First Week of Vacation Wasted? Check.

The first week of vacation is almost over and I couldn't be more thankful.  Awhile ago, I decided that I wouldn't mind spending the first week in Bar-le-Duc.  I figured I would finally finish reading Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, perhaps start a new book (maybe even in French!), go for jogs, do yoga, hike through the forest, write, and generally do a lot of fun, relaxing things that I would feel good about myself for doing.  Fast forward to today:  I have done none of those things.  Okay, maybe hiking and running were ambitious as I would actually have to leave my apartment to do those things.  Yoga was a little iffy too because I'd have to unroll my mat, and who has time for those things?  And when I think about it, did I really imagine I could pick up that book completely within arm's reach and open it to the bookmarked page?  And writing?  HA!  I must've been drunk when I came up with my vacation to-do list.

Instead,  I have filled my days with Q.I. (Quite Interesting), the amazing BBC quiz-type show hosted by Stephen Fry from which I've learned an absurd number of things, none of which I can remember right now; Doctor Who (Amelia, I am shaking my fist at you for getting me hooked); and Frank McCourt's 'Tis on audiobook, which is like an Irish grandfather reading you the most depressing bedtime story ever.  So really, things could be worse.  Even though I have done nothing but go from lying in bed and doing the above things, to sitting in a chair and doing those things while eating, and then going back to lie in bed with a supply of cookies and tea to do those things, at least I haven't become a meth addict over break.  It's all about perspective.

Yesterday, however, I felt it was time to break the vicious BBC/ tea cycle, so I hopped on a train to Reims, the champagne capital of the world.  Just an hour away from Bar-le-Duc, Reims was a major city back in the day, hosting the coronations of all the French kings in its huge, gothic cathedral that gives Notre Dame of Paris a run for her money.  The city was badly damaged in both world wars, but it was in Reims that Eisenhower received word of the Germans' surrender in May 1945.   Reims is a modestly-sized city, probably comparable to nearby Nancy and Metz, so I was easily able to see its sights in just a day.  No, I didn't have any champagne (it's just as expensive in Reims as it is everywhere else) but getting out of Bar-le-Duc was refreshing and bubbly enough.

 The Subé fountain, erected in 1930.  The angel at the top, "Victory," was taken by the Germans in WWII, but finally given back in 1989. 

 Notre Dame of Reims (completed early 14th century).  The French kings have all been coronated on this very site, even before the cathedral was constructed.  Clovis, the first king of the Franks, was baptized on this spot in 496 AD by Saint Remi.

The interior

 Chagall's stained glass windows in the cathedral

 Saint Remi Basilica (early 11th century)

 The interior of the basilica

 The monastery, which is now the Saint Remi museum

 Buildings on one of the main roads

Today, I finally start my real vacation!  It'll be a whirlwind of planes, trains and automobiles as usual, plus ferries even.  Train to Paris tonight, plane to Dublin tomorrow morning, bus to Galway in the afternoon, and then a ferry to Inishmore on Saturday morning.  I will resist the urge to speak in an Irish accent, lest the locals think I'm mocking them and throw me off the cliffs... but I really can't be held responsible after a few pints.  Sláinte!