Spring Break With My Sister

Well I had a couple of days in between getting back from Avignon and my sister's arrival so of course I was getting ready and doing laundry/cleaning my room like a crazy person.  Maissie arrived on the 23rd of February and was in town until the 6th of March.  It was so great having her around and exploring France with her.

Sunday, February 23rd:
Well I got a message saying Maissie's flight was going to come in earlier than expected so instead of getting in at 8:25am she got in at 7:45am.  Thankfully I made it in time before she came out at arrivals.  We headed out to where I live and dropped off her bags.  It was killer lugging her suitcase uphill from the train station to the house but we made it.  We rested for a little bit and since it was so nice we headed into the city to enjoy the day and have a picnic in Parc Monceau.  We just hung out there for quite some time and then stopped in a café to get our coffee fix before heading back out to the house where we just hung out and ate dinner with the Klevilles.

Parc Monceau

Maissie checking out the park

View of the Arc de Triomphe from the park

Monday, February 24th:

Today we got up early so we could head out to the champagne capital of Reims for a few days.  We wanted to go somewhere else to explore a new part of France and seeing as it is not that far from Paris (only a 45 minute TGV ride) we decided to go.  We got to Reims and found the hotel we were staying in after I took us some convoluted way to get there (I'm not always the best at that).  Our hotel was literally right down the street from the Cathedral so that was really cool.  We headed out to get some lunch and tried going to a place that was recommended in my travel book but it was closed for renovations so we ended up at a place called Bistrot Edgar that was really good.  After lunch Maissie and I headed over to the champagne house, Mumm, to make a reservation to visit the "cave" and have a tasting.  We came across a memorial for all the people that have fought and died.

The memorial we came across

L'hôtel de Ville

Walking around Reims

In the gardens behind the cathedral

Behind the cathedral

Enjoying the gardens behind the cathedral

Maissie & I chilling in the gardens

We then headed into the Cathedral to check it out.

The windows in the cathedral

First coming in

Maissie in the Cathedral of Reims

The beautiful windows above the door

Stain glass windows by Chagall

Details on the cathedral

Interesting gargoyles

Sadly they are doing some restoration work at the moment

Maissie & I

We then headed over to le Musée des Beaux Arts which was really interesting but very small, at least we got in for free so that was nice.  They did have one Claude Monet painting that I really enjoyed.  We also just hung out and enjoyed Reims.

The cathedral at night.

Tuesday, February 25th:

Today was a pretty relaxed day.  We got up kind of late but headed out to le Palais du Tau, which is a museum that has things that used to be in the cathedral.  It was interesting and we had fun looking at the stuff and possibly getting a laugh or two from some funny looking statues. 

Inside le Palais du Tau

A gargoyle

We tried to check out the Carnegie Library which looks absolutely beautiful but unfortunately you can't actually go into the room where they store all the books unless if you are going to study or whatever.  We grabbed some lunch at a restaurant and in the afternoon headed over to visit of the "cave" and champagne tasting at the champagne house, Mumm.

Maissie & I at the champagne house Mumm

The fancy courtyard at Mumm

Wednesday, February 26th:

Today was our last day in Reims but we still got to take advantage of our day since our train didn't leave until about 5pm that evening.  We headed over to the Museum of Surrender which on May 7, 1945, Germany signed the documents saying they officially surrender.  They signed these documents in a high school in Reims so the room where they signed the papers was turned into a museum.  When Maissie & I were there we kept saying how much our Dad would enjoy this museum.  

Part of the museum

More of the museum

The room where Germany signed the surrender documents

All the maps on the walls

We then headed over to the market that they have on Wednesdays but there was practically nothing and nobody there so we quickly moved on and were a bit disappointed.  We also got to see the gallo-romaine archway that is in the city.

The arch

Maissie & I at the arch

A church we came across

Statue in the main square

We just hung out and then jumped on our train to head back to the Paris area.  It was a lot of fun getting to explore Reims with Maissie and see a new part of France that neither of us had been to before.  

Thursday, February 27th:

Today we got up and headed into Paris for the day and had a nice time exploring the city and eating lots of chocolate.  Our first stop in Paris was a chocolate shop that our parents told us about that is in the 11th and the chocolate is made from the beans right there in the shop and there is a large window where you can watch them making the chocolate.  It smelled absolutely heavenly in there and we did not leave empty handed.  We grabbed lunch at a café that I knew of around the corner and enjoyed a nice meal of boeuf bourginon.  After that we headed over to a different part of the city to visit the chocolate museum, ChocoStory.  We learned all about how chocolate is made and the history behind chocolate.  It was fun with even a demonstration and some tastings.

Some of the chocolate making tools

Some great quotes about chocolate with wrappers from different chocolate bars

Different cups for drinking hot chocolate out of

Maissie finally made it to the chocolate museum in Paris (the last time I said I would take her but we didn't have the time)

After that we headed over to Palais Garnier because Maissie had never been inside and we decided to go.

Maissie & I in front of Palais Garnier

The details in the palais

The main staircase

The main entry way

The gilded hallway

So much gold and ornate decorations

A painting over a doorway

The main staircase

After visiting Palais Garnier we walked over to an extremely crowded and hot (I swear they crank the heat up in there) Galeries Lafayettes to buy some Pierre Hermé macaroons, it was definitely worth it though when we ate them back at the house.

Friday, February 28th to Sunday March 2nd:

This weekend we went out to the cousins' house in Les Sièges and had such a great time hanging out, eating and drinking.  We also got to see Ethan, our newest cousin.  Maissie had just missed meeting him because he was born 5 days after she left Dijon this past summer.  It was so much fun getting to play with him on Saturday and see more of our French cousins.