Reims, France

The making of…

England, France, and Italy have long felt like pilgrimage sites for lovers of history, art and architecture. Over the past decade, I’ve dedicated myself to exploring as much of England as possible. Italy has always been on my route—I try to discover a new corner every few years. But France remained somewhat of a blank spot, aside from a few quick stop-overs in Paris on the way to other destinations.

I think the language barrier held me back. So, last January, I hired a French tutor, downloaded Duolingo, and committed to a summer trip. I rented a car and set out solo, covering 2,600 kilometers to sketch, practice French, and take in the country’s Gothic wonders, storybook medieval villages, and the rich, layered beauty of France over the course of a month.

Quick Facts:

  • The construction of the current cathedral began in 1211

  • This is the holy site where the French kings were traditionally crowned since 1223.

  • When Henry VI of England claimed the French crown during the Hundred Years’ War, he was crowned not in Reims—the sacred site of royal legitimacy—but in Paris’ Notre-Dame. To many, it was a hollow ceremony that broke the divine tradition. His reign would soon unravel, marked by the loss of nearly all English-held lands in France.

  • The town opened its gates to 17-year-old heroine Joan of Arc and the man she believed to be the true king of France, Charles VII. She stood beside him at his coronation in Reims in 1429 before being captured less than a year later and burned at the stake in Rouen.

  • The cathedral is a High Gothic Masterpiece with over 2,300 statues. This makes it one of the most sculpturally rich Gothic buildings in Europe.

  • The cathedral is filled with stained glass windows, though many were lost during heavy bombardments by German forces who shelled Reims in World War I.

  • Reims escaped significant destruction in World War II due to the swift Nazi occupation of France. The Germans signed their unconditional surrender there on May 7, 1945—though this historic event is often overshadowed by Stalin’s insistence on a public surrender ceremony in Berlin the following day.

 

Many of us were first introduced to Gothic architecture through The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, right? Notre-Dame is arguably the most famous cathedral in the world, and we all watched in heartbreak as it burned in 2019. Within days, over a billion dollars had been pledged to restore this cultural and architectural treasure.

Notre-Dame marked the beginning of the Gothic style, transitioning from the heavy, fortress-like Romanesque architecture to something revolutionary—lighter structures with high ceilings, thinner walls, and vast stained glass windows that bathed the interior in colored light. Its intricate stone carvings and sculptural decoration were unlike anything seen before, setting the stage for a new era of sacred architecture that still stands strong nearly a thousand years later.

Reims Cathedral began about 50 years later and took Gothic design to new heights—literally and artistically. It was built taller, more spacious, and even more elaborately adorned. It’s impossible not to stand there dumbfounded, not knowing exactly where to focus your gaze, because there is so much to see, to process, to admire. 

I can’t help but think about the countless hands that shaped this place—those who carved each gargoyle and angel, who cut every piece of stained glass and marble tile. Not just during its original construction, but also in the past century, when war nearly reduced it to rubble and devoted scholars and artisans painstakingly brought it back from the brink. To stand here now, surrounded by that legacy of creation and restoration, feels like a true privilege.

 

Get a little piece of France

Here are some of the formats that I’ve made this image into.

The Original

Reproduction

Sticker

Dive a little deeper

Books set in France

  • The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

  • The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It by Tilar J. Mazzeo

  • The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier

  • Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

  • Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson

Books about France

  • The Man in the Red Coat by Julian Barnes

  • The Judgement of Paris by Ross King

  • The Burgundians: A Vanished Empire by Bart Van Loo

  • A Bite-Sized History of France by Stephane Henaut

  • Let’s Eat France by François-Régis Gaudry

French Artists

  • Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) - Look into his Moroccan Travel Diaries and watercolors

  • Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun (1755 – 1842) Rococo + Neoclassical portraiture

  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) painter, printmaker and illustrator

  • All the well-known Impressionists

  • Marion Bretagne - contemporary artist