Pneu Michelin

“ These cellars are among the finest in Rheims, and form, with their eleven miles of streets, squares and boulevards lighted by electricity, rail-tracks, waggons, lifts, electric pumps and siphons, quite an underground city. A visit to them will give the tourist an idea of the importance and complexity of the Champagne wine industry in Rheims. ”

“ Of the three buildings which surrounded every Cathedral in the Middle Ages—the bishop's palace, the cloister of the canons, and the house set apart for the sick and poor (Hôtel-Dieu) —only the archbishop's palace existed at Rheims in 1914. It extended all along the south lateral façade of the Cathedral, on the site of the ancient abode of St. Nicaise, which had replaced a Roman palace. Of the ancient building erected by the successors of St. Nicaise down to the 13th century, there remained only the graceful two-storied chapel, doubtless contemporary with the chevet of the Cathedral. ”

“ In the south transept, on the left, behind the altar, is an interesting small door surmounted with a square lintel of the 11th or 12th century. Two figures of winged monsters with heads of a man and a woman and fish tails, stand out in high relief, framed and separated by a belt, on which are carved florets mingled with fantastic figures. ”

“ A part of the inhabitants returned to Rheims after the French offensive of April-May, but for a few months only, as, in February, 1918, the coming German offensive compelled the civil population again to leave the town.
During the thirty-one months, during which a considerable portion of the population persisted in staying in Rheims (September, 1914, to April, 1917) , life and work went on in the bombarded city, the people adapting themselves courageously to their precarious existence and to the danger. They were supplied with helmets and gas masks, like the soldiers. ”

“ The sculptural decoration, while rich, is more sober than that of the doorway of the western façade. It is commemorative of the glory of the Archbishops of Rheims.
The statue of the Pontiff with a tiara, backing up to the dividing-pillar, is supposed to be that of St. Sixtus, first Bishop of Rheims. In the splaying, on the left, is St. Nicaise holding his head in his hands, between St. Eutropia, an angel and a figure improbably said to be Clovis.
The pediment was pierced by a shell and scarred with splinters. It is divided into five tiers, and represent the life of St. Remi and St. Nicaise. ”

“ In the Gallo-Roman times the village must have been fairly important, judging by the vestiges of the ancient buildings discovered at the foot of the hill. It was near Berru that the Gaulish helmet, now in the National Museum of St. Germain, was found. Towards the end of the 16th century (about 1575) , during the Leaguers' struggles around Rheims, the village was fortified, to protect it from pillaging by the soldiers. The moats and glacis which surrounded it are still visible to the south, where, covered with trees, they adjoin the gardens. ”

“ About 2 kilometres from Fresnes the road from that village to Witry-les-Reims crosses an old Roman causeway, at the side of which, slightly to the south of Hill 118, the Fort of Fresnes was built in 1878. This fort was blown up by the Germans during their retreat in 1918. Its ruins are impressive. In the moats of the fort are German trenches and shelters extending right up to the walls of the fort. ”

“ Remi.
The Consecration of the Kings of France
In the 12th century, Popes and Kings formally acknowledged the right of the Archbishop of Rheims to consecrate and crown the kings of France. As a matter of fact, until the Revolution, all the kings, except Louis IV. and Henri IV., were consecrated at Rheims.
The ceremony of consecration filled the Cathedral with a great crowd of people. Apart from the peers, numerous prelates, dignitaries of the Kingdom, the Court, the Chapter of the Cathedral and the populace crowded in. Staging was erected for the public in the transept ends and along the choir. ”

“ The scaffolding fire of 1914 reached the belfry, bringing down the bells, which were broken in the fall.
The Lateral Façades and Chevet
[42]
The lateral façades of the Cathedral are of rare beauty. Nowhere have abutments and flying buttresses been so harmoniously employed as here. They are not merely supports, but form part of the decorative scheme of the nave, and ensure the harmony of the whole. Buttresses, finished off with pinnacles, serve as points of support for two superimposed flying-buttresses. ”

“ In the following years a number of shells pierced the vaulting, without, however, damaging its vital parts. It will be possible to restore it.
It seems to be clearly established that although the first four bays were built later than the others, the nave as a whole, like that of the Cathedral of Amiens, was completely finished before 1300 A.D. Vaulted throughout on diagonal ribs, the nave, which is perfectly regular, has three stories: the lowest, formed of great arches, rests on massive pillars; the triforium, formed of two, four, five, or six arcades, extends round the entire building ”

“ Backing up to the dividing pillar is an exceedingly fine 13th century statue, which recalls the "Beautiful God" of Amiens Cathedral (see the Michelin Guide: Amiens Before and During the War) ; Jesus blessing with His right hand, holds the globe of the world in His left (see photo p. 45) .
This statue was decapitated by a shell which struck the doorway in 1918, also taking off the head of the first statue on the left-hand portion of the doorway.
LEFT-HAND DOOR OF THE NORTHERN TRANSEPT: THE LAST JUDGMENT
Satan drags a chain of damned Souls to Hell. ”

“ At No. 4 of the Rue de la Clef are the ruins of the former Hôtel de Bezannes, partly built by Pierre de Bezannes, Lieutenant of Rheims in 1458 This house contains some fine 16th and 18th century woodwork.
The Rue des Deux Anges, which continues the Rue de la Clef, leads to the Place du Palais, destroyed during the bombardments of April, 1918. In this square stands the Palais de Justice. The Palais replaced the old Hôtel-Dieu, but has been almost entirely rebuilt. It is a building of little note, the principal entrance in particular being stiff to excess. ”

“ Its vaulting was pointed, with groining resting on columns, whose capitals were either Romanesque or Gothic. The nave had a timber roof.
The high-altar screen was a fine piece of sculptured stone-work of late 16th or early 17th century. In a niche above the altar, the Virgin, sitting on an X-shaped seat, was holding Jesus, clothed in a tunic and standing on her knee.
Leaving the church behind on the right, turn to the left, to reach the National Road. On the right is a small 18th century castle, behind a clump of fine stately trees, known as the Bosquet de Thillois. It was destroyed by shells. ”

“ On the buttresses which frame the doorway are five statues of saints, including St. Remi, St. Benedict, and St. Christopher carrying a kneeling Jesus on his shoulder.
The tympanum of the gable above the great flamboyant window is arranged on a Gothic pediment. Its decoration represents the Assumption of the Virgin and her crowning in Heaven.
On the top of the pediment, and crowning the whole, is St. Michael trampling Satan underfoot.
The whole of the doorway is a beautiful example of Flamboyant Gothic. ”

“ This is the old Order-House of the Jesuits, built at the beginning of the 17th century. The refectory is ornamented with rich woodwork and paintings, by the Rheims artist Hélart. Of greater interest is the library, situated under the gables, and which is reached by a fine staircase. The room is adorned with a profusion of wood-carvings and mouldings. Exceedingly fine consoles carry the ceiling, whose carved panels are profusely ornamented with crowns, polygons, florets and heads of angels. ”

“ As a Christian, he founded a basilica at Rheims.
The white marble tomb with carvings is apparently Græco-Roman of the 3rd century, and dates back before the time of Jovinus, who died in 370. It is possible that Jovinus had the first occupant of the tomb ejected, or that he bought an old sarcophagus and had his own portrait affixed to it.
The chapel installed in the old library of the abbey contained some fine Louis XVI. wood carvings (see photo below of the ruins of the chapel) . ”

“ The bays with their alternations of square-ogival and triangular vaulting do not correspond with the breadth of the radiating chapels, which are connected to one another by three arcades resting on light columns. In the lower nave, from the curiously large number of points of support, it would seem that the builders had doubts as to the strength of the pointed style and, by way of precaution, greatly increased the number of points of support inside the church and of the exterior buttresses. ”

“ The Fort of Brimont, completed by the Battery of the Cran de Brimont about a mile to the east, and on the west by the Loivre Battery, mentioned on page 151, sweeps the whole country north of Rheims as far as the banks of the Aisne, Suippe, Retourne and the Aisne-Marne canal, the Rheims-Neufchâtel, Rheims-Vouziers, Rheims-Rethel and Rheims-Laon roads, and the Rheims-Laon and Rheims-Charleville railways. ”

“ Beyond the village of Gueux the road crosses numerous lines of trenches. Many shelters and ammunition depots can still be seen along the road. The National Road from Rheims to Soissons (N. 31) is reached soon afterwards. Near the cross-ways are the ruins of an inn.
At this crossing, leave the National Road on the left and take the narrow road on the right which leads to Thillois. ”

“ The central house (formerly the Hôtel des Fermes) had a Doric front with a statue of [79] Mercury surrounded by children arranging bales or carrying grapes to the wine-press. A statue of Louis XV., in the middle of the Square, was protected from the bombardments by masonry-work (photos, p. 78 and below) .
The monarch is represented in a Roman mantle and laurel wreath. On either side of the pedestal are two allegorical bronze figures. One, a woman, holding a helm with one hand and leading a lion with the other, symbolizes gentleness of Government ”

“ Although held to the east of Mountain, they obtained important successes on the west, where they reached the Marne, while in May they occupied the Woods of Courton and Le Roi. In July they crossed the Marne and advanced as far as Montvoisin, on the road to Epernay. Very fierce fighting took place, especially to the north-west of the Mountain at Bouilly, Bligny, St. Euphraise and Vrigny. These positions, and Hill 240 to the west of Vrigny, were several times lost and recaptured by the Allied troops under General Berthelot, French, Italian and British, who fought there side by side. ”

“ On the lintel is Saint Paul, thrown from his horse at the gates of Damascus. On the outside of the jambs, fourteen seated figures meditating, are supposed by some to be embodiments of the arts and sciences, but represent more probably prophets or teachers. Along the splayings are eleven statues, which have not definitely been identified.
In the left-hand splaying is Saint Nicaise between two angels. The right-hand angel, generally known as the "Smile of Rheims," was decapitated on September 19, 1914. ”

“ The transept is pierced with broad bays, whose completion, as in all the windows of the Cathedral, consists of two twin arches surmounted by a six-leaved rose. The niches in the buttresses are ornamented with statues believed by some to represent Kings of France. ”