I must first take a grandmother's privilege of bragging rights - my granddaughter, a sophomore at Georgia Tech will be studying in Metz France summer of 2017. I will visiting her for a weekend during her summer studies. Not having been to this part of France, thoughts on when in the summer and where to take her would be appreciated. I am thinking of renting a car to travel around and stay at a bed and breakfast.
Happy New Year,
Lynette
The biggest attractions in Metz are the cathedral and the outstation of the Centre Pompidou (modern art) that opened a few years ago. It has one of France's best preserved old towns, as being in Germany during the later nineteenth-century meant that it never got reconstructed on Hausmann lines.
Also in the area, Nancy is a must visit if you enjoy art nouveau, with the various art nouveau buildings and the excellent Museum of the School of Nancy.
I've been through Metz several times on a train and always thought it seemed to have a very nice historic district.
I believe the museum in Nancy has a strong glass collection. It's on my must-see list for next year.
Alsace is lovely. A car could get you to some lovely small towns, but plan ahead if you plan to drive into Strasbourg. Colmar might be a challenge with a car as well; I'm not sure since I was limited to public transportation.
Hi,
I have visited Metz a number of times, spent almost a week there visiting it in 1999 (2001 ?) If you're interested in the history of Metz and Lorraine, there is the local museum. With a rental car (and the history interest?), I would see the outlying villages that only are accessible by bus, ie once a day, Gravotte, Mars-la-Tour, St Privat, etc or the town of Thionville, used to be called Diedenhofen by the Germans before 1914. Metz was fought over in 1870, 1918, 1944.
For a regionally-focused driving trip, consider the Michelin Green Guide and separate driving map specific to Alsace/Lorraine/Champagne.
BTW, congratulations Lynette, on getting to visit your Yellow Jacket in France. My hubby graduated from Tech also.
In Metz you are just a very short run from Luxembourg and all the beauty that that holds, both the pastel coloured towers in the multi level city and out into the countryside. Luxembourg is defined by the Mosel river valley and you will see miles upon miles of hillsides of grape vines.
There is an excellent WWII museum - one of the best IMHO - about the Battle of the Bulge, at Diekirch in the countryside of Luxembourg. All volunteers running it, too.
