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Published: July 16th 2017
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Somewhere on the highway to Nancy
Baby wild boar that ran in front of us yesterday. A Getty photo. What a surprise greeted us this morning. Sunshine. Where is the rain? The international weather forecasters have predicted a brief thunderstorm at 11:55 am. How good is that? So the plan today is tram ride into the city centre, get to the large shopping mall by 11:45 am, lunch, and when the sky clears more sightseeing. Good plan, yes. In reality, we’ll see.
We turned down the 10.50 euro breakfast for a much healthier DIY breakfast of cereal, fruit, yoghurt, tea and pastry. Mr Leclerc does a nice breakfast for a fraction of the cost. Why have a kitchen and not use it.
After being well fed we take the very short walk to the tram stop. We try the self service ticket machine. We press a few touch screen buttons and get no result. We think one instruction said buy from the conductor on the tram. Along comes the tram, get on board, no conductor. We feel like international criminals. After a short distance the tram stops outside the cathedral. We take the opportunity to get off before being confronted by an inspector, and visit the cathedral. The cathedral was built in the early 18th century. It isn’t
Nancy
One of many colourful gardens. one of the memorable structures but was a good excuse to alight from the tram before we got into trouble.
Back at the tram stop we work out how to get our tickets. With a clear conscience we take the tram one stop. We probably could have walked the distance faster but we get to where we want for the price of one ticket. Luck is with us. It is 11:30 am and no rain.
On our walk to the shopping centre we pass through a large produce market. What an incredible sight. Fresh fruit and vegetables, cheeses, processed and fresh meat and fish are displayed in a way that invites the buyer to stop awhile and fill their bag. Our bag is full of raincoats and umbrellas and we are not staying awhile. If we were, this is the place to shop. Once through the market we cross Place Charles to the St Sebastion Commercial Centre. It is 12 noon and no thunderstorm. Once inside the shopping centre you feel as though you could be anywhere in the world. Time for lunch at Pauls, a cafe we visited somewhere else in France on a previous trip.
Nancy
Inside the markets. It is 1:00 pm and no rain. Time to be brave. We walk along Rue Stanislas to Place Stanislas. The locals say this is the most beautiful city square in Europe. Other cities in Europe probably disagree. Around the square are examples of fine iron work gates and fences with gold embellishments. Bordering the square all the buildings are similar, we think about 18th century, and in the middle is a statue of Stanislas Leszczynski, King of Poland and Duke of Lorraine. He is feted as a reunificator and benefactor of the region.
Our walk takes us through several other tree lined Places and streets with the typical French buildings about four storeys high, shuttered windows and a roof line with dormer windows. Sometimes we start to wonder how old some of these buildings really are. Might call on Google for help. It is now close to 3:00 pm and there is a hint of rain. We have had a surprisingly good day in a city we didn’t know too much about. It has been easy to move around, costs very little on the tram, streets are clean, and the pedestrian is catered for in the commercial area of
Nancy
An example of some fine ironwork around the city. the city. We feel safe and happy.
We buy our tram ticket, journey back, stop outside Mr Leclerc, purchase dinner, and retire for the rest of the afternoon. What about the thunderstorm? For once the forecasters got it wrong. The raincoats stayed folded up in the bag along with the umbrellas. It has been a great day out. We had fun.
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