental clothing, holy vessels, and other items associated with the
coronation of French kings and queens.
There were no books available at the time about how the coronation of
the kings took place.
After
the museum, we walked around town and ate lunch. There are many galleries and passages (the
forerunners of shopping malls) with shops in Rheims.
We
stopped at the local merry-go-round.
Florence stayed on for four rides.
She laughed the entire time.
I
noticed when I bought the merry-go-round tickets that people in Rheims said, “S’il
vous plait” for “thank you” as they did in Brussels, Belgium.
By
Ruth Paget, Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
 |
| Ruth Paget Selfie |
