Metz

Metz is the capital of Lorraine region.  It has the largest urban-conservation area of France.  We really only had time to have a glimpse of the city.  This photograph was taken from the Moyen Pont.

I woke up early in the morning of Sunday, May 6 to have a quick tour around the old town.  After Grace got up, we did another round.

It was actually a very gloomy day with only occasional sunshine.  I had to do some fancy HDR for most of these pictures.

This is Temple Neuf, the most photographic place in Metz.

 I had my polarizer with me, it not only darkened the sky but also made some amazing reflection from the water surface.

During my first walk around, I bought some croissants and different pastries from this shop to bring them back to the hotel for Grace.

I refused to take a photo of this cathedral.  But Grace insisted on having one for tourist's sake.  I then have to really work on it to make it worthwhile.

This is the road leading to the Cathedral.  We had another nice breakfast in a French tearoom just next to the Cathedral.

 By the time we were ready to go back to the hotel, it started to rain and then it poured.

Another highlight of the stay at Metz is the Hotel.  It is the old military school, Citadel, just next to the city square.  We were amazed at how big and nice the room was.

This is the governor palace just outside of the hotel.  I was attracted by this morning light to go out at 7 o'clock in the morning to photograph the city.

 Our room was actually just behind this round building.

The hotel is on Avenue Ney.  This is Marshal Ney, you must read about him on Wiki, an amazing piece of history.

Well, another high-point of staying at Hotel La Citadelle Metz is its Micheline starred restaurant.  But we were so tired from jet lag, Grace had to walked around to stay awake for the 7-course meal, or was it 8, 9 or 10?  The only thing we clearly remembered was the impressive cheese cart and each one of us had four different cheeses. I had the most smelly cheese in my life, it was not bad!