The most famous church with this name is, of course, Notre Dame de Paris.
However.
There are like five bazillion jabillion Notre Dame’s de something-something in France. Just how many I didn’t realize till this trip.
And I’ve got to say, I can’t decide which one stands out more or is somehow more superior. You simply cannot compare them. In all their dazzling architectural amazement and mastery.
Now we’ve already seen two Notre Dame’s (de Puy and de France) in the below post. Before I forget — I did fail to mention that Notre Dame de Puy is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Granted, I had no clue at first what in the world a world heritage site even was, but I knew any place that bears the words containing “world”, “heritage” and “site” all together must be pretty bad ass. Click on the link above for further info, I wouldn’t want to bore you with my rambling speech of world heritage. And sites. Can’t forget those sites now.
Reims: our first Notre Dame run-in. First and foremost, I chose Reims for the champagne and shopping. Okay, so mainly the champagne.
Please don’t think I’m shallow for admitting this, because I am a lover of all things history, but unlike my father, I do not possess a strong recall on historical facts and biographies. I can’t keep any king straight for the life of me. Wait. I take that back. I can.
And that would be Clovis. Who was the first king of France (the Franks). And the only reason I know that is because of my AP French V class in high school. And even then, it’s only because I was called out, in the middle of class by Madame Meeker who knew I was f-ing off. I really would love to meet that woman now. I’m sure she’s not nearly as terrifying as she was then. Then again, maybe not.
Being that Maman and I love us some champs, I knew Reims was a must do. Does it get better than being in the home of where all champagne is made and comes from?! Hell no it doesn’t. I knew we were going to love it, how could we not?
I scheduled us a tour at Veuve Clicquot. They must have read my email en francais and been totally blown away, because they put us down for the tour in French. Meanwhile, it never even dawned on me to specify English. I can’t really tell you anything from that tour, except that Madame Clicquot was a total ass kicker and femme fatale in her day. And that I can only hope to one day rattle off French at the rapid pace of our tour guide.
I can, however, tell you that the champagne caves are freaking awesome. I decided that if I was ever to be locked away or forgotten somewhere for some bizarre or twisted reason of fate, it should be there. I’d be so happy. Surrounded by those old vintage bottles. New bottles. Magnum bottles. Bottles galore.
Back to Notre Dame …
When I announced Reims as a stop during le voyage, my father immediately asked: for the crowning of the kings, I assume?
My blank stare gave me away. I have got to get better at hiding that look.
No, for the champagne.
Crowning of the kings … whaaaaat?
That did not go over well. At all. Apparently all street cred was lost and I was left feeling like a total ignoramus.
So Reims doesn’t just have Champagne or Clovis, it was also the site of all the crowning of France’s kings. Sorry, Madame Meeker never went over that part.
Enter: Notre Dame de Reims.
No words. Truly, no words for this one. But I’m going to try and keep on writing. So some words.
First, how amazing is it to stand where all the kings of France have been?! To stand in the exact same place. To look at the exact things they looked at. To take all of that in. To just … picture it all.
There is an energy there. A crazy one. I was feeling the royalty vibes. I had such a great time admiring and making sure I approached things from every angle, every possible way. Just to make sure I missed nothing.
Can you believe! Marked, for all to see and read: Here Saint Remi baptized Clovis King of Franks.
There you have it, right there, that EXACT spot. You have no idea how long I stood around it. I thought about standing on it, but felt like I was literally stepping on Clovis, which then led me to a feeling of disrespecting him and I didn’t want to piss off any of the old monarchy.
&^%$! I couldn’t handle it. It was straight out of an ep on History Channel, but cooler. Maybe History Channel is in need of some revamping.
I know, a girl who travels France, half the time making a total fool of herself, half the time redeeming herself by charming, persuasive, Taurean qualities. All the while learning super cool things from places like World Heritage Sites. Then everyone can know just exactly what a World Heritage Site is.
I think that sounds pretty damn riveting.
Now. Back to Notre Dame #2. Which would be: Notre Dame de Lyon (UNESCO, baby, need I say more?)
Alright, alright, so technically it’s: Basilique Notre Dame de Fouviere-Lyon, but everyone refers to it as Notre Dame de Lyon. Who wouldn’t? The first one’s a mouthfull.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any pics of this one on me. Maman is in possession of those. I’ll have to get some.
This one is interesting, because it’s on the newer end of cathedrals I’ve seen in Europe. Okay, the newest. It was built between 1872-1896 and is very Romanesque in its appearance. And something else in its style. I’m blanking on what that is.
Ah yes, Byzantine Architecture. Just looked it up on Wikipedia. I linked that so if you, like me, have no clue what the f Byzantine Architecture is, can read up on it. Yet another thing to try to keep straight historically. Is there any hope for me?
Probably not considering I visited this place, read about it, and still blanked on what kind of architecture it was, and this is coming from someone who loves the Romans. Heck, I was a Roman.
Okay, so it was super fabulous in all of its super fabulousness.
Next.
I leave you this quote to sum it up for me:
” … that most terrible church of the most glorious Virgin Mary, mother of God, deservedly shines out, like the sun among stars.”
So I could have done without “glorious” alongside “Virgin Mary”, but I felt like if I left that out, it somehow lessened the strength of the quote.
The power and importance and control of religion was such a focal point. So glad I don’t live in that time now. I’m certain I would have been one of those “off with her heads” causalities.