We had only one full day in Nancy, but not too much we knew about to see. We started at St Stanislas Square, a massive and beautiful square that is one of a number of UNESCO sites we'd see on this trip. It was such a lovely space that we felt that we needed to take the time to have a coffee there to appreciate it better!
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| Place Stanislas |
From the square, a quick walk took us through lovely gardens to the St Eprve gothic church, which had some fabulous stained glass. We'd come to Nancy mainly for the art nouveau that was based there, so we started on one of the art nouveau walking routes. It's not perhaps as flamboyant as some other places, but interesting all the same.
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| St Eprve gothic tracery and glass |
We were heading for the Musee des Beaux Arts to see their displays of art nouveau furniture and glassware, but decided we needed a little something before we spent an hour or more there. On our walking route we came across the very special Brasserie Excelsior - one of the best pieces of art nouveau in Nancy. By now it was almost lunchtime, but on asking they said yes indeed they could do a coffee, despite the place being a flurry of activity with a dozen staff setting all the tables up for lunch. On their menu was a little pick-me-up - their tarte of the day and a coffee. Fabulous it was too, and in such an amazing setting.
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| Brasserie Excelsior |
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| Brasserie Excelsior |
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| Tartine au mirabelles, Brasserie Excelsior |
That under our belt, it was into the Musee where we enjoyed the exhibition. A highlight was seeing original specification drawings by some of the glass and furniture designers of the time. Obviously they trusted their craftsmen immensely, as the drawings were remarkably skimpy for what were in some cases massively expensive complete bedroom suites.
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| A design for a complete range of glassware |
The afternoon was mainly spent following the art nouveau trails, including the Musee Ecole de Nancy, which was entirely about art nouveau. A very interesting day, and though very hot we coped well.
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| Designer Majorelle's house |
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| Dining room in the Ecole de Nancy Museum |
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| A full bedroom suite |
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