Bienvenue a Reims - Champagne Capitol of France

After only 4 hours of sleep on the plane, getting through immigration, getting a car and driving a couple hours to Reims, first on the agenda is to find toilets.  Public toilets are hard to find, and usually require a bit of change payment.

Welcome to European (You're a pee-in' in public) toilets!

Then we needed food! I had a 'hot salad' with fried gizzards that was delicious.  The boys went for hamburgers... and Tim enjoyed a nice cold beer.

All around Reims (look down the street... I was eating, so didn't get up) you'll find Art Deco buildings.  Leveled in WWI, it re-built, and was untouched in WWII.

I love Europe.  This is across the street from the Gauloise, where we ate, and the bells tolled.

While waiting to go on the champagne cave tour, we found this church right across the way.

 As always, the churches have beautiful sculptures and stained glass.  There weren't many folks there, and that was fun because William got to see what a church is like without the hoards of people.

I love the architecture of the Tudor style.

This is a place to buy booze... Timothy's!

Someone's door.  How cool is this?!?

We found this stool cute at the Tourist Information Center.

We finally find the Martel Caves!

There were many caves at different levels, but this seemed the deepest.

 Of course, we were always taking the same exact shots of cool, old equipment!

An old lantern... 

The turn these bottles a little each day to let the sediment go to the top of the bottle.

Looking up one of the ways they'd lift the champagne out of the caves.

Graffiti is nothing new, is it?

Maxim's has different champagne companies provide for them every few years, this is the plaque for the last time they were the supplier for Maxims.

And then, finally we tasted it!  William had grape juice.  We went for the best quality champagne tour, and it was delicious and refreshing!

Brut, sec and demi-sec.  The sec (dry) is actually the sweeter.

Okay, NOT what we want to eat!  :)

On the bus back to downtown.

Hanami (Picnic Under the Blooming Cherry Trees)

This is Hanami Season.  Hana is flower, and Mi is a form of the verb to see.  

You find a good place under some sakura (flowering cherry) trees with your friends.

It is a celebration.

For our Hanami, we went to the Miura Anjin area.  It is the place that the 'Blue Eyed Samurai' had land.  It is in the hills above Yokosuka.  Go to the Anjinzuka station on the Keikyu Train line and get a taxi.  Trust me,  it is a l-o-n-g walk up there!

It is wonderful when there are lanterns up.  There are azaleas blooming behind the one lantern.

These folks came along with a flute and drums and were collecting money for the decorations, and garbages.  With so many picnics and drinking going on, even though there are bathrooms at the park, the garbage needs taken!

Even if the day becomes overcast, you look up into the brightness of the trees.

And if you end up with some cherry flavored chu-hais, BONUS!

I think we chose this area because of the distant sites.

Everyone shares their picnics, and their booze.

A lovely day it was, too.  So relaxing!

This is the group as we cleaned up to go!

Walking down is interesting, as well.  Don't slip!  And there were more beverages to lubricate the walk and a toilet at the train station.  What a great day with friends!

Cup Noodle Museum

The Cup Noodle Museum is in Yokohama, not far from the Queens Mall.  It is free for kids, but adults have to pay to get in.  

We went because our son has gotten into eating Cup Noodles.  He loves to eat ramen and likes a version of Cup Noodles that is more of a bowl with spicy sauce. He only has to add hot water, and he has a snack he loves.  I love it because I am a lazy mom.  :)

After you get your entrance ticket downstairs, you come up here and buy another ticket ¥300, so you can make a small cup noodles.  You get a time to show up for this line.  

If you actually want to make your own noodles, you have to sign up earlier.  I don't know the cost, but the kid gets their own head scarf with the chicken logo.

It looks like they kneed the dough and roll it.

For the rest of us, when it is time to go in, you get set at a table to decorate your cup.  Mine has a shrimp that is saying, "Eat more chicken."  I then made a sad Cup Noodle chicken.  April 2, 2016.

Then they take you to the line, and you see the noodles that will be loaded into your cup.  The noodles only fit so far down in the cup.  This is part of the research that was needed in order to make a cup of noodles cook through with just hot water.  If noodles were in the bottom, the water wouldn't circulate through them enough to cook them.

You turn the wheel to tamp it in just right.

If you don't speak Japanese, they help you through.

Tim's is the black diamond, then mine, then William's who put Contents: Edible biological noodles, classified as food.

Then you get to choose four ingredients and one taste.

I chose shrimp, crab flake, chicken flake, a heart love flake.  Tim chose corn, onion and egg.  William chose double shrimp, onion and crab.

All done!

Then they wrap it and send it through a heater to shrink wrap it.  

Then it comes from this mouth.  

Then you put it in a plastic purse and blow it up to keep it from being crushed.  This is part of the history museum.

The founder and I...

And some art thrown in.

I totally meant to go shopping at Queen's Tower shopping mall, but I started having muscle cramps.  They were so bad, that I ended up not getting 2 of the items I really wanted to get in Japan.  Amazon, I guess you'll get more money!  :)

Spring Break Japan

We got to fly on a 787.  It is in the back, pulling into the airport.  We took a bus, then ferry, then light rail to get to the airport.  We were early so that we could make sure we got through the security check in time.  

Verny Park was right in front of Tim's place.  You'll see many blooms in these posts!

The re-creation of the TDY Yokosuka blogspot picture.

Starbucks in the morning for breakfast.

At sushi... I grasp the tubular fish meat sky... 

The new sushi-go-round in Yokosuka.  It was so good to see Tim!

We could order ourselves via the iPad!