Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2015 13:04:51 GMT
Epinal is not a very grandiose city even if it is the préfecture of the Vosges department in northeastern France. It's not really a place you go through by accident since it isn't even on a major motorway. Of course the Vosges also being a small mountain chain, that explains the isolation a bit, but Epinal isn't even a mountain town. But I think it's always good to know at least a little bit about some of these places, so here goes.
I arrived by train. There are no direct trains from Paris, so I took a train to Nancy, where I changed to a local train in the direction of Remiremont. Remiremont is even more isolated than Epinal and gave rise to a little family anecdote that I have never forgotten. I was driving around the region once with my parents, and I don't remember if we were semi-lost or had just not chosen a destination yet. It didn't matter because we were on holiday out of season and didn't have to worry about hotels being full anywhere. So, we were driving along looking at various directional signs, and I said, "we could head in the direction of Remiremont." My mother very forcefully said, "We can't go there, because you can't get to anywhere from there!" My father and I looked at her like she was kind of nuts, because we had all looked at various maps and obviously there are between 6 and 15 roads leading out of just about any medium-sized town in every direction unless it is totally enclaved in a steep valley. So she went on and said "during the war when we were trying to get away from the battle areas, we were on a train that stopped in Remirement and didn't go any farther. And all of the roads were closed and there was no place to stay. We finally spent the night in some farmer's barn but it took us three days to leave the town and we could only go back the way we had come." Remirement had clearly left a bad taste in her mouth, but my father and I pointed out that the war was finished and that the roads were open again. So we went through Remirement and out the other side, but the story is permanently lodged in my brain, to the extent that I will absolutely never spend a night in Remirement if I can help it, and I don't think I have been through it again since that day.
I arrived by train. There are no direct trains from Paris, so I took a train to Nancy, where I changed to a local train in the direction of Remiremont. Remiremont is even more isolated than Epinal and gave rise to a little family anecdote that I have never forgotten. I was driving around the region once with my parents, and I don't remember if we were semi-lost or had just not chosen a destination yet. It didn't matter because we were on holiday out of season and didn't have to worry about hotels being full anywhere. So, we were driving along looking at various directional signs, and I said, "we could head in the direction of Remiremont." My mother very forcefully said, "We can't go there, because you can't get to anywhere from there!" My father and I looked at her like she was kind of nuts, because we had all looked at various maps and obviously there are between 6 and 15 roads leading out of just about any medium-sized town in every direction unless it is totally enclaved in a steep valley. So she went on and said "during the war when we were trying to get away from the battle areas, we were on a train that stopped in Remirement and didn't go any farther. And all of the roads were closed and there was no place to stay. We finally spent the night in some farmer's barn but it took us three days to leave the town and we could only go back the way we had come." Remirement had clearly left a bad taste in her mouth, but my father and I pointed out that the war was finished and that the roads were open again. So we went through Remirement and out the other side, but the story is permanently lodged in my brain, to the extent that I will absolutely never spend a night in Remirement if I can help it, and I don't think I have been through it again since that day.
So here is the Epinal train station, paying tribute to its printing past.
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I could not check into the hotel yet, so I walked around a bit. There are a few other architectural tributes to the town's history but actually fewer than I expected.
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Mostly I just saw the Moselle River at this point, where it is still young and vigourous.
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I looked up which "4 nations" were being referred to. The reply: Lorraine, Alsace, Burgundy and Champagne
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Theabandoned former post office definitely seems oversized. They need to find something to do with this building.
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I followed the river to find where I would being going later.
imageshack.com/a/img633/9346/hn1BRR.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img673/6618/FQSUys.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img661/6272/gPcTn4.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img538/7742/79lz8c.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img538/6976/jTb74W.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img540/1465/qpAhgn.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img537/3667/Aa90H1.jpg
I could not check into the hotel yet, so I walked around a bit. There are a few other architectural tributes to the town's history but actually fewer than I expected.
imageshack.com/a/img673/8533/1GNYzd.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img537/1207/QTEXoN.jpg
Mostly I just saw the Moselle River at this point, where it is still young and vigourous.
imageshack.com/a/img538/2342/BRuFpt.jpg
I looked up which "4 nations" were being referred to. The reply: Lorraine, Alsace, Burgundy and Champagne
imageshack.com/a/img901/7043/njKd59.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img673/2214/KPtYjK.jpg
The
imageshack.com/a/img912/5975/oqNyeL.jpg
I followed the river to find where I would being going later.
imageshack.com/a/img633/9346/hn1BRR.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img673/6618/FQSUys.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img661/6272/gPcTn4.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img538/7742/79lz8c.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img538/6976/jTb74W.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img540/1465/qpAhgn.jpg
