We sent our last travelogue a month ago when we got to Reims and now we are about to leave Paris for our winter moorage at Port d’Ilon, 120 km (75 miles) down the Seine in a protected lake.

Reims is a delightful city, population over 200,000.  Its history goes back to pre-Roman times when it was the fortified capital of a Gaulish tribe, the Remes. It was conquered by the Romans during Caesar’s Gallic Wars (takes me back to Latin classes 50 years ago). I thought Belgium was put together in the 19^th century, but Belgium was the roman capital of an area even larger than the present day country.  Conquered by the Franks, their King Clovis became a Christian in the year 500 and the first cathedral was built.  The jewel of the city is the gothic cathedral begun in 1210 on the same site and is considered to be the one of the finest in Christendom. It was severely damaged during World War 1 and not reopened until 1937.  Although 80% of the city was destroyed during World War 2, the cathedral was spared.  All of the French kings since Clovis have been crowned there.  We had a wonderful tour guide who described not only the interior and exterior features and history but also included details of the city’s history and went way over her allotted time.

Beside the Cathedral is the Bishop’s Palace, built in 1138 and now a very good museum.  The Abbey of Saint Remi, who christened Clovis, was founded in the 8^th century and the Basilica built in the 11^th century.  These are not in the center of the city and there were no tourists there when we visited.  I don’t know why I go on about these places, because there is no way I can describe their magnificence and the feeling I get to be in that history and architecture.  Perhaps it may inspire some of you to see it for yourselves, if you have not already done so.

 Reims, at the north end of the Champagne region of France and, together with Epernay, is one of the principal centers for the big champagne houses.  Now, although it may seem like sacrilege, we are not big fans of champagne.  However, during the summer in Reims there were concerts all over the city almost every day, mostly free.  One of the ones we attended was in the garden of the Mumms champagne firm and, being early for the concert, we decided to take the tour. The grapes thrive in the chalky ground of the region and the wine is produced and stored in the cellars carved from the chalk. The Mumms cellars extend over a distance of 25 km (16 miles) eight meters below the ground and contain 25 million bottles of champagne.  I won’t go into detail about the production process, but it is long and complex, which accounts for the high price of champagne.  The process is automated in the big companies, but they still produce a small quantity every year that is produced using the old methods. This does not result a higher quality product, just a higher price and a fancier label.

We left Reims after five days.  We might have spent longer but the freeway ran along the other side of the canal from the marina and the on and off ramps went right over our heads, so it was very noisy.  At the next village we met our Dutch friends, Dick and Emmy, on their way back home from Paris.  They have a beautiful 50 foot boat and we rafted against them for the afternoon and overnight, saying farewell after breakfast at they headed north and us south.  It was great to see them again and catch up. 

We stopped a five villages and towns in the Champagne region. Each was surrounded by vineyards and there were many small producers in each place.  In one really small village there were 27 champagne wineries.  We might have visited some, but it was expected that we should buy a least one bottle and, as we already had one bottle on board, we demurred.  Hautvillers is a village perched on top of a hill, a one hour steep climb on a hot day. The photo at right is one view from the village across the vineyards.  Here Dom Pérignon, a monk in charge of the cellars of the Benedictine abbey was the first to blend three wines and to use a double fermentation process to produce a sparkling vintage.  He is also credited as the first to use corks in the bottles.  We visited his grave there, explored the village and had a Belgian beer at the café.

Leaving the vineyards, we proceeded down the picturesque river Marne, stopping at the City of Meaux, known for its brie cheese, which was wonderfully ripe and flavorful.  Passing through the suburbs of Paris the Marne joins the Seine and fifteen minutes later we were at the lock to the Canal Saint Martin.  

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Through the lock is the Port de Plaisance Arsenal, the marina in the heart of the city immediately south of the Place de Bastille.  At the top, north end, of the marina the canal goes through a tunnel 2.3 km long that leads to the Seine on the other side of the city.  The photo at left is taken from the bridge half way down the marina, looking north to the statue in the Place de Bastille.  Fiesta is moored in the lower half, behind the camera.  Although expensive at 27.60 euros a day ($34.50), it is so convenient with metro stations at both ends. It used to be the arsenal for the Bastille prison, now demolished and it well protected with 24 hour security.  The only other possibilities for moorage are two places on the Seine which are very uncomfortable because of the constant commercial boat traffic, or in a suburban area with a commute by train.   It has been so nice to be right here in the center in such a comfortable place and well worth the expense.  We stayed here for 22 days and explored a small part of the city. And a wonderful city it is. Apart from the famous monuments, churches, gardens and museums it is a city of surprises.  Every day we would go on walks or to the markets and each time we would find something that would surprise and enchant us: a little garden with flowers, a fountain, an unusual shop, a street café, interesting buildings or churches not mentioned in the tourist guides, and much more.  We look forward to returning next spring.

At the end of our stay at the Arsenal we were joined by our friends Bjorn and Margareta, whom we met on our sailing trip up the Rio Dulce in Guatemala.  They have returned to their home in Sweden and had sold their sailboat.  We spent a couple of days showing them a few highlights of the city and then went up the Seine, stopping to visit the chateaus at Vaux-le-Vicompte and Fontainebleau and then on to the picturesque medieval villages of Saint Mammes and Moret-sur-Loing, a total distance of 88 km (55 miles).  We had a great time together and the weather was warm and sunny.  They took the train back to Paris from Saint Mammes to fly home and we returned to the Arsenal for our last two days in Paris. 

We will leave on Monday morning and take two or three days to our winter resting place.  It is on a lake off the Seine 66 km by road and 125 km down the river from Paris, situated in a wildlife area. It is called Port de Plaisance d'Ilon and is a 20 minute taxi ride from the town of Mantes-la-Jolie, where there is the nearest train station. We will return to Seattle on Monday, September 20^th.

We will probably not be able to do e-mail again, so our next access will be in Seattle.  Until then, au revoir.

Colin and Patricia

Aboard “Fiesta”.