Monday May 25th – Reims & Champagne Region
We wake early in the car, doing cardio in the rest stop before eating breakfast. I wash my hair in the ice-cold water from the sink, before we use our GPS to try to find a route to Reims (pronounced Rahnce), which is centered in France’s Champagne region. We also search for a McDonald’s for wifi access: this evening we are Skyping with some people and need to find a place that will work.
We drive towards Reims and see a lovely park running along the edge of the Marne River. We park and find a spot to do a pull-up back and tricep workout. There are swans on the river and blossoms filling the trees. Summer has arrived in this sleepy little town. As the workout ends, the sky suddenly opens and big fat rain drops start pelting down. We jog to the car and drive into Reims, arriving at our McDonald’s about 30 minutes before our scheduled Skyping time.
The McDonalds’ wifi is not working today. Shoot! We see a Quick, the European version of McDonald’s, and head in there to check – they also are having trouble with their wifi. Agh! Across the highway is a KFC – ok, let’s check there. Luckily, they have it. Unfortunately, it sucks. The capacity is low and really doesn’t work well for audio/video features.
By 6:30pm, we head off from our last call. We are trying to make it into the TI office in Reims to see if we can get maps about Champagne region for tomorrow. Ellie drops me off and I run across the center square to the TI, but find that it is closed (today is a national holiday in France). The Orange store (where we want to get a SIM card for our phone) is also closed. We drive to a nearby rest stop which is quite large, with cafe and gas station. We eat dinner of lentils outside, spend some time perusing the convenience store on site, and purchase baby wipes (for “showering”) and a magnet that says Place du Camping on it.
On to bed, tomorrow we taste Champagne!
Tuesday May 26th – Reims & Champagne Region
We awake at our big rest area, doing cardio followed by a delicious breakfast of power oatmeal. As we open the new jar of peanut butter we recently purchased, we realize….it’s not peanut butter, but actually something we will call “cookie spread”. It is a peanut-butter-esque spread made from what seems to be ginger snap cookies. Apparently we need to brush up on our french for Peanuts (cacahuetes, we now know). It still is mostly fat (from oil) so we add it into our power oatmeal and oh my! What a treat — literally.
From here, we drive the 48 km left into Reims. We find a lovely park just outside the main square, doing a legs, shoulder, and cardio workout before “showering” in the attached public restrooms. We utilize the baby wipes purchased the night before, and aside from my greasy hair line I feel like I’ve just showered!
We stop in at the TI, getting a map and info about different caves (pronounced cahvs – this is what they call a vineyard or wine cellar here in France). It’s basic translation is what it looks like: cave. For centuries, wine was made and stored in caves, thus the name.
Next we stop in at the Orange store, getting a data plan so we have access to internet in tight situations and can look things up without having to find the nearest McDonald’s. We snack on lentils & baguette, finishing with some chocolate croissant purchased when we bought our baguette. We see the Reims cathedral. It is called Notre Dame, which translates to Our Lady. Most major cathedrals are called Notre Dame in France, and this one is particularly impressive. It was built after it’s famous Parisian counterpart and is actually more ornate. It is considered the peak of Gothic French architecture. The designers studied hard to find the best way to build high, big, and Gothic. This cathedral is considered the peak of the style. We follow Rick Steves’ tour around and through it, before popping around the corner to see the outside of a Carnegie Library here in town. Yes, it is funded by our very own American Dale Carnegie in his quest to spread free knowledge across the globe. The building is very Art Deco, but we can only see the outside as it is currently closed.
We head on a 3 hour driving tour of the Champagne region and stop for 3 tastings. The first is a cave called Guy de Chassey where we taste four different champagnes (it is 1 euro per taste). Having paid for the taste, we say thank you and move on. The next we see is a place called Bernard Tornay. A pleasant Frenchman leads us through a brief (free) tasting.
Feeling obliged, we purchase a demi-bouteille (1/2 bottle or 375 ml) of their Brut Rose. This is a Rose Champagne (made from the Pinot Noir grape). We both find that it is light like a champagne, but very full-bodied in comparisons to their clear counterparts. Finally, we head to a small place called the Herbert Beaufort. Family owned for centuries, this place also produces a local wine called the Boozy Rouge. Located in the small town of Boozy, it is aptly named. It is a red wine made solely from the only red grape that grows in this climate: Pinot Noir. We purchase a demi-bottle here as well of the Boozy Rouge.
We stop in a cute town and decide to have a picnic. We find the Leader Price Supermarket, purchasing pickled herring, a baguette, brie cheese, and carrot salad for our feast. We sit in the square and indulge in our delicious meal.
From here, we drive toward Luxembourg. We have decided that, since we are so close, we simply must visit the only Duchy in Europe. A Duchy, for those of you not-in-the-know, is a kingdom run by a Grand Duke rather than a King, President, Tyrant, etc. As we drive, avoiding the toll routes, we see a sign for the European Beer Museum! We find a rest stop nearby next to a cow pasture, planning to head to the museum in the morning before making our way into Belgium, then Luxembourg.
Time for bed!
Wednesday May 27th – France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France
We awake with the sun, as we are finding is the norm when sleeping in the car, and do our regular cardio followed by breakfast. We drive back to the Beer Museum. It is great!
Interesting, lots of old brewing and milling equipment. Most of it is in French, but much in English helps pepper our visit with fun info. Afterwards, we sit in their tavern and share a pint of Primus (from France) and Charmoy (from Belgium). We have a snack outside of tuna and ramen (yes, super healthy), before trying to find a gas station. We are finding it difficult to find a petrol station that (a) accepts American Express or (b) has an attendant that we can pay cash too. Even if a station says the accept American Express, usually the machine declines our card. 
(NOTE: We have an American Express with a chip in it – this is the standard for cards here in Europe. This card does not charge us a conversion fee. We also have a Visa card that doesn’t have a chip and does charge a conversion. We prefer to pay cash or with the Amex, but most gas stations don’t accept cash. AGH!) We finally find a place to fill, and do.
On we drive through Belgium and into Luxembourg. We stop in the center of the capital (also called Luxembourg), circling a few times in midday traffic as we try to find parking. Finally we secure a spot and walk to the TI. Here we get a map of the area with some info about the places on the map.
We first see the statue of Guillaime, which is a former leader of Luxembourg. Next onto the Church of St. Michel (Michael), a newer church that is under renovation. We walk along the river. The whole city used to be built into the rock-face along the river. Now, these underground passages are called the casemates and you can pay to enter them.
We opt to just walk, so we walk along the river and check out the scenery. It’s a beautiful city, and we enjoy our few hours here. After Ellie gets stung by a bee on the neck, we make our way eventually back to the car.
We are so close to Germany, we decide to cross over and eat dinner in a place called Saarbrucken which is right on the border. We drive circles around the city, trying to find a place to eat (our cell phone coverage only works in France, so we are stuck looking for restaurants via our GPS). After 2 failed attempts (thus 3 circles of the city center) we find ourselves parking and walking to a place that (once again) does not exist. We walk into a plaza center and settle on a place called “Pizza & Pasta”.
We are in Germany, so we go for the German experience: Karlsberg Wiezen Bier and Karlsberg Dunkel Beer. We share a plate of Schnitzel. The server is friendly, speaking perfect German, English, and French. Wow! We once again feel humbled by our lack of language skills.
We drive on, finding a spot to sleep back in France! 4 borders in one day, makes this a first!
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