On our first morning i Reims, Vagn and I went to see the museum of local aeronautics in Bétheny, a city northeast of Reims. On a parking lot next to the museum, by the side of the residents’ cars, there was this gorgeous Broussard exhibited:
We didn’t know what to expect. Traditionally, all exhibited aircraft would be behind the walls. We thought, it was a small museum of some aircraft, but in fact, it was a museum of the history of aviation in France. It covered 100 years of civil, military, and industrial aviation.
The first thing we noticed entering the museum was a 1:3 model of aircraft that did the first flight from city to city. On October 30, 1908, Henri Farman made the first air voyage in history aboard a Voisin aircraft. Taking off from Bouy, near Mourmelon, he flew about twenty minutes to the city of Reims, and covered a twenty-seven kilometers distance.
The museum had an extensive collection of materials, even hand-made drawings by Henri Wenisch from 1936:
Henri Wenisch was a mechanic of Edmond Marin la Meslée, who was the godfather of the former air base 112 in Reims (that was closed down in 2011).
We were amazed by how interesting the exposition was. The only drawback was that all the texts were in French – and it would have been very interesting to read the stories. We experienced the same in all countries we visited on this 3-week tour: all museums, exhibitions, and info were only available in local languages. That was a pity, because it would be very nice to broaden our horizons, and learn about other nations’ history.
Two dedicated persons, Jean-Marie Farey (left) and Jean-Michel Pinot (right) kindly guided us through the exhibition:
After the museum, we had a stroll through the town of Bétheny:
It was Sunday 14th July, and the town was a bit empty. The occasional residents we met were very friendly, and welcomed us to Bétheny.
We got back to Reims that also looked a bit ghosty. It was the National Day of France – Bastille Day. Everything was closed. We enjoyed a calm afternoon walking through the city.
Being in Reims, I for some reasons felt that I was in Belgium, not in France. Reims was quite different from the other French cities, and I wouldn’t call it a charming city. The architecture was very mixed:
Reims is mostly known for the champagne region, and for coronation of the French kings during centuries.
Coming by a café with cats, we became interested, and decided to go in and to have a meal. Ronron café was a true cats’ paradise. They were lying everywhere, sleeping. They didn’t mind the visitors to touch them, and enjoyed it.
Everything in that cafe was dedicated to cats, of course. Beautiful peace of art on the wall: Notre-Dame de Reims, painted in cats:
Sometimes the cats got curious, jumped on the tables and checked out our food. They never expressed any wish to have a bite, maybe the opposite. There was a book describing every cat in the cafe, with photo and personal characteristics, that Vagn holds in his hand whilst stroking a cat from the photo in that book:
All cats in that café were previously stray cats. The Ronron café opened for 2 years ago with the purpose of giving a loving home to stray cats, and to help them to find a loving family. Since opening, 69 cats have been adopted through this cafe – what a great work! For us, visitors, it was a great pleasure to be there. The atmosphere was very calming, nobody spoke loud, unbelievable…
Later that day, Vagn and I discovered an astronomic clock on one of the streets, made of iron. Vagn is pointing at the direction of north:
Walled streets of Reims:
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims, a truly magnificent building. It is famous for being the traditional location for the coronation of the kings of France, and receives around 1 million visitors a year:
It was a nice and relaxing day in Reims, full of positive surprises.
