another week, another long weekend ... with things being so busy at work, a three day weekend has hit the spot! harm & i jumped in the car on friday nite and headed west into france ... about 4 hours later we arrived in Reims (rance ... rhymes with france ... no idea how they get that from reims) ... the capital of the Champagne region



the town is known for 2 things: its 13th century cathedral (yet another Notre Dame) and the local champagne houses. we took tours of Taittinger and Moet & Chandon on saturday afternoon ... a lot of fun ... both gave hour long tours of their cellars/caves ... we learned so much about champagne ... actually, we didn't really know anything about champagne until this weekend Taittinger wine caves ... dug by the Romans in 2nd & 3rd centuries







Moet & Chandon ... home of Dom Parignon and the origins of Champagne









on Sunday, we got back in the car and headed north of Paris to the town of Giverny. Claude Monet lived here in the late 19th century and soon the place became an artist comune. Monet's gardens and home are open to the public year-round ... they were truly beautiful this time of year ...











it was a great weekend ... the weather & traffic cooperated for the most part. the champagne was great ... got some to bring home for upcoming special occasions. the gardens were beautiful ... hope my mom gets a chance to see them some day!



although you always hear/read about how wonderful french cuisine is, harmony & i prefer to save our money ... our favorite french food are the cheap sandwiches we can find at the gas stations ... so good!



hope everyone is well .... happy may day! t