Side trips

With Ryan arriving at Charleville Mezieres by car it gave us the opportunity to travel further afield. We decided to drive to Luxembourg as none of us had been there before.

Old Luxembourg City is a very beautiful place and the situation on a hill above the river is very picturesque. It's no wonder it is UNESCO a world heritage listed, mainly for its casements.

Unesco listed casements

We also ventured back into the irrestible locale of Champagne. We just can't seem to get enough of both the towns and the drink. Once again Reims and Epernay were our towns of choice. 

We seem to have a lot of luck with the markets on our travels. As a we were driving into Reims there was a local farmers market with the most amazing strawberries and a most amazing price. We ended up buying 2 cases for €5 but for €1 more could have had 3 cases. Each case had a kg of strawberries. Needless to say there are quite a few in the freezer waiting to be turned into sorbet in my Thermomix come the warmer days of summer. 

Inside Reims Cathedral

Delicious large strawberries at a bargain price

When we arrived at Reims Cathedral the organ was playing but unfortunately by the time we entered they had finished playing. The light coming in through the windows illuminated the space beautifully with a beam of sunlight shining down on the lectern.

We did the Champagne route from Reims to Epernay passing through a multitude of champagne houses dotted throughout the countryside.

Phare (lighthouse folly) at Vezenay

Unfortunately, being Sunday of the Easter weekend, not many were open but we did manage to get some champagne tasting at La Banque, a really nice restaurant in Epernay. As the name suggests the restaurant used to be a bank but now houses a restaurant and a champagne bar. A visit to the toilet is also quite interesting. You get to make a deposit of a different kind as the original use of the toilets was the bank's vault!

We then had coffee in a lovely little patisserie

some cakes to tempt