World Tour Stop 23 - Reims, France

Reims is a small town east of Paris and in the heart of Champagne country. Probably not the most traveled location in France, but ended up being a very fun place to visit and a welcome small town after the bustle of Paris.

By train from Charles De Gaulle Airport it is about an hour and a half. One train that takes you to Gare L'est and then a second train that takes you east to Reims in only three short stops. We arrived a little later into Reims then originally planned because my dad's flight was delayed landing at CDG, but we still made it by mid day. The reason we wanted to head here was to watch the round of 16 game for the World Cup, US vs Spain. We again used the American Outlaws twitter and website to make sure we were involved in the action. We went to the tailgate in the main square which was hosted by Les 3 Brasseurs. The place was packed with US fans and good beer plus souvenir cups which we of course indulged in. From here we marched with the thousands of US fans from the restaurant to the stadium, about a fifteen minute walk surrounded by chants and good old fashioned American pride.

The game was great, we won 2-1 to move on to quarterfinals against France in Paris 4 days later. Again, I want to attend all future World Cups all over the world because the atmosphere is infectious.

Sadly. both of our goals were on penalties which is never how you want to win, but I guess we'll take it. Spain played well but were super aggressive and that was their undoing.

That night we celebrated further by going back to the main square for dinner and we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the USWNT going to and from dinner as well as their hotel was right on the main street. It was the coolest and I got a high five from Abby Wambach (who was there supporting as she retired after last WC) and it was a moment of pure elation for me.

The next morning my dad and I went on a run through the city, got a delicious lunch of a charcuterie board and then we visited Epernay for a Champagne tour. When in Champagne country.

The tour started with taking us to Michel Fagot where we were able to tour the facility, see how the champagne is made, stored and distributed and how the industry works where a bunch of smaller vineyards supply Moet Chandon since they distribute so much internationally annually.

Obviously they were all delicious but rose bubbles are pretty much my most favorite thing ever so I could have had several more glasses of that.

From here we went to the church where Dom Perignon was a monk and where he was crafting champagne hundreds of years ago. While Dom Perignon was not the first to make champagne he did become the most famous and is now the world renowned brand that is known for quality and expensive tastes. The church houses his tomb along with some fun information about Joan of Arc which I enjoyed reading.

From here we took a quick pit stop to walk through some vineyards that overlook the town of Epernay. It was beautiful and I couldn't help but try for a photo shoot that didn't nearly capture the views we were taking in.

Our last stop was another tasting at a vineyard that had a logo of a wolf. I sadly didn't write down the name, but the champagne was fantastic.

We returned to Reims and decided to do a little exploring before heading back to Paris this next day. Probably the most notable landmark in Reims is the Reims Notre Dame Cathedral which was gorgeous and allowed us to pretend we had visited the Notre Dame in France. Obviously a much smaller scale but still with impressive 12th century architecture and colorful stained glass windows. Plus, the Reims sign out front allows for another perfect photo op.

After an amazing couple days in the cute city we head back to Paris in the AM, but definitely would recommend a quick visit here as it is so close to Paris and a very cute town.