It’s Monday, May 11 and Day 21 of this marathon journey. A late afternoon arrival in Châlons made it feel more like a sprint for me. I tried, but was only partially successful in getting to locations in the city that were important to the Dauphine’s stay.
Marie Antoinette’s Accommodations
The Dauphine spent her evening at the Hotel des Intendents de Champagne at 38 rue Carnot (below). I didn’t get my own photo of the hotel that now serves as the Prefecture of the Chalons en Champagne-Ardenne Region.
Enroute to her accommodations, Marie Antoinette passed through the Arc de Sainte Croix. The arch has been a part of the city since the 1100’s when it helped to protect the city from invaders. It was redone and dressed up for the arrival of Marie Antoinette.
The future Marie Antoinette twenty years later would pass through this arch trying to escape France and again as a prisoner. The royal family on that infamous attempt to escape in 1791 was also housed in the Hôtel des Intendents de Champagne where Marie Antoinette stayed on her bridal journey in 1770.
My Accommodations
The Hotel du Pot D’étain (The Tin Pot) was a lovely small hotel (with an elevator, yeah!) on a square just off the main square. The only train for the day was scheduled to arrive just before 4:00, leaving me only a brief period of time to explore.
The lack of quality photos in this post belies the charm and energy of this town. I noticed the number of teens and young twenties out enjoying the several squares I walked through. Indeed, 20% of the city’s population is in that age group.
A Few More Sites
My walking route took me past the Cathedral Saint-Étienne (shown below) on rue de la Marne. By the way, many names in this town have changed over time, including the name of the town itself. At the time Marie Antoinette spent a night, the town was named Châlons sur Marne.
The cathedral is one of the first to incorporate Baroque architectural elements and managed to survive several fires over the centuries. During the French Revolution is was closed as a cathedral and used as a horse stable. After surviving man-made and natural atrocities, this incredible structure was restored in the 19th century and survived World War I & II intact.
The building below is at Place du Maréchal Foch, basically the town square. It houses the town hall and tourist offices. Under that town square are caverns that have existed since the 1300’s. Monks stored wine in the chalk there to maintain a constant cool temperature. The timing wasn’t right to get a tour. I would love to return here and explore further.
There is an interesting facade to the architecture in this city that I have not seen in others. It is a combination of chalk, limestone and brick.
The photo below is of a building with an address on the same street as the hotel where Marie Antoinette stayed. That style of brick combined with limestone is also used in this mansion built in the late 1800’s by Eugene Napoleon-Cochery, a French politician, as a gift to his daughter. The builder uses the same chalk and brick on the facade. It has since gone through a number of uses and most recently supplied reception and event services.
So, I’m off before having an opportunity to see and do as much as I would like, including the waterways and streets of this wonderful city. I could have used another day for all of that and to include those chalk caverns under the town. But this was Marie Antoinette’s schedule so I’m making the best of it.
After arriving around 4:00 pm on May 11, I’m off early on May 12. I get a break as I’ll have a two-night stay in Soissons. Stay tuned.
