Before leaving Luxembourg we decided to stop in Hamm...which was only about 8 kilometers from our hotel. We went to the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial.
General George Patton is buried here:
It was quite moving to see so many graves......so many died for our freedom....
We continued to Verdun. Unfortunately we did not know there is a 130.5 acre cemetery in the area called "Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial" where over 14,000 service members from WWI are buried.....so we missed it. We did stop in Verdun knowing that it was a battlefield area just to take a look around. It was sad to see that the town was in such a state of disrepair. Nothing was open because it was a holiday (the day after Easter).
We continued on towards the Champagne region:
to the little village we were staying in called Rilly La Montagne:
We stayed at the Chateau de Rilly. What a beautiful place!
One thing we have yet to get used to....or understand.....is why a lot of Europeans showers have either no curtain or a half door to keep the water from getting all over the floor!
After we checked in, we decided to take a drive into Reims to see the Cathedral.
Gargoyles!
Joan of Arc:
The "Smiling Angel" at Reims Cathedral:
There she is....next to the door:
When we left there we walked around and finally found a couple of restaurants that were open. We stopped for lunch at Le Gaulois Restaurant where I had Foie Gras for the first time. Nowwww I know what the big deal is! It's pretty tasty!
Thought these looked like some good recipes to try!
I had the Salade Folle..very yummy!
When we got back to the hotel we walked around town a bit.......where we saw some small champagne houses:
some interesting buildings:
crosses protecting the vineyards:
and the vineyards:
Taittinger vineyards.....annnnd the first sunset I've seen in months!
We had seen many of these along our drive.......making the going a little rough sometimes!
We headed back to our room to rest up for the next day of champagne tasting!
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