I knew I’d spend my birthday in Metz, the capital of Lorraine, when I organized my press trip. I knew I would be away from family and friends with only Twitter and Facebook to keep me company. I knew that Metz would join the dubious company of Athens, London, San Francisco, Paris,Vienna, Zurich, St Ives, Stonehenge, a BA flight mid-air and a safari camp in the Okavango Delta in the list of places I’ve spent my birthday in.
What I had no idea about was what it looked like. I bet you don’t, either.
Well, not any more!
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- Metz Cathedral as viewed from my window
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- Jacques Villon’s 1959 stained glass windows in the Metz cathedral
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- Metz cathedral was the union of two old churches spotted here through the non-alignment of the vaulting
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- Mosaic from the Dividorum Mediomatricum Roman town. Frankly, no wonder the name was reduced to Metz.
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- Detail of mediaeval bestiary ceiling
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- Metz has the only examples of Merovingian sculpture in France. Look at the non-stylistic Jesus.
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- Girl reading in Metz Esplanade
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- Children reflected in Art
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- Fishmongers in Metz’s covered market
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- Paul Verlaine was born in this building in Metz. Plus: You Couldn’t Make It Up #87: the bar below is gay.
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- Statue of Paul Verlaine in Metz. Every year on the anniversary of his birthday (30 March) students put a tie around his statue.
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- Lorraine doesn’t mean just quiche you know
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- Metz Pompidou Centre – maquette. The art centre has rejuvenated Metz and put it on the map much like the Guggenheim did for Bilbao.
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- Metz Pompidou Centre – Art Exhibit
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- Metz Pompidou Centre – Interior
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- Statue of the graouille dragon which was killed by St Clement, first bishop of Metz and dragged down THIS VERY STREET!
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- Jean Cocteau stained glass in St Maximine
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- The Law Courts housed in an 18th century Palace in Metz
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- Metz buildings in yellow Jaumont stone
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- German Lutheran church in dark stone built when the Germans annexed Alsace and part of Lorraine 1870-1919
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- Metz Railway station. As Germany was flattened in WW II, the best examples of such Wilhelmine eclecticism exist mostly in Strasbourg and Metz.
Thanks to the hospitable Saïd Hocine at the charming Hotel de la Cathedrale, my very knowledgeable and enthusiastic tourist guide Sandrine Volpato and to Valentine Vernier, the Metz Tourism press officer and a delightful dinner companion.
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