|
Metz
Mar 23, 2010 18:17:41 GMT
Post by lagatta on Mar 23, 2010 18:17:41 GMT
|
|
|
Metz
Mar 23, 2010 18:28:00 GMT
Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2010 18:28:00 GMT
Metz is indeed my second "home city." Impossible to pass through town without eating a saucisse grillée at a Steinhoff stand.
|
|
|
Metz
Mar 25, 2010 19:20:30 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 25, 2010 19:20:30 GMT
When I hear "Metz" or "Nancy", I inevitably think of WWI. So many of us from the US and Canada had grandfathers or great-grandfathers who entered or left France from the port of Brest. So, reading the above, I went looking for information and found these photos of Metz, all circa 1919. Would anyone have contemporary pictures taken of the same spots? Le Pont MoreauVue GeneralCanal de la MoselleLe Pont de la Prefecture source: www.artbyrobnevitte.com/Vintage-Photo.php
|
|
|
Metz
Apr 26, 2010 18:33:28 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2010 18:33:28 GMT
Metz has not changed much, Bixa. I will try to find some photos in my archives, but I will also take some new pictures before the end of the year. In the meantime....
|
|
|
Metz
Apr 27, 2010 12:39:05 GMT
Post by gertie on Apr 27, 2010 12:39:05 GMT
That is a pretty cool building, and only 80 min de Paris? I think I may have a new day trip in mind for my next trip.
|
|
|
Metz
Apr 27, 2010 13:12:21 GMT
Post by lagatta on Apr 27, 2010 13:12:21 GMT
Gertie, the TGV trains can be expensive, but you can find good fares if you reserve well ahead of time. Kerouac has already posted on the TGV Est that will eventually be a fast link between France and Germany.
|
|
|
Metz
Apr 27, 2010 13:55:05 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2010 13:55:05 GMT
I was playing with the SNCF booking site (www.voyages-sncf.com) just to get examples of fares, and the variations are truly remarkable.
For example, if you wanted to go to Metz tomorrow on a day trip (leaving around 8am and returning around 6pm), it would cost 53.30€ + 53.30€ for the cheapest fares available. But I should mention that we have school holidays in the Paris region at the moment, and that has an effect on the fares.
Choosing a day trip one month later, it is 28.00€ for one direction and 58.80€ to come back. Then I looked and saw that it was a Friday afternoon. Normal!
If you want to spend the night and leave the next day, it is 58.80€ to leave Saturday morning from Metz but only 28€ if you wait to leave until the afternoon...
I often plan my trips around the train tickets I can get (the lowest price is 15€) and organize the rest once I have my transportation. The more money you save on the train tickets, the more you can splurge on other things.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 15, 2010 19:39:47 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2010 19:39:47 GMT
The first thing that most people see when arriving in Metz is the train station, because the TGV or the ICE are the most convenient ways to get there from Paris or Frankfurt. The station was built between 1905-1908 by the Berlin architect Jürgen Kröger as Metz was at that time part of the Gerrman Empire (since 1870). The popular Prussian style was not really known for its lightness. In fact, the entire "imperial district" around the train station has a style and color that one never forgets.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 15, 2010 19:46:34 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2010 19:46:34 GMT
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 15, 2010 21:47:55 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2010 21:47:55 GMT
When I was little, esplanades such as this one (formerly Place de la Gare and now Place Charles de Gaulle) were hideous parking lots. That has all changed in just about every city in France in the last 20 years. The train station water tower is nicer than most. Normally the first place to go from the train station would be the Centre Pompidou right behind it, but I've already made my report about it so we are going to the cathedral instead. There is a lovely view of the cathedral from the Pompidou Center anyway. First we must pass the Porte Serpenoise to get there. It is the symbol of Metz and the view that you will see the most often on post cards along with the train station and the cathedral... and soon the Centre Pompidou. It used to be drowning in ivy but no more.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 15, 2010 23:10:47 GMT
Post by lagatta on Jun 15, 2010 23:10:47 GMT
Now the obvious question about this impressive place: other than reclaiming the historic centre from postwar car mania, this town has experienced significant destruction in both World Wars. To what extent has all of this beeen rebuilt?
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 16, 2010 3:53:35 GMT
Post by hwinpp on Jun 16, 2010 3:53:35 GMT
When I hear "Metz" or "Nancy", I inevitably think of WWI. So many of us from the US and Canada had grandfathers or great-grandfathers who entered or left France from the port of Brest. For French and Germans it goes back even further to the Franco- German War of 1870/71. I don't think I've been to Metz but I've been to Sedan twice.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 16, 2010 4:02:05 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2010 4:02:05 GMT
The colors and that line of extravagantly differing facades made me goggle-eyed, especially after the massive Germanic fairy-tale aspect of so much shown previously. The train station looks as though some city father yelled, "Bring me an architect who can do BIG -- we need BIG!" So they found someone who'd previously only designed churches.
Whether or not the various styles are ones particular cup of tea, the consistent desire to create beauty shines through in every picture.
I want to echo LaGatta's question above, especially as you've previously shown us cities that had to wait years to be rebuilt.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 16, 2010 5:19:14 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2010 5:19:14 GMT
Well, regarding war damage, when I was little all of the bridges were still temporary pontoon bridges built by the American army after winning the Battle of Metz (27 August-13 December 1944). Naturally, all of the railways tracks were bombed by the Americans but the center of the city itself was pretty much spared, because since Metz was a fortified city, the forts all surrounded the city rather than being inside it.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 16, 2010 5:38:07 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2010 5:38:07 GMT
The cathedral of Metz, Saint Etienne, is built of the same stone as the rest of the city, of course. It was built from 1220 to 1520. They used to take their time with this sort of stuff. It is the French cathedral with the largest expanse of windows -- 6500m². It is famous for having a number of stained glass windows by Marc Chagall dating from 1963, as part of the post WW2 program of replacing stained glass destroyed in the war
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 16, 2010 5:47:19 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2010 5:47:19 GMT
That's enough religion for now. Time to pop into the covered market next door. Many former military buildings have been converted to other uses. The Arsenal is the main municipal theatre.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 16, 2010 5:56:28 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2010 5:56:28 GMT
Are we all going to keep pretending we don't see that thing smushed up against the side of the cathedral? What the heck is that?
And now to reveal what a philistine I really am -- I hate those self-consciously modern statues. It looks like all those dreary banners churches hang to show how with-it they are. (not a Chagall fan, either -- clear glass would have looked nicer)
Do you by any chance have a closer view of that magnificent triptych? It's in the fifth photo from the bottom, Reply #14.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 16, 2010 7:13:13 GMT
Post by onlymark on Jun 16, 2010 7:13:13 GMT
reply 14, 1st picture - that's a bit of a pathetic clock isn't it? Not exactly a statement, more like and apology. Maybe they are intimating that time isn't important to Him up there. Anyway, the covered market shots. Any idea if it's always been one? Or like the arsenal the usage has changed? I ask because the roof is relatively new(?).
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 16, 2010 7:19:05 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2010 7:19:05 GMT
Actually, the covered market was originally built as the bishop's palace in 1785. Wrong time to build a bishop's palace with the revolution coming in 1789! I'm sure the roof is not very old. Probably the building was burned or bombed a number of times in the last two centuries.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 16, 2010 7:39:41 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2010 7:39:41 GMT
Bixa, I don't know what smushed thing you are talking about. Surely not the buses?
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 16, 2010 17:16:28 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2010 17:16:28 GMT
Do you by any chance have a closer view of that magnificent triptych? It's in the fifth photo from the bottom, Reply #14. Nope, those are so common that I had no interest in it. Anyway, moving along, rue Serpenoise is the main shopping street of Metz and the principal part starts here. The column is a recent addition only about 10 years old, and I think it was mostly put there to make drivers realize that their cars were no longer welcome on that street (pedestrians still share the street with buses). However, it is the transfomation of the Virgin Megastore that impressed me. When I was a child, it was a Monoprix with a white fiberglas façade. It was only when they gutted the building and took the covering off that I saw it was really built out of the traditional Metz sandstone. Another transformation on the street was when the Palace Cinéma became a C&A store. As mentioned in the Guardian article that Lagatta posted, Place Saint Jacques is the place to stop and have a drink when the weather is nice. Although, it is less chic, I prefer Place Saint Louis because it has funky arcades with mysterious cellars. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this thread, one of the Steinhoff outlets is the place to go to get an authentic Metz sandwich. Of course, there are always other possibilities. The old part of Metz has no paucity of funky streets.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 17, 2010 4:58:59 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2010 4:58:59 GMT
The city prides itself on its walkability, which is aided by its numerous waterfront promenades, since several fingers of the Moselle stream through the city.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 17, 2010 5:19:55 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2010 5:19:55 GMT
Embedded in the sidewalks are directional arrows for various tourist walks. There is a huge esplanade in the center of the city which was mostly unphotographable because they were digging up an underground parking lot that they have changed their mind about (it was about 25 years old). This may have something to do with the new administration of the city, which elected a socialist mayor last year for the first time since... ever (meaning since mayors were elected by universal suffrage in 1848). I wandered into a church which has a very rare item for France. In fact, I cannot think of a single other church in France that has pews instead of chairs. As a little boy, I accompanied my grandfather into this branch of the Banque de France a number of times. As mayor of his village, he kept the municipal funds safe here.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 17, 2010 5:27:39 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2010 5:27:39 GMT
Just a few steps from downtown, nature starts taking over along the Moselle. Even though this is an extremely incomplete report on the sights of Metz, it was time for me to move on.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 17, 2010 19:09:20 GMT
Post by fumobici on Jun 17, 2010 19:09:20 GMT
Fantastic report K2, thanks for sharing it.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 18, 2010 1:57:56 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 18, 2010 1:57:56 GMT
So much beauty of all kinds there, this was a lovely visit you gave us.
Pictures # 3, 4, & 5 of Reply #21 appear to show the weir for what certainly seems to be a mill in the middle of pic 3, right side of pic 4. And, it's right in town! Do you know if it's operational or what it's use might be now?
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 18, 2010 4:51:52 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2010 4:51:52 GMT
Well, it looks like the wheel is missing from the mill house.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 18, 2010 5:14:22 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 18, 2010 5:14:22 GMT
Well, it's certainly a beautiful city. Do you know what/why/how the cellars are used? That's really out of the ordinary. All of your photos are outstanding. The 2nd one in #23, of the swan, is a real beauty.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 18, 2010 5:21:45 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2010 5:21:45 GMT
Swans will swim to anyone along the edge of the water. "You have brought us something to eat or we may attack you!"
I imagine that those cellars are still the storage cellars of many of the commercial establishments, although the outside access has clearly been abandoned or blocked off in some cases.
|
|
|
Metz
Jun 19, 2010 16:30:50 GMT
Post by bjd on Jun 19, 2010 16:30:50 GMT
Hmm, I have never been to Metz and must admit that I don't really feel like going there seeing these photos. Not that they aren't good, they do give a clear idea of the place -- but all that massive stonework, those heavy buildings! Linked to what I assume is a rather shitty climate -- nope -- not for me. I did like the cathedral though.
|
|