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Sunday April 5. Reims. 17.9 km.

Today’s walk started through a few vineyards. In Paris the news had spoken about warm weather followed by a cold snap and said some producers had big fans (small windmills) in their vineyards to force warm air down around the plants. My landlady said that in this region they put out huge candles in metal pots at night if there is a risk of frost damage. That would be interesting to see!

As the path veered into woods there were rather frequent reminders of the fall hunting season - in places every 50 metres or so.


After a steep hill climb, with a significant number of dirt bikers out, the youngest intent on full speed downhill in the hopes of getting airborne, the ground flattened as the city of Reims got nearer.


My heart sank as the path circled around a very large sewage treatment plant, but then it traversed the long industrial zone in the nicest way possible, beside a canal. Although not in this photo, there were barges moored near loading areas like these.

I got settled in to a very nice little apartment and went out for groceries. I had worried about everything being closed on Easter Sunday, but grocery stores and most restaurants were open. Tomorrow may be a bit different as Mondays things close in France.  Anyway, I’ll have salad and vegetables and fruit to eat here - all things in short supply in restaurants or in my simple picnics.

A bit of aimless wandering brought me to the Musée Hôtel Le Vergeur (hôtel here meaning private stately home).  A little sign said ´ring the doorbell’ so a lady, who turned out to be an antiquarian from Hungary, and I did just that. Today being the first Sunday of the month, tours (obligatory) were free.

The oldest part had been a medieval storage house and shop.


Then in the fifteenth century a Renaissance-style manor house was added.


Eventually this was bought by a champagne firm because there were three underground floors for storage, coming as we now know from quarrying for stone (the advantage of tourism at a walkers’ pace is you come upon the same phenomena over and over again!)  

Then came the war.  Reims was destroyed worse than any other French city. 80% of the buildings were obliterated or badly damaged. In the garden of the Hôtel Le Vergeur one building was left unrepaired as a reminder of the brutality.

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After the war a wealthy local man, Hughes Krafft, purchased the property and spent a small fortune on repairing it. He founded a Society to ensure that significant buildings in the town weren’t just torn down completely.  This Society is still active and has turned the property into a museum that honours Krafft’s legacy. Take a look at the small white cross at the bottom of the Society’s banner. This was an honour awarded to the city by the French government as they rebuilt after what is referred to as an “urbanicide”.


My favorite part of the collections in the house was these copper pans specially made for use in Krafft’s kitchen (he also had cooks and maids to keep them shining!)





Comments

  1. AllisonApril 6, 2026 at 10:09 AM

    That is rather photogenic for an industrial area - in a minimalistic sort of architectural style.
    As for the copper pans - I wonder if they were kept so spotless when meals were being made on a regular basis. For me, I would prefer good food over shiny cookware.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RitaApril 8, 2026 at 12:13 PM

    What an interesting day, from a crude hunting blind to a Renaissance manor and shiny copper pots! You surely seem be taking advantage of taking it slow. How are your feet holding up?

    ReplyDelete

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