Today I arrived in beautiful Metz, France. Prior to planning my trip here, I'd never heard of this place. Boy would I have missed out!
I started my day in Metz with a visit to the Cathedral of Saint-Etienne, a beautiful gothic style cathedral. All I have to say about it is "Wow!" The Cathedrale St. Etienne is quite the site indeed. It is a Gothic masterpiece. I was in awe of all the gargoyles, angels, demons, cherubs and devilish-looking creatures carved into its Jaumont stone structure. There are some fascinating carved depictions from the Bible; Heaven and Hell being the main theme…very cool to see. The cathedral also has the 3rd highest nave in France, which adds to its grandeur. There are also a ton of stained glass windows. They are absolutely incredible to look at. Out of my travels, this is definitely the most impressive and unique cathedral I have visited.
After the cathedral, headed over to the Musee de la Cour d'Or. It is a museum with valuable collections of Roman and Medieval art. I was really impressed with the carved funerary steles. They were incredible. I also thought it was neat to see the ancient baths and various objects of daily use and tombs of the Merovingian kings. Of course the paintings were amazing too. Some of the paintings were by some painters of the "The Metz School," which was an art movement in Metz and its region gathering around Laurent-Charles Marechal between 1834 and 1870.
After the museum, we decided to go see the Jardin Botanique. Its not something I would normally take the time to do while sightseeing, but something about it's description made me want to see it. It has over 80 different varieties of roses, herbs, flowers of every hue, and fragrance, in addition to palms, and high trees such as the 140 years old sequoia tree. I have to say that we were very glad we went. It was very beautiful and a nice end to our sightseeing for the day. It was interesting to compare to our own botanical gardens. I haven't been to our local botanical gardens for a while, but in comparison this one is much bigger, and has a lot more to look at. It was gorgeous.
After the gardens it was time for dinner at Restaurant Thierry. The style was mostly a fusion of French, North African and Asian cooking. Just a few meters away from the cathedral, we thought it'd be a great place to eat, even though it wasn't local cuisine per se. I decided to try something I had never had, so I ordered the Roasted black pudding with lemon mashed potatoes. The potatoes were good. Let's leave it at that. ;)
Finally it was time for us to head in for the night and get some sleep. We headed to the Hotel de la Cathedrale. It's a wonderful hotel, in perfect location, facing the cathedral. A perfect place to call it a night.
No comments:
Post a Comment