Champagne in (Where Else?) Champagne

The Reims Notre-Dame Cathedrale


Pommery's secret stash


The McFerdi: Words do it no justice.

On Saturday, I managed to force myself out of bed to catch the bus to Reims, to see the cathedral and town with the program. Though the weather was relatively warm in Paris this weekend, it somehow felt below zero in the countryside. And due to the fact that heating had not been invented in 496 AD, I experienced the joy of freezing to death inside as well. There really is not much more to say about it, as I had been to the cathedral before and even our guides had that please-let-this-be-done-so-we-can-go-somewhere-warm-and-drink voice. Luckily, that was not the sole purpose of the trip.

Reims happens to be in Champagne. As in champagne, champagne. Because it would have be unimaginably cruel to do otherwise, we also toured the Pommery champagne caves and had a tasting that quickly devolved into something else entirely, making the traffic back into the city much more endurable.

And as usual, I did have to make a dinner date. C, A, M and I had reservations at Ferdi, one of my absolute favorite restaurants. Ferdi stands for Ferdinand, the owners' son, whose quirky childhood toys decorate the tiny space. Now around 18-years-old, Ferdi also happens to make a mean mojito just like his papa. The menu is extremely eclectic, with everything from Spanish tapas to risotto to the infamous McFerdi cheeseburger (Seriously, I do not know what the cheese is, but I must have more of it). We inhaled tapas of mac & cheese and grilled piquillo peppers. I tend to praise Ferdi so highly (in case you can't tell) that I was slightly worried it couldn't live up to my friends' expectations— but they all agreed that we should beg for standing weekly reservations. Although this particular meal's popularity might have had something to do with the fact that we were seated next to a certain Kanye West.

Yes, he let us finish.