The beautiful French city home to champagne that’s perfect for a weekend getaway – and with flights from just £29

Or try sabring your own bottle of fizz at Pol Couronne, where you can pop the cork off using a sword, then drink the rest with a mate, £44 ().

Lastly, the Taittinger experience offers a slick new visitor centre, tours of its ancient cave cellars and a tasting to finish things off nicely, £34 per person ().

SPLURGE-WORTHY STROLLS

Rue de Vesle has the high-street brands covered, but veer off to Rue de Thillois for cult fashion faves at Maje () and chic secondhand finds at Accessible Depot-Vente (@Dressing_accessibledepotvente).

For foodie gifts, like beautifully illustrated tins of sardines in olive oil, hot-foot it to Épicerie Madame on Rue de l’Arbalète ().

If you need delicious, cheap eats on the go, grab a croque monsieur, £4, and a Kiss of Reims, £4 – a joyous hit of vanilla crème brûlée sandwiched between two rose biscuits – over at Case à Pain ().

After some French classics? Tuck into beef tartare, £16, and snails with parsley butter, £7, at Brasserie du Boulingrin ().

Then, on bright days walk it all off with a stroll through Les Hautes Promenade park to spy the playful water fountains – it’s also host to the glorious Reims Christmas Market come December.

ART DECO discovery

After WW1, much of Reims was rebuilt in the 1920s.

For a free history lesson, head to the Art Deco Carnegie Library, with its stunning hanging lantern and elegant stained-glass windows (Bm-reims.fr/patrimoine).