The best road cycling routes around Magenta

Besides the vineyards, the view extends to Reims, where the cathedral towers are clearly visible.

In Sillery, our partner municipality, our cycling group was received with the depicted bicycle - a beautiful sign of solidarity towards us guests from Germany.

A magnificent architectural jewel nestled in the heart of this historic French city. This elegant opera house, with its rich history and vibrant programming, plays a vital role in the cultural life of Reims, captivating audiences with its splendid performances and significantly contributing to the city's artistic identity. The origins of the Opéra de Reims date back to the 19th century. Built in 1873, the original structure, designed in the neoclassical style, was a testament to the city's ambition and its thriving cultural scene. However, the devastation of the First World War severely damaged the building, leaving it in ruins. This setback, however, did not deter the city's commitment to the arts. The opera house was meticulously rebuilt in the 1930s, embracing the then-popular Art Deco style. Architects François Maille and Louis Sollier skillfully blended historical elements with the sleek lines and geometric shapes characteristic of the Art Deco movement, creating a unique and captivating architectural statement. The result is a building that seamlessly blends historical grandeur with modern aesthetics, a testament to the city's resilience and commitment to the arts. https://operadereims.com/

Unfortunately, performances are only irregular, so check the program in good time.

The opera, with its 750-seat Italian Hall, is a must-see on any tour of Reims' Art Deco heritage. Behind the preserved 19th-century facade, the architects completely restructured the interior in the spirit of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris after the First World War: bas-reliefs, ironwork, chandeliers, paintings...

The theater's opening night on March 3, 1873, featured prestigious performers from the Comédie-Française and Paris Opera, and the venue was one of the first in the region to replace gas lighting with electricity in 1888 for enhanced fire safety.

The Reims Opera House was designed by local architect Alphonse Gosset and inaugurated in 1873, featuring neoclassical exterior architecture combined with distinctive Art Deco interior decoration added during its 1931 reconstruction. The original theater was destroyed during World War I when German bombardment caused the dome and grand chandelier to collapse, making it the last public building to be reconstructed in Reims after the war. The current venue seats 790 people and boasts impressive technical facilities with three levels below the stage for machinery and four levels behind for dressing rooms.

In his day, the fermentation of wine in the bottle, which produces sparkling wine, was a huge problem for winemakers. When colder weather arrived in autumn, the fermentation process would sometimes halt before all the fermenting sugar in the wine had been converted into alcohol. If this wine was bottled at this stage, it literally became a time bomb. When the weather warmed in spring, the remaining yeast would begin to work again, producing carbon dioxide, which would at least force the cork out of the bottle and often cause the bottle to explode, setting off a chain reaction in nearby bottles. This posed a danger to workers and sometimes destroyed an entire year's worth of wine production.[citation needed] Dom Pérignon sought to prevent this imperfect fermentation and introduced several improvements that are still in use in the Champagne region today, such as the extensive blending of wines from different winemakers.