Travel around the world: Western Europe Trip

Today is the day of our return trip to Brussels however we still have a few stops planned the first one being in Reims. The major point of attraction in Reims is the cathedral where the kings of France were crowned historically. We park a bit further but the cathedral is easily visible as it is massive and we walk towards it arriving soon at the huge gates. Here we discover that we have taken the keys from our accomodation with us by mistake so we run like crazy trying to find a post office to mail it back and when we find the post office it is closing in 5 minutes so we have to hurry again but everything ends well in the end (even though we completed the wrong envelope and have to complete it again).


Cathedral view	Cathedral entrance


Cathedral from the back	Cathedral with the nearby Tau Palais

after so much stress we relax by walking around the cathedral and examining closely the decorations, gargoyles, saints and animals, nicely done and with lots of finesse.


Lots of embellishments	Scary details


Gargoyle	Interesting sculpture

On one side of the main entrance, which is as ornated as you would expect from a large cathedral, is the Pau Palace the former cardinal residence which is now a museum. On the other side sits what looks like a ruined building but actually is the visitor center and has some interesting information about the area. We also notice that the whole plaza in front of the cathedral is full of pigeons which for us is a plus as we quite enjoy them.


Entrance detail	Tau Palais


Interesting building for visitor center	Central square


Pigeons near the cathedral	Walking among people

The interior of the cathedral is as impressive as the exterior with the people almost looking like ants compared to the scale of the building. There are lot of niches to explore and we even find one where Joan of Arc, a saint now, is supposed to be buried.


Interior of cathedral	Entrance from inside


Small people in large cathedral	Joan of Arc statue

One of the more impressive things inside the cathedral are the stained windows done by renowned artists including Marc Chagall in a modern style replacing the ones destroyed during the World Wars.


Model of the cathedral	Black and white stained windows


Marc Chagall Windows	Another set of modern stained windows

After finishing our cathedral visit we return to the car and have to pass through quite a bit of the reminder Reims on our way north towards Belgium and Brussels. We notice some interesting buildings as we drive through including some ruins from the Roman times which again remind us how old most cities in Europe are.


Reims - Porte du Mars	Reims - Ornate library building

After exiting Reims we enjoy the countryside with the many fields of grain and abandoned farms but what attracts our eyes is the huge statue of a wild pig right to a rest area - no idea why they built it there.


Huge statue near the highway	Trail through the Ardennes forest


Typical farmstead	Bountiful field

Our last stop on the French side is Sedan which is more like a place of infamy in France due to the two French defeats that happened here. However we are not here to see the reminders of the battles as we did in Verdun but the reason why the battles happened in Sedan - the huge castle which is one of the biggest in Europe.


Through the streets of Sedan	Sedan Train Station

We stop nearby and start walking up toward the entrance. The walls are as huge as we expected them to be however they are crumbled in places from the war and disrepair.


Impressive walls of Sedan	Multiple wars had an impact


From a distance	Nature is retaking the walls

The entrance which we find out was a side entrance in the heyday of the castle is huge and after passing through the reinforced gate we are on the other side. We notice the parking area where we couldn't park as only those that stay at the Jungendherberge inside the castle are allowed to enter it with cars.


Former side entrance - now main entrance	Entering the fortress


Inside Sedan fortress	Huge walls didn't help during the wars

The inside of the castle is austere with a few old army buildings with no decorations breaking the monotony of the walls.


Former church of Sedan fortress	Housing for soldiers


Another view of inside of castle	Going up towards the top of the walls

Before leaving the fortress we find also the former main entrance which looks much better protected with curved angles and overlooks for the defenders from all sides. ANd then it is on to Brussels with the only photo stop being in Dinant a small town in a pictoresque location near a river in Belgium. After giving back the car we check in the hotel and fall almost immediately asleep after the long day.