After a trip across the rolling plains of central France on the legendary TGV high-speed train, we were greeted by our hosts André and Catherine who welcomed us with a delicious lunch on their backyard terrace. Long-time residents of the regions their hospitality and unique insight into the region and its long history were much appreciated. Their warmth and kindness during our stay offered these two Americans a glimpse into the rich banquet of cuisine, culture and calm by which we'll forever remember this lovely region.
The turbulent history of the region lends itself to a present-day calm that had a bewitching effect on these two visitors. Metz proved to be a gorgeous, green, compact city. The ideal size to marry culture and quiet harmoniously.
The medieval arcade of Metz in December is site of one of the reputedly-epic Christmas markets of eastern France. It being summer and France, music was not in short supply. Just grab and chair at your café of preference, sit back and enjoy.
Ruth admires one of the numerous canals constructed along the lovely but often times unnavigable Moselle River.
St. Etienne, patron saint of Metz's cathedral, who rid the city of the terrible dragon, Graoully (pictured subdued at his feet).
Like Rouen, Paris and Reims, Metz possesses one of the true jewels of French Gothic architecture. The unlikely harmony of imposing size and delicate detail are the characteristic trademarks of the period. Metz's cathedral was constructed of Pierre de Jaumont, an earthen-hued limestone unique to the surrounding area. The unusual coloring, as in the case of the rose-colored sandstone of the Strasbourg Cathedral, lends a unique personality to each of these superb cathedrals.
One of the numerous stained glass windows designed and executed by Marc Chagall. Metz 's cathedral boasts the largest square footage of stained glass of any cathedral in France. No small feat in this the birthplace of soaring gothic arches and the luminous quest for celestial interior lighting. The Chagall series adds a special quality to Metz's cathedral, a unique juxtaposition of 20th century master working in a medium and discourse that predates the modern period.
The other beating heart of Metz, the covered market with its own host of otherwordly colors and forms, provided a sampling of Italian, Polish and other cuisines representative of immigrant contribution to this blue-collar region.
L'église St. Pierre aux Nonnains alone can lay claim to being the oldest church in France. The building dates to the year 387 A.D. and stands as a rare survivor of the pillaging and destruction of the early medieval period. At its feet, the new center and place of assembly for secular French society: the ubiquitous cafe.
Matthew takes advantage of the calm and quiet of the countryside after a superb first day in lovely Lorraine.
Our second day started with an hour and a half drive to the eastern region of Alsace. After a picnic on the German side of the Rhine, we crossed back into France and spent the day in the charming Alsacian capital of Strasbourg. With its lace-stonework cathedral and Venetian-style canal system, the city forms a pleasant bridge between the finest points of French and German cultures. Along with Brussels, the city is also the principal seat of European politics and business.
The medieval maison à colombage style of architecture in the city surprisingly recalls the Normandy region and our own city of Rouen.
The Germanic influence is readily apparent in the architecture of eastern France.
After a tour of the historic Petite France portion of the city, we headed south along the German border into the breathtaking Alsace wine region, home to sparkling whites, delicious Rieslings and aromatic Gewürztraminers. A short stop-over in the picturesque village of Kaysersburg, birthplace of Albert Schwietzer, left us plotting ways to return to this jewel of the Alsacian wine route.
Day three saw us up early to embark upon a tour of the Meuse department with its numerous battlefields, cemetaries and monuments to the horrific trench warfare of WWI. Verdun lies smack on the frontier between Germanic and Gallic cultures. From Charlemagne to Hitler, the city, as with the Lorraine region in general, has been for centuries at the frontlines of dispute and tension between these august and often bellicose rivals.
The story of Verdun is one of the shocking feats of barbarity and violence in our collective modern history. Fighting over a few square miles of symbolic terrain, the French and German war machines succeeded in killing over a half-million men in nine short months, the majority of them blown to pieces by the constant artillery fire that pinned them in their trenches. In the nearby Douaumont ossuary, the remains of some 130,000 unidentified French and German young men provide evidence of the human cost of this insane warfare, piles of femurs, skulls and ribs lining the windowed alcoves along the perimeter of the building.
In the process of battle the surrounding hillsides of wooded terrain were turned into a lunar landscape where villages were razed to the ground, residents never to return or rebuild. The eternal murmur of pines and the odd plaque indicating the one-time location of a bakery or post-office are all that remains of the era.
This new nature of violence and physical disembodiment gave birth to the modern idea of a tomb commemorating an unknown solider. The remains laid to rest under Paris' Arc de Triomphe were taken from the battlefields of Verdun and testify to a new era of human barbarity in which the mutilation of the human body and the final frontier of human decency were now transgressed.
After Verdun, we visited the American WWI monument at Monsec. This impressive neoclassical work commemorating the American capture of the Saint Mihiel salient in 1918 dominates the quiet plains of the Meuse department in the Lorraine region. It was at the time a crucial German vantage point offering views far behind French lines.
The history of the region would not be complete without some word to explain the currently-established peace between the once bitter enemies of France and Germany. Part of the origins of that peace can be traced to the humble figure of one Robert Schuman. One of the fascinating figures in the construction of the modern-day European Union, Schuman used the leading industries of the time, the coal and steel trade, to create a stable framework for economic and political cooperation between longtime enemies France and Germany as well as the greater part of Europe. His house and garden in Scy-Chazelles are a testament to a life that melded secular and spiritual, Gallic and Prussian, thought and action in an admirable harmony.
Any summary of our journey would not be complete without one final word of thanks to our hosts Andre and Catherine. Your generosity and patient willingness to show us the very best of this complex and fascinating region will not soon be forgotten. The historical and cultural context you provided were truly priceless and enriched our experience immeasurably.
Merci beaucoup et à bientôt.
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