Last week for my belated birthday, B took me to Metz, France. Why Metz, France? Well, there are several reasons I wanted to go, but mostly because of their huge indoor flea market. Metz is close to the border of Germany so there are a lot of German influences such as the Neuf Temple above. I was told that many of the French countries bordering Germany like Metz, Strasbourg, and Colmar were similar. Although I haven't been to Colmar yet, I've been to Strasbourg, France and Metz couldn't be more different. It has this almost eerie feel to it as you can see in the pictures. The buildings were very old and it made for such a dramatic effect...Especially the cemetery. Oh you must go to the cemetery if you ever go to Metz. It's very haunting and all of the tombstones are very elaborate. There is an older part to the cemetery that is no longer maintained and you can't even read some of the headstones anymore.
The St. Etienne Cathedral (Metz Cathedral) is in the center of the town. It's a good place to start if you want to explore the city. We were in town on a Saturday and there were tons of things going on. There was a huge farmers market around the cathedral. You can also meet at the cathedral if you want to do any tours. There was a little train trolley that did tours for 6 euro in various languages.
The opera house, Opera Theatre de Metz Metropole is the oldest operating opera house in France and it is also one of the oldest opera houses in Europe. I was intrigued by the German built Neo-Romanesque, Neuf Temple. It was built by the Germans in 1904. You should see it from the front and from behind on the bridge.
The Anc Temple de Garnison is quite a tall landmark but if you think it looks like something is missing, that's because there is. The temple suffered a bad fire and the surrounding temple had to be demolished.
The last landmark we saw was the Centre Pompidou Metz. It's a modern and contemporary art museum built by a Japanese architect. We didn't go inside but it was right next to our hotel we stayed in, the Hotel Ibis Centre Metz Gare, where we enjoyed a reasonable stay.
For lunch. I was excited to get my fill of French food. German food is great, but they don't have a lot of good cuts of beef and seafood. We had lunch at a restuarant near the Neuf Temple and it was delicious. I will say, that not a whole lot of people speak English in Metz. Either they can't or they won't. I expected that since it was so close to the German border they would speak a bit of German so we also tried to communicate in German, but they only spoke French. I liked Metz and it was visually different than any other place I've been to in Europe. You can reasonably spend the whole day walking around downtown, shopping, and getting lost in the cobblestone streets. We did.
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| Metz Cathedral |
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| Opera Theatre de Metz Metropole |
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| Neuf Temple |
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| Anc Temple de Garnison |
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| Metz Cemetery |
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| Metz Farmer's Market |
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| Centre Pompidou Metz |
I rated Metz high in food, historical/museums, kid friendly, photo ops, safe for solo travel (IMO), shopping, and a unique destination.
Would you visit Metz, France?
Linking up at:
Typicall for Frensh, they speak either english nor german even if they can speak, they dont want. But more and more habe to speak german if they can speak or learning german because they want to go to germany and want a job in germany: http://www.spiegel.de/karriere/berufsleben/junge-franzosen-gehen-in-deutschland-auf-jobsuche-a-961988.html
ReplyDeleteBeautiful town. Metz was german in the past! Lot of architecture is german there!
Greetings from Bavaria, too
M.S.
This looks like a beautiful trip!
DeleteThanks for the insight and article M.S.
DeleteI love the Neuf Temple, so pretty!
ReplyDeleteBEAUTIFUL pictures! I'd visit in a heartbeat!
ReplyDeletexo,
Stephanie
Diary of a Debutante
www.thediaryofadebutante.com
I was going to say I really love the buildings, but that tree is awesome!
ReplyDeleteIt's been my experience that the French don't speak English to strangers because they feel self conscious. English is taught in the school system starting at (the US equivalent of) 7th grade, I mean intensely. My son is in the US 5th grade and they do an English lesson a couple times a week is all. But if people don't study or practice as they get older, they'll forget. There are some people I am friends with that are fluent English speakers, and others that don't speak any at all because they didn't need to learn. It's very interesting for sure!
That makes sense. I guess I'm just more used to the Germans that willingly speak English and are very good at it. I'm sure the French are good as well, it's just tough to get them to try it. If I learned another language that young I'd want to speak it as much as possible.
DeleteBeautiful! I love taking these trips via your blog, Brittany! Thanks so much for the virtual tour. I want to plan a visit to Europe for next year, and we would love this region.
ReplyDeleteThanks for following along Cynthia!
DeleteWow, Metz looks gorgeous!!! x
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a lovely town. I've never visited it... It's really accross France from my cottage.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! And such beautiful places to visit. Thank you for sharing at Fridays Unfolded! I always look forward to your posts!
ReplyDeleteAlison
Nancherrow
Have you ever made it to Bruges? It's a small town nearby Brussels in Belgium. Metz looks exactly like this place - charming, picturesque, cozy and small :). Wish I could spend a day or two there.
ReplyDeleteI've been all over Belgium but I haven't been to Bruges. I really want to go though because I've always heard amazing things.
DeleteMan that is some lovely architecture! You visited many lovely places! I've never been to France so I was able to see a little bit through your eyes thanks :). I'm aware that I sound like a sap so I'm going to go now lol.
ReplyDeleteAmazing! Neuf looks so cool!
ReplyDeleteI like the purple door and metal scrollwork on that one building. It's so unexpected. I wonder if the Centre Pompidou in Metz is associated with the one in Paris as the Paris one also houses modern art.
ReplyDeletehmm no idea.
DeleteThe architecture is really interesting.
ReplyDeleteBrittany, I like your new picture of you on your sidebar. You are really blessed to be young and get to travel so much. You are very smart to see as much as you can now before you have children.
ReplyDeleteMetz is interesting. We saw a similar cemetery in Provence.
Thank you Bonnie! My thoughts exactly. Children can wait.
DeleteOh my. These photos are gorgeous! I'm so jealous!
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining the Link Up this week!
Hi Brittany Ruth, found you through Dawn's link party and I am adding you to my circle of those I'll follow. I have always wanted to visit France especially, so it will be nice to read your perspective on the travels you log. I love the purple doors on the Neuf (?), and cemeteries always intrigue me too. Looking forward to visiting vicariously through you!
ReplyDeleteRita C at Panoply
Thanks for the follow Rita!
DeleteI lived in a suburb of Metz, Scy Chazelles, for a year as a child. We then moved to Chambley Air Base, about 15 miles away. This was 1962-65. France, especially in the northeast, was still recovering from WWII at the time. This area of the Alsace Lorraine went back and forth between France and Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries due to wars. It's not surprising they would not speak German due to this. Metz is my favorite city---thank you for sharing your trip there!
ReplyDeleteMetz is your favorite city in all of Europe or France?
DeleteThat cathedral is stunning, yes, I'd love to visit Metz, France! Thank you for sharing this and your flea market article at History and Home this week. Take care - Dawn @ We Call It Junkin.com
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was a lovely time. I really like the purple doors & fence of the Neuf Temple- really pretty!
ReplyDeleteIt looks stunning, and as you say, completely different to Strasbourg. We just stopped off in Arras on our way back from the UK, was so nice to have some decent seafood, we lack that down here sadly (well you can find it, but it's not freely available and it costs an arm and a leg!) :D
ReplyDeleteHello Brittany,
ReplyDeleteAgain I really liked your post! You seem really gifted with your writing skills and you certainly know how to describe a city! For Metz, I can tell because I live here!
Your comment about us (the French) not being able to speak either English or German made me laugh because that's regrettably true! But one of the comment got it right! Most of the time we feel self conscious about speaking a foreign language and it tends not to be as important as it is in Germany (for example) to be able to communicate with other in another language than French!
Anyway I really enjoyed reading your blog!
A.x