Metz, France

We had heard about the beautiful cathedral in Metz, France which resides on our favourite Moselle River, and thought we'd take the quick 1 and 1/2 hour drive over to see what the city is all about.  Unfortunately I've had a bit of writers block since getting back from the short trip because all I wanted to write about was all the dog poo on the streets instead of the beautiful things we saw!  I felt like I was in Paris all over again (please don't let me turn anyone away from any of these places) constantly looking down to make sure my nice leather boots didn't casually slide through a heaping pile of poo that was in my direct path on the sidewalk.  Seriously I felt like Dave was saying, "Oh watch your step" instead of "Oh look at that nice architecture."  Surprisingly enough we did a little research to find that we are not are alone in this battle - there are TONS of blogs, websites, forums, etc. griping about the same matter in France cities!  And accidents...accident statistics of those that have injured or hurt themselves from an encounter with poo on the sidewalk.  I'm not joking, Google it.  We survived though, no accidents, no horrid smells on our shoes as we walked along all day, just a strain in my neck from looking down all day :)

Anyway, Metz is a lovely little city and thanks to the convenience of booking.com we were able to find a good hotel with free cancellation (which is super handy considering I originally booked 2 nights and later decided we only wanted to go one!), WiFi, breakfast, parking and close proximity to all that we needed to see.  The day was supposed to be about 60 degrees with only a 10% chance of rain but the drive through the country proved to be a bit different - misty, foggy, and about a balmy 50.  Oh well, by the time we got to the Kyriad Metz Centre it seemed to have cleared up a little but was still a little chilly.  We checked in late morning and then headed right over to the Tourist Info to get a map of the sights.

The TI is located in the place d'Armes square along with the the big beautiful Saint-Etienne Cathedral.  Minus the scaffolding, it's very beautiful!  It was built between 1220 and 1552 and one of the highest Gothic edifices in Europe with 42 meter high vaults.

Saint-Etienne Cathedral

We walked across the Moselle to a small island in the middle of the river, the Place de la Comedie, where the Opera House is located.

Crossing the Moselle with the Temple Neuf in the background

Back in the city center and pedestrian area of Metz we were searching for a lunch spot when we noticed a dragon hanging high the air!

This is The Graoully, depicted as a fearsome dragon, vanquished by the sacred powers of Metz's first bishop, Saint Clement.  Authors from Metz tend to present the legend of the Graoully as a symbol of Christianity's victory over paganism, represented by the harmful dragon.  Yes, that is what usually comes to mind for me => Christianity+Paganism=Dragon.

We had a lovely lunch at an Italian place that spoke French - being engrossed in all of this culture sometimes confuses the heck out of me.  I couldn't remember if the salad I ordered was poisson or poulet or puten, I was just hoping that I didn't order a fish salad.  It was chicken and it all turned out good!  Dave had a pizza with a spicy oil to put on it.

With a lot of daylight still left we headed to the western part of the town where what appeared to be on the map were "forts" or other types of military architecture and that is exactly what we stumbled upon!

The Porte des Allemands

What looks like a mini-castle, the Porte des Allemands or the ‘Gate of the Germans’, was built around 1230 when a wall was being constructed to protect the town from attack. For many centuries the area has been a place of dispute between French and German control. The name of this gate (the 2 pointy towers on the right) to the city comes from the friars of Notre Dame Allemands who ran a hospital close to the site. The gate was extensively damaged by Allied forces when they liberated Metz in 1944.

What were were walking is called the - Circuit des Remparts - a 4k walk through the city and park area - Fort de Bellecroix - where we could see old fortifications of city's defensive wall from the 18th and 19th centuries.
<><><><>

In Fort de Bellecroix, fortifications of city wall

We walked the Circuit des Remparts along the banks of the Moselle and Seille Rivers where there were towers, bridges and more of the defense wall for the city.   There are ramparts from the 13th through 17th centuries.

Wall along the Moselle River

The southern part of Metz on the Moselle houses the Arsenal Building and the Esplanade-lovely gardens that weren't in bloom yet but it is the centrepiece of the great Promenade de l’Esplanade that leads from the river through the old town of Metz.
<><><><>

The Arsenal

The Palace of the Governor is located right next to the Esplanade and Arsenal, close to the Moselle. The palace is an impressive building that makes up just one of many municipal buildings in Metz. Built for the governor of the town, the building exhibits some of the best architectural styles of the Lorraine region and is occasionally open to the public but we didn't go in.
<><><><>

The Governor's Palace

All in all we had quite a nice day walking around in Metz probably about 5-10 miles all while stepping over piles of poo!  We went back to the hotel to rest a little before dinner and then went back to the area by the Cathedral Saint-Etienne to Le Montecristo where we both chose a 4 course chef's menu based on the English-Deutsch menu posted outside :)  Dave had a very interesting martini in what appeared to be a tall shot glass and I had an "orange" flavoured French beer.  He also enjoyed his smoked salmon and duck and I enjoyed a warm goat cheese salad and fillet.  The 3rd course for both of us was a cheese plate that looked pretty good with Brie and Camembert and a small walnut salad.  Dave dug right into a thin piece of cheese only to find out that it was butter!  We both got a good chuckle out of that, not sure why it was placed between 2 pieces of cheese - whatever maybe the French think butter is a delicacy?  Yummy desserts later and we were ready to go walk off a few of the calories we just indulged in and call it a day.  

Link to Metz Pictures

Would we go back to Metz?  Perhaps, but I'm really not planning any more trips to France cities until the problem of the poo goes away!  I think the next trip to France should be one more in a country setting, or a wine tasting specific trip, or one where there aren't sidewalks.