Good-Bye & Hallo 7 - Metz, France
Our next stop was Metz, a city in the north-east of France. The views of rapeseed fields on the way from Charleville-Mézières were fantastic!
My breakfast in Metz. Baguette with jam and butter. Orange juice and tea. It was a nice alternative with croissant. It may be rare outside of France.
You can't miss the massive Cathedral of Saint Stephen, or Metz Cathedral when you are in the old town. The 12th century cathedral is remarkable for the largest expanse of stained glass in the world with. Almost 70,000 sq feet. Impressive! Mix of old and modern windows from the 13th century to the 20th century, including several works by Marc Chagall.
We found a food court next to the church. J had a snack of a meat pie!
Metz was a capital of Lorraine. The region, which has became a part of Grand Est region recently, is renowned for not only Quiche Lorraine but also Mirabelle Plums! It was my first time to see the golden plums. J kindly bought both Mirrabelle jam and in syrup. I tasted the jam. Sweet and mellow.
We explored the old town more. Metz is situated at banks of the Moselle river. There were bridges to cross to islands and hills to climbed up. It was a lovely town to walk around.
Here was Graoully! According to the legend, the dragon used to live in the Roman amphitheater in the city. Saint Clement of Metz, the first Bishop of Metz successfully got rid of Graoully.
Lunch time! We tried ramen adventurously. I had a vegetable ramen. That was actually not so bad.
We walked more. Église Saint-Maximin de Metz, the 12th century Romanesque church with the 15th century Gothic nave displayed the contemporary stained glass windows by Jean Cocteau, French poet, writer, artist and film maker and one of the major figures of Dada and Surrealism. The theme of the day sounded like stained glasses.
A quick break with cute and tasty chou à la crème (cream puffs).
A giant Kugelhopf, the neighbor region Alsace's most famous cake joined us and traveled to our final destinations together. It was very tasty by the way.
We wandered around Avenue Foch, the south part of the old town. It was a beautiful street with a blend of multiple style architecture developed in the early 19th century.
Watching the interesting architecture was nice but visiting a lovely bakery in the area was nicer! We bought two cakes back to the hotel. One was Baba au Rhum, a French pastry originating in Lorraine.
On the next morning we woke up with a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. It was a continental style with extensive options of bread, pastries, and savory delicacies. I think they also served hot egg dishes that would be made by order. I wished I could try all...
Before we left Metz, we walked to a bakery and bought some baked goods for later. It was a short stay in Metz but we had to continue our road trip. The next stop was the final destination.
To be continued...
