Today Jen and I jumped out of bed at 6:15 am and were down in the hotel lobby for breakfast five minutes early. It was an absolute miracle! I could argue that we were very excited to get to the show and start riding, but I think the real reason is that we were planning to go on a tour of the Pommery Estates, a famous champagne winery right across the street from the horse show, in the afternoon so we did not want to risk being late to the barn. Jen and I rode in a car with my dad to the barn and managed to find it easily. However, Nick and Karl were supposed to be following us in a car with Michele and we managed to lose them immediately upon leaving the hotel, which resulted in them driving for fifteen minutes in the wrong direction on the highway. I think it is a requirement that someone from the American team get incredibly lost on our first day in a new place, so Michele's unplanned adventure must be a good sign!
Once everyone arrived at the show... finally... we had a practice jog with Diego, the team vet for this week, and then walked up to a grassy field for the real FEI jog. All the horses behaved themselves and passed with flying colors! It was a good start to the week. Everyone tacked up immediately after jogging and flatted the horses. They all seem to be going well, although Uno did not want to walk past the horses jogging to get to the schooling area. Karl did not take no for an answer so, after a little argument, he managed to get Uno up the hill into the ring. So far, the only complaint the Americans have about the Reims horse show is that it has terrifying bathrooms! Someone needs to tell the management here that holes in the ground are not proper toilets and a sink is not really a sink if it does not have running water. However, if this is the only complaint we have by the end of the week I think the show can be deemed a success!
After we all finished riding, everyone gathered in the barn and I called the Pommery Estates to make a reservation for a champagne tour. We hurried back to the hotel to eat lunch and shower, and then everyone except Karl, who tried to take a train to Paris to spend the afternoon with his parents but was unable to do so due to train strikes, headed to Pommery Estates. The champagne tour was wonderful! We walked down 116 steps into the cellars and got to see a giant barrel that can hold 100,000 bottles and was displayed at the World's Fair in 1904; the Prince of Monaco's private cellar; creepy salt statues on display for an art show in a few weeks; air vents hundreds of feet above us that looked like blue glass windows from underground and could be seen from above ground as small mounds littering rows of grapes in the vineyard; many beautiful statues and paintings of Mrs. Louise Pommery, the woman responsible for the company's success; and bottles of champagne that have been aging for one hundred years. It was quite an experience and, after exiting the cellars, the tour guide gave a description of about six different types of champagne and each person chose two types to try. It was tough to decide but I think we all felt very sophisticated sipping Pommery champagne and trying to detect "undertones of summer fruits" and "creamy texture perfect for Christmastime."
With the champagne tour accomplished, my dad, Frances, Michael, Jen, and I continued our tourist pursuits by going to see Notre-Dame de Reims, the city's most famous cathedral, where all the kings and queens of France were crowned beginning in the 13th century. It was very beautiful and a completely different style of building from the massive Aachen Cathedral. We completed yet another tourist goal by purchasing postcards at a shop right outside the cathedral. The whole group was feeling very proud right about the time we realized it had started to pour rain outside. Our mini, Smart Car-like Mercedes rental car was parked a few blocks away, and the five of us were sopping wet and freezing by the time we leapt inside. However, we still found our way back to the hotel without a problem (but with the assistance of an Iphone map), so it turned out to be a very successful day!
Jen and I finished the day up by going on a shopping spree at the Carrefore, which is probably the most homey feeling place I have been to in Europe. I never thought I'd be excited to go to a store because it reminds me of Walmart. Clearly I am having America withdrawals! Tomorrow I compete in the meter 1.30 power and speed class in the morning and the meter 1.40 Grand Prix Qualifier in the afternoon. Hopefully all the horses will jump well and the rain will stop!
No comments:
Post a Comment