We decided yesterday to stay put in Reims. It was a good decision. Reims is beautiful!!

We packed up our bags and headed out by 9:00 am to run some errands. We started by heading to the post office. We had a gift for Noël’s grandson who will turn 1 on 14 February. And we had a gift for Lindsay as well as some stuff we just decided we didn’t need. Cutting back on weight. Unfortunately the post office didn’t open until 10. Okay next steps.

We wanted to go to the Cathedral Notre Dame in Reims. And on our way we wanted to stop by the Mairie (city hall) to get a stamp. However google maps took us to a school instead. Very nice man tried to point us the way to go. And said to try the church Saint Tomas. I somehow got no photos.

We were able to walk in, literally the first church along the Via Francigena since leaving Saint Quentin. There was obviously some sort of service going to happen the front seats had bulletins on them. A sweet woman greeted us. Noël spoke with her about possibly getting a stamp for our credential. She encouraged us to come back they were about to have a funeral. Noël told her this was the first church that has been opened since Saint Quentin. She asked for our credentials and took them to stamp. 🥹

The priest came to the door. We explained what we were doing. He then engaged us in conversation. Very relaxed. The funeral services were bringing in the flowers and even preparing for the coffin. The priest continued to talk with us in a calm matter. Having done my share of funerals I do not think I would ever be so calm and engaging. I learned so much this morning about being present. And we got our stamps.

Afterwards we headed back to the post office. It was busy but relaxed. The post office officials were very helpful and took people as they came in. It was amazingly efficient and pleasant. We also got a stamp here.

From there we headed back to our accommodation to grab our stuff and walk around. Our next accommodation was going to let us know when we could drop our bags off. So we headed to Notre Dame. Wow. What an amazing church. We got our first Camino stamp. The woman asked if we needed Via Francigena or Chemin St Jacques.

We got to drop our bags at our accommodation and then went to the Cathedral of St Remy. he was the bishop in this area in 437??? And lived to be 96 years old. Amazing!!!

We had lunch and were able to get into our accommodation by 2:00 and have been relaxing. Time for coaching.

Cheers. Hope you are well and being good to yourself.

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