Palais du Cardinal Louis de Rohan Savernne |
My knee is improving and I can now get about in reasonable
fashion with the aid of a knee brace. ‘Reasonable fashion’ is, perhaps, not
quite precise as my knee accessory is, in fact, perfectly colour coordinated
with my blue bathers. ‘Bathers!’ I hear you splutter. Yes, indeed. Rain jackets
and fleeces, de rigeu,r last week have been put away, hopefully for the
remainder of the summer. The temperature has hit the high 30s and emboldened by
the admirably carefree attitude of the hordes of scantily clad Dutch boaters
we’re now encountering on their annual southerly migration we’ve broken out the
bathers. I’ll spare you the photos though.
After leaving Strasbourg
we continued along the Canal de la Marne au Rhin stopping at Saverne and
Lutzelbourg. Saverne is yet another handsome Alsation town with, once again,
impressive buildings ranging from ancient half timbered houses to the immense
Palais du Cardinal Louis de Rohan which overlooks the moorings. The canal from
here to Lutzelbourg climbs through thick forest. Lutzelbourg is a very pretty
small town in a deep valley and is overlooked by a ruined chateau.
Lutzelbourg |
We arrived
on the eve of Bastille Day and were briefly excited to learn that the planned
celebrations included an open air dance and fireworks that night. I say briefly
because the rain arrived soon after us and the whole thing was cancelled. ‘It
happens every year,’ the young lock keeper told us the next morning with a
resigned shrug of the shoulders (haven’t seen so many of those this year).
Anyway, we had a good evening in the brasserie instead.
It’s but a short hop (haha) from here to the inclined plane
and the 2 tunnels on the summit of the canal about which I have nothing further
to say.
We said goodbye to Libby and Brian at Hesse
(thanks again for the great company) and continued our way slowly to Nancy
where we stayed for a few days. The port is very busy here and doesn’t have a
great deal of room for visitors so we spent our first night in the next basin
along the canal which we subsequently discovered is supposed to be for freight
vessels of which there are very few and I doubt if any would stop there anyway.
There were a couple of large peniches (barges) moored neither of which looked
like it had moved in many years. Next morning we were woken by a large Heineken
truck parking alongside us and then a couple of guys began transferring its
contents to the peniche beside us. Enough beer to sink a ship in fact. After
the truck left we looked more closely at
the sign on the boat’s gangway and discovered that it was a night club and open
on Friday and Saturdays from midnight
to 5am. As that was Friday we decided
moving might be wise and so we shifted into the crowded marina.
There is much to like about Nancy.
It is here that the French Art Nouveau movement was most vibrant and there are
many beautiful buildings around the city as well as the lovely Musee d’ecole Nancy.
Musee d'ecole Nancy |
And then there is the Place Stanislas. As part of its summer spectacle Nancy
puts on a sound and light extravaganza in the Place so our first sight of it
was at 10.30 at night when it was illuminated and the square was full of people
waiting for the show to begin. And what a sight – one of those places that make
you (well me anyway) just stop and say wow! The light show was fabulous. We’ve
been so lucky to see these this year. The Place Stanislas is exquisite during
the daytime as well. It is reputed to be the finest in France
and with its perfectly proportioned buildings and gilded fountains I can well
believe it. We had a look inside the Grand Hotel which is on one side of the
square and very grand it is too. Nevertheless if you want to bring your dog to
stay that’s absolutely fine and it’ll only cost you an extra 15euro a night.
Cheaper than kennels and oh, so much grander.
Place Stanislas Nancy |
Next major stop was the fortified town of Toul.
Another city, another light show. This time in the cathedral’s lovely
cloisters. This spectacle was more low key than Nancy
and had a commentary of which one of us understood about half and the other
none at all but it was very enjoyable nonetheless. It was too hot to explore
much of Toul during the day and it has a somewhat deserted air in the evening.
The town’s Vauban designed and impressive fortifications were no defence
against aerial bombardment and it was badly damaged during WW2.
We are now following the Meuse on our
way to Verdun.
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