Nancy and Lorraine

Theresa - we actually have our chip and pin card through an American credit union that operates for US Servicemembers in Germany. It's a terrible credit union and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. We have a chip and pin card that works in Germany, but it's a terrible deal overall. We're working on transferring to an actual German bank account soon.

Soufflenheim is known for their pottery, so we did buy a couple of small items as gifts for family, although it was all in a very colorful country style that isn't really suited for me, personally. Onwards we drove around the edge of the Vosage mountain range and finally into Nancy. Driving in the city was manageable, but not exactly fun - a motorcyclist wiped out on the cobblestones right in front of me. We checked into the Best Western Crystal Nancy which had a great rate for a 3 star hotel - 75 euro - and was very nicely decorated and conveniently located in the center of town. Eurocup madness was still going on at this time, with a France vs. Czech Republic game that evening, so we asked the helpful front desk where to watch it publicly. Turns out public viewings of games are not as big a deal in France as they are in Germany- we had to go to an Irish pub, of all places. It was packed and we got to watch the game, although in a far more subdued manner, despite the fact that France won. The pub was Le Phenix on Rue Stanislsaus, right near Place Stanislsaus, but more about that in a minute. We had dinner across the street at a tapas place, the food was pretty unremarkable, I can't say I'd recommend it. After dinner we walked around, enjoying how beautiful the city was lit up at night. Nancy is an architectural marvel, which apparently has earned it the nickname "little Paris". It is just full of baroque, art nouveau, belle epoque, and art deco buildings and interiors that are all stunning, and they don't skip on the decorative lighting at night.

We ended up at a beer pub back on Rue Stanislaus which carried an actual India Pale Ale on tap, the first one I'd had in over a year and a half! At the same time, the famous light show had started at Place Stanislaus, where images are projected onto the Hotel De Ville and Opera House in the square. It was truly gorgeous, a real highlight of the trip. The next day we drove about 45 minutes through the lovely countryside to Domremy La Pucelle, the birthplace of Joan of Arc. The town itself is tiny, although it has more Joan statues than you can shake a stick at. The home where she was born is still standing and you can go inside, and there are two small museums on the property. Next door is the church where Joan used to pray as a girl, including the font she was baptized in and a statue of St. Catherine that she was known to pray to from the time she lived. Amazing history. We then drove 10 minutes to Vaucouleurs, where Joan started her military career by petitioning the local lord to give her men to march on France against the British. The remnants of the fortifications of the city, including the Porte d'France that she rode out of, still exist on the hill with some fantastic views. We made our way back to Nancy, walked for a bit in the Parc de la Pépinière, had a fantastic fondue dinner at Le Bouche a Oreille, a restaurant that specializes in cheese. We hit a few more bars that evening, including a new-ish gay bar with a wonderful owner that "welcomes all types of people!" We had a great time chatting with him about the club scenes in France and Germany.

We'd had a fantastic time so far but unfortunately our trip home had a few mishaps. I saw we could go through Baccarat on our way home with a slight detour and decided why not? We knew nothing about the town other than the famous crystal, but it totally wasn't worth it. The town itself was kind of ugly, and seemed to cater to Russian tourists who are shopping. We had the longest lunch in history at an unremarkable hotel restaurant, and foolishly (I know, I KNOW) we didn't gas up in Nancy when leaving. I have a chip & pin card, so I figured we could gas up wherever. What I didn't know was my chip & pin card only works in Germany, so we found ourselves in Baccarat on a Sunday with no manned gas pumps. Locals told us we'd have to backtrack to Luneville to find a manned gas station, and we did - only to find nothing with the car completely on empty. I used bad French and pantomime and begged a motorcyclist getting gas to put money in our tank for cash, which worked out fine, but all told the stress and hassle cost us nearly 2 hours, and we were rushing to get home for a big public viewing of a Germany Eurocup game. Of course, on the way out of town, we finally did pass the one manned gas station. Figures. This was totally our own fault though, we had ample opportunities to gas up as we left Nancy and just didn't bother. Lesson learned. The rest of the trip back was pretty unremarkable, although the change in excitement about Eurocup was noticeable as soon as we crossed the Rhine, where all the cars were suddenly sporting flags. We made it home in time for the game, but not in time to sit with our friends at the crowded biergarten.

Overall though we really enjoyed Nancy and the surrounding area. We may go up that way again to visit Verdun and Metz. Nancy is only 90 minutes by TGV from Paris and Strasbourg, and it's amazing just how lovely and fun this youthful yet stately city is. And did I mention it was cheap? It was cheap! If you have a few days to kill and want to go somewhere new and really off the tourist path, I would highly recommend it.

Sounds great, Sarah! Thanks for the great report.

Sounds wonderful! Do you know why your chip-and-pin only works in Germany?

Thanks for sharing. it sounds as if you had an enjoyable trip.

Very well written. Not so sure Nancy is off the tourist path, however. Michelin Greens give it three stars, the same as Paris, etc - - and has as long as I've been using them.

Ed - thanks! I agree it shouldn't be off the tourist track, although Nancy gets no mention in the Blue book (but so many places don't, not really surprising). That said, for the beauty of the place, it really didn't FEEL touristy. It just felt very much like an exceptionally stunning university town. The energy of the students and the youth culture was very present. It made bar-hopping a real joy. But we didn't encounter "english menus" or anything like that on the trip, the only people who spoke english to us were the helpful front desk people at the Best Western and some random football fans and gay bar people, who all acted fairly surprised to have American tourists in town. They said it was a rarity for Americans to be here and acted as if Nancy was kind of a backwater - but we did notice a few english-speaking tourists but in general it did not seem particularly heavily touristed, at least in an international sense. There were a couple english-speaking tourists in Domremy La Pucelle but the majority were French or German. I think in general the area attracts plenty of European tourists but not a lot of Americans.

My daughter spent a year teaching in Nancy, Fr. We visited her for 10 days and saw one other American, of the loud variety. I just asked her and she said the entire time she saw two American tourists at the most. Of course, there were a couple of other Americans teaching there as well. I found Nancy to be a lovely, smaller version of Paris-many art nouveau buildings, etc. I love Paris, too, but this would be a lovely city to live in. People were recognizing us and speaking to us by the time we left.

Wray - that fits my impressions, too! They just don't get a lot of American or English-speaking tourists there. It made the language barrier slightly more difficult but I enjoyed practicing my French and I found people there in general very friendly and kind.