Spain 17,

Oct 30, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

I arrived in Reims in 45 minutes with the TGV which travels at 350kph. Even moving at that speed, you don’t feel the speed at all. Patrick was there to meet me at the station. Everything has changed since I left Reims as a medical student 48 years ago. The railway station has grown, has 2 entries and Patrick had to choose the right one. We drove to his apartment (condo) which I had yet not seen. Several years ago they sold their house and purchased an apartment. Lo and behold, it was the same apartment that Remi’s mother used to live in 50 years ago. I remember the apartment quite well as I had been invited there many times to share a meal with Remi and his mother. The apartment is a pent house made up of 2 apartments joined together with an elevator that opens directly into the apartment. Many years ago when my parents, my Auntie Ann and Phillip came to Reims to visit me, we were all invited to stay for a few nights with the Dropsy’s.

We arrived at Patrick’s to drop off my baggage and then went for a walk around downtown Reims to pick up a few groceries. On our return, Genevieve, Patrick’s wife was waiting for us with a bottle of champagne and ordeuves. We spent the evening sipping wine, talking about old times and getting caught up on the news of each other’s families. They have 3 children and 8 grandchildren who live in Reims, Luxembourg and Martinique.

Yesterday morning, we walked around Reims so that I could do the touristy thing and take pictures of my old haunts. Reims has changed a lot from when I was here as a student. Is a beautiful city. It was much destroyed by artillery fire during WW1 and was rebuilt after the war. Many of the downtown building became blacked due to the car exhaust. These buildings have all been whitewashed by sandblasting making city very attractive. Much of the downtown area is now a pedestrian walk way with a tramway that weaves through the streets. It has 4 cars, moves relatively slowly, is electric with electricity running without danger through the tracks that you can walk on. There are no ugly over head wires. Why can’t we have something like this in Montreal? I stopped by the St. James store to purchase a blue sweater. Every year for the past 30 years, I buy a new blue French sweater. I have a pile of them in my cupboard and could easily open a store.

Yesterday, I studied for my ski patrol exam in the morning. Each year I have to read a 200 page book and pass a 3 hour exam on the internet. There is also 1 weekend of practice and 1 day for a ski exam which I don’t have to take as I am a Level 2 ski instructor. There is also a practice session of how to evacuate skiers from a chair lift if there is an electricity problem. I am now a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol and Mountain Explore, which is another ski patrol organization based in Quebec. This doubles the reading and the exams that I must pass in order to wear the red jacket with a white cross and patrol a mountain with no pay but does include a ski pass and a free lunch. I love it.

In the afternoon, Patrick and I took a drive through the Montagnes de Reims. This is an area south of Reims that extends to Epernay and is where all of the champagne vineyards are situated. The province is called Champagne, hence the name, champagne, and only grapes grown in this region can have the designation of ‘champagne’. Other wine that is not grown in the area must be marked ‘method champagnois’ and not ‘champagne’. We drove through the vineyards which stretch for miles and passed through several small villages. There are hundreds of small vineyards, some of whom have their own brand while others sell their produce to the ‘grands marques de champagne’ like Mumm or Moët et Chandon.

We eventually stopped at a small vineyard and met the patron. He invited us into his house for a tasting. He produces 18,000 bottles a year which is a relatively small amount. He is a member of a cooperative in order to press their grapes together in 1 big machine. Carefully, they must not mix up their grapes. This allows them to produce 100.000 bottles a year which is still a very small portion or the total market. He and his son manage the vineyard, sell the produce and deliver it themselves to their clients all over France. Some of the bottles are shipped to other countries. We tried 2 different bottles and eventually purchased 2.5 for consumption at home. The half is because we drank ½ bottles in the tasting session.

Patrick purchased a folding door system which we picked up and tried to put together. It is a German system, therefore the instructions were very logical and thus impossible to understand. The door system is too wide so had to cut it in 2, another minor headache. Remember the rule, measure twice, cut once.

In the afternoon we took out the bicycles and rode through Reims and on a bicycle path along the canal. There is a canal that runs through the city and makes its way to the Rhine. When I was a student it was not at all used as parkland. Over the years it has been developed into a longitudinal park that is well used for jogging and bicycling much as the Lachine canal in Montreal. The bicycles resembled the old retro bikes of the fifties where you rode in a sitting up position. Nevertheless there is good gear and brake system. We resembled Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the theme song ‘Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head kept running through my mind. We rode for 15-20k eventually arriving at the estate belonging to the family of Marion, his daughter. Marion, her brother in law and her father in law all have beautiful houses on the enormous property. Part or Marion’s marriage took place on the estate 11 years ago. The actual marriage ceremony took place in the Basilque de Reims which is 1000 years old. Remi accompanied the ceremony on the organ. I was determined to go the the wedding which took place 6 weeks after my bypass. The houses are 150 years old and have been fully renovated in a most modern way inside. They were not home so we just made ourselves comfortable on chairs in the garden.

In the evening I had dinner with Richard’s family including Richard, Regine, Yseult, Luca his charming wife and beautiful daughters. We had cocktails at Regine’s apartment and then went for dinner in a ‘cool and in’ part of town. There were wall to wall restaurants and outdoor terraces filled with young people eating, drinking and having a good time. Richard dropped me off near Patrick’s as it rather complicated to arrive there with the one way streets. He was most fearful that I would get lost as I had forgotten the name of Patrick’s street but did remember that I had to turn left after the 2nd or 3rd street. Anyway I arrived home safe and sound.

Today I will board the TGV to Paris where I will stay at a small hotel in the 5ieme arrondissement. It is very close to the Boul Mich and St Germaine the really in and nice area to be in. I will stay for 3 nights and spend the last night in an Ibis at CDG to be ready to take the plane on Monday morning.

Love,

Brian

Pictures to follow immediately