GoGo Years

  It was a bit rough making our 9:15 am meeting time to head to Musee D’Orsay for our 10 am reservation. Mary and Julie have developed cold and flu symptoms, and Sue had trouble sleeping. We headed out to take the Metro to the museum and found a bit of a chillier day than we have been experiencing. The metro stop was steps away from our hotel but on the other end, we had quite a hike to the museum. Having walked over ten miles yesterday, it was a little hard on the feet. We only had a short wait until we could enter the museum. It is in an old train station and the building itself is quite striking. There was a long gallery with sculptures and then side galleries with many impressionists and other masters. There were loads of beautiful Monets, Van Goghs, including an earlier version of Starry Night, Renoirs and many more. We went up an escalator to a top floor where there was a clock that you could look through at the cityscape below. The Sacred Heart Church above Montmartre is especia

  On Saturday before the big match with South Africa, we met for breakfast a bit tired from our late night wine party, which included Irish Mist Liqueur. At 10 am we walked out to see the Opera House, stopping at a picturesque covered alley on the way. According to Mary, this “passage” has two famous restaurants. There are other passages throughout Paris, many dedicated to a certain type of business. When we reached the Opera House, the front was covered in scaffolding which was decorated with a picture of the building. Around the back and sides, we could get a better idea of this beautiful building. We then walked toward the Louvre, admiring many buildings along the way. We stopped at Harry’s Bar and took a photo for Helen of this place they supposedly invented the Bloody Mary. We arrived at the Louvre and saw the glass pyramid and marveled at the immensity of the museum. (We did not go inside.)  We then walked toward Sainte-Chapelle via Notre Dame. We strolled along the River and saw

   We had a nice breakfast (omelettes to order and pots of filtered coffee delivered to the table) and left for a tour and tasting at GH Mumm in Reims. Maria gave a brief intro on our 10-minute bus ride. Mumm is the third largest champagne producer. Mumm was a wealthy German family with noble roots back to the 3rd century. They later became very successful winemakers in Germany. In 1827, recognizing the possibilities of expansion, they came to Reims. They now have 218 hectares in production of which 160 are grand cru, the highest classification.  Our guide Ava, said that they have 78% of their vineyards in pinot noir, a red skinned grape with white juice. They have these planted in a number of different terroirs, lending character to the wine. The grapes recently were harvested, all by hand as is required by the certification board. It takes 800 pickers 2 weeks to complete the harvest.  After the stems are removed and the grapes are sorted, they are very slowly and gently crushed and s

 We drove into the Champagne area for two different but enjoyable tour/tastings. Sara gave us some facts and quotes on the way, including that there are 14,000 producers in the region, each owning an average of 2 hectares. Property is valued at 1 million euros per hectare. They use only 3 grapes - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The Champagne region was formerly the northern most latitude to grow the grapes to produce champagne, but with climate change, other areas have been starting to produce similar sparkling wines, including Southern England. However, they are not allowed to call their wines champagne unless they are produced in that region.  We first stopped at Mercier, a large producer who produces between 1.1 million and 1.4 million bottles per year. They had a modern reception area with a huge decorated oak barrel in the center. We received an audio guide, like a little cell phone, with the commentary in English. We saw a movie about the entrepreneurial founder, who h

  We left Tours at 10:15 for the long bus ride to Reims (pronounced Ronce). We made two gas station stops for coffee (Sue stayed on bus) and lunch. The line was long but finally we were able to order cheese sandwiches and cokes. They had some rugby World Cup merch for cheaper than we’ve seen, and Mary bought a t-shirt.  We arrived in Reims around 4 pm, and wrestled the cases off the bus. We were unloading from the side with traffic, which Sue finds stressful. We lugged our stuff to the lobby where Sara was handing out keys. Again, ours were among the last to be delivered and we joined the long queue to the elevator. We finally got on and looked for our rooms. Sue and Nick were in 218, and the signs only went to Room 217. Sue went searching and found a maid who said there is no room 218, and there must be a mistake on the room number. Sue left Nick with the luggage and went down to check. Turns out Room 218 is in another part of the hotel, with a different elevator, which they didn’t te