For the next 2 days we played tag with the lovely English sailors, Fiona and Roy, one of us going ahead and the other one following shortly, until we found ourselves moored next to each other in Reims’ Halte Fluvial.
The weather was quite changeable, hot, cool, rain and strong winds - we had it all. But Reims is a lovely town! And of course, it’s all about the Cathedral!!!
In every light and from every aspect it is a remarkable piece of architecture. Unfortunately the front facade is just being restored and is hidden behind scaffolding and guard sheets. But there is still enough cathedral to go around. Inside the ribbed vaults and the rosetta windows are breath taking.
Some of the war damaged or from monks purposely removed windows have today been replaced by modern ones. A very special one was done by my favourite artist Marc Chagall.
In the late afternoon we came back for a free organ concert of a young 25 year old organist, playing Bach, Schumann and Reger.
Austin must have really enjoyed the music, having his eyes closed with head tilted back the whole time!
It made even the angle smile graciously down on him.
Of course we had to return at night for the Cathedral’s
“Reve de Couleurs “, the light and sound show. It was wonderful to see the individual features of the cathedral highlighted and see some creative use of the facade as an artistic canvass.
We were very lucky that it was a warm night, because the next day a severe storm moved through the city with dropping temperatures and rain.