The city of Reims--Its historical associations--The Cathedral--Its western front one of the most splendid conceptions of the thirteenth century--The sovereigns crowned within its walls--Present aspect of the ancient archiepiscopal city--The woollen manufactures and other industries of Reims--The city undermined with the cellars of the great Champagne firms--Reims hotels--Gothic house in the Rue du Bourg St. Denis--Renaissance house in the Rue de Vesle--Church of St. Jacques: its gateway and quaint weathercock--The Rue des Tapissiers and the Chapter Court--The long tapers used at religious processions--The Place des Marchés and its ancient houses--The Hôtel de Ville--Statue of Louis XIII.--The Rues de la Prison and du Temple--Messrs. Werlé & Co., successors to the Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin--Their offices and cellars on the site of a former Commanderie of the Templars--Origin of the celebrity of Madame Clicquot's wines--M. Werlé and his son--Remains of the Commanderie--The forty-five cellars of the Clicquot-Werlé establishment--Our tour of inspection through them--Ingenious dosing machine--An explosion and its consequences--M. Werlé's gallery of paintings--Madame Clicquot's Renaissance house and its picturesque bas-reliefs--The Werlé vineyards and vendangeoirs 168 VII. /Reims and its Champagne Establishments/ (_continued_). The house of Louis Roederer founded by a plodding German named Schreider--The central and other establishments of the firm--Ancient house in the Rue des Elus--The gloomy-looking Rue des Deux Anges and prison-like aspect of its houses--Inside their courts the scene changes--Handsome Renaissance house and garden, a former abode of the canons of the Cathedral--The Place Royale--The Hôtel des Fermes and the statue of the 'wise, virtuous, and magnanimous Louis XV.'--Birthplace of Colbert in the Rue de Cérès--Quaint Adam and Eve gateway in the Rue de l'Arbalète--Heidsieck & Co.'s central establishment in the Rue de Sedan--Their famous 'Monopole' brand--The firm founded in the last century--Their extensive cellars inside and outside Reims--The matured wines shipped by them--The Boulevard du Temple--M. Ernest Irroy's cellars, vineyards, and vendangeoirs--Recognition by the Reims Agricultural Association of his plantations of vines--His wines and their popularity at the best London clubs--Various Champagne firms located in this quarter of Reims--The Rue du Tambour and the famous House of the Musicians--The Counts de la Marck assumed former occupants of the latter--The Brotherhood of Minstrels of Reims--Périnet & Fils' establishment in the Rue St. Hilaire--Their cellars of three stories in solid masonry--Their soft, light, and delicate wines--A rare still Verzenay--The firm's