Luxembourg to Reims to Paris, April 14, 2023

Reims to Luxemburg to Paris, April 14, 2023

After another delightful breakfast, we said goodbye to our Viking Idi staff and boarded a bunch of motorcoaches at 8:15 in the morning for our long trip to Paris.

Our first stop was at about 9:30 at the American Cemetery in Luxembourg, where we paid our respects to the 5,073 United States soldiers who died during World War II - most of them in the Battle of the Bulge.

The site is beautiful and peaceful. It is meticulously maintained.

Gate

The site is secluded, with beautiful forests surrounding it.

Crosses mark the graves of Christian soldiers, and the star marks those of the Jewish soldiers

General George Patton is also interred in this cemetery

I remember going to an American cemetery when we first visited the Kalscheuers in Belgium and being moved to tears. I had similar emotions on this trip. I was not alone - in fact, our normally boisterous group was virtually silent for the thirty minutes we spent here, and there was quite a bit of silence on the two-and-a-half-hour bus trip to Reims (pronounced hhrrum -- sort of).

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Arriving in Reims at about 12:15, our first order of business was to find a place to eat some lunch. Our "leisurely group" was escorted to Au Bureau Pub & Brasserie. Jeff and I both ordered hamburgers - different styles, but equally good. Our friends, Tom and Stella ordered some sort of flatbread with "lardons" and cheese (I don't think they really liked it). Tom was also disappointed with the frites, exclaiming, "They taste like American fries; I was expecting something amazing, and these aren't that!"

When in France ... order a Bud Light? Who DOES that? Yes, Jeff does that!

After lunch, we met our guide, Liesette, who talked with us about the exterior of Reims Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The architectural features of the cathedral’s exterior glorify French royalty.

We viewed the amazing Gallery of Kings where 56 statues stand above the central portal.

Gallery of Kings - Reims Cathedral

Lisette, Our Guide

The cathedral is massive - impossible to capture the size of it with photos, but Lisette tells us that Notre Dame Cathedral could fit inside the Reims Cathedral! It is made of sandstone, which is difficult to maintain, so many of the carvings are damaged - both from time and from the wars.

Crowning of Mary

Everywhere you look, you see intricately carved entities - deities, emperors, kings, angels. It's difficult to take it all in.

The Smiling Angel (Le Sourire de Reims)

I loved the story of the Smiling Angel, which was carved between 1236 and 1245. The Angel is in the north portal of the west facade of the cathedral, just over the doorway that we entered. The Angel's head fell to the ground due to a fire caused by a German shell on the cathedral of Reims during World War I. It broke into several pieces after falling from a height of about 12 feet.

The head was collected by the abbot Thinot the day after the fire and stored in the cellars of the Archbishop of Reims to be discovered by the architect Max Sainsaulieu on November 30, 1915. It became an icon for French wartime propaganda as a symbol of "French culture destroyed by German barbarity."

After the war, the original fragments were molded and preserved in the Musée National des Monuments Français. The already famous sculpture was restored and put back in place on February 13, 1926.

And then we stepped inside the cathedral...

Once again, photos cannot do justice to the magnificence of the various stained glass!

La Grande Rose

On the top of the western wall of the cathedral, one can see La Grande Rose, which dates from the end of the 13th century and represents the Assumption of Mary. The rose is done in a circular pattern. In the middle of the big circle, the Virgin Mary is represented, surrounded by the first circle of 12 apostles, and then with the second one with 24 angel musicians who together with prophets and kings accompany Christ’s mother to heaven.

Between two rose windows, stained glass evokes the crowning of the king: the king is in the center dressed in some sort of flowery robe and he is accompanied by six pairs of church officials and six pairs of dukes and counts. This represents the unique history of Reims Cathedral, where kings were once crowned.

In 1936, Ateliers Simon-Marq created a second, smaller rose bellow the big one in order to replace the windows that were destroyed during the World War I. Such an accomplishment, having two roses on the same wall, is very unique. The small rose has the virgin Mary placed in the center, where each of the rose petals represents her different qualities.

Three Stained Glass Window Panels by German artist Imi Knoebel

I think this photo is one of the best photos I have ever taken! The lighting is just about perfect!

There are several very modern stained glass windows by the same artist installed in 2011 throughout the cathedral. I liked them - probably because I have never seen anything like them in a cathedral.

Chagall Windows in Reims Cathedral

Marc Chagall created three beautiful stained glass panels in the mid-1970s. These windows are in the apse of the cathedral, behind the main altar. The left-hand window focuses on the Old Testament and the tree of Jesse. It culminates at the top with a beautiful Virgin and Child, shown with green haloes indicating rebirth.

The middle window is devoted to the stories of Abraham and Christ. Christ on the cross dominates the right-hand panel.

The third window, on the right, reminds us of the other great function of the Reims Cathedral, the coronation of the kings of France.

The window on the right is part of a series of windows called "The Water of Life." These are some of the more modern stained glass windows of the cathedral. They were done in 1961 by Brigitte Simon-Marq. She tried to evoke light reflecting on a river by using blue-grey-green tones. Because these windows are modern and quite different from the traditional ones, their installation was opposed by the citizens of Reims. However, the funding was found, and in my opinion, they look stunning. Real work of abstract art.

Organ Pipes ~ The actual organ was enshrouded with scaffolding as it is being restored.

The Chapel of St. Joan of Arc, who saved Notre Dame de Reims

17th Century Clock - Still runs today!

We returned to our motorcoaches at 3:30 for a two-and-a-half-hour drive to our hotel in Paris. We were tired and very glad to finally arrive at our hotel, the Hotel Pullman Paris Montparnasse.