Spending A Day In Metz

Last June, I took the train to Metz and Luxembourg. I had been wanting to visit Luxembourg for a while, and there was a stop in Metz, to change trains. So, I thought “Why not sleep in Metz and spend a day there?”. I had never been to the city and I always enjoy discovering new places.

A Multilingual Chat Just Before Arriving In Metz

Lost In Translation

The journey lasted about 5 hours, but it was quite pleasant. An hour before arriving in Metz, in Strasbourg, a young guy got on the train and sat next to me. Nearly immediately, he called a friend and spoke in a foreign language (that I tried in vain to identify). He asked me, in English, when we would arrive in Metz and how much time was left. I answered, looking at the SNCF app to give him the exact time. He thanked me, spoke a bit more on the phone and hung up. He seemed a bit lost.

A Cliché Of French People

An old lady, on the other side of the train, told him, in French, that if he wanted to call, he better go outside. The guy was not on the phone, didn’t seem to be ready to call anyone and didn’t understand a thing she said. Clearly he didn’t speak French. The old lady looked annoyed, like a typical cliché of a French old lady.

I explained to him, in English, what she had just said and showed him the sign that we were not supposed to use phones on the train. He apologized and said it was his first time in France and he didn’t know that. He said that in Germany, they sometimes get on the train with their music. I told the old lady that I didn’t think he was about to make another phone call. She looked at me with disdain.

Pissing Off The Elderly

It always annoys me when French people act like this. No wonder Italians say are “puzza sotto il naso”, thinking highly of ourselves and full of contempt for others. Decided to annoy further more the lady and to show the guy that French people are not all assholes, I started a conversation with him. We didn’t have the right to be on our phone, but nothing prohibited chatting. The lady looked pissed off.

He was Albanian and was going to visit his cousin in Metz. No wonder I couldn’t recognize the language, it might have been the first time I heard Albanian. He spoke English, Russian, Albanian, German, Italian and no French. I was impressed. We talked until the train arrived, he thanked me and asked for my Instagram.

Visiting Metz In A Day

A Walking Tour To Discover Metz

Since I arrived around 9.30 pm, I didn’t do much on my first day. On the second day, Sunday, I had booked a walking tour. We were only ladies (even the guide) and I was the youngest. It was focused on history, sometimes too detailed. My brain selected a few pieces of information and threw away the rest. I really liked it, but it was quite fast. Not much time for pictures. But it allowed me to find my way around the city and to see all of the old center.

The city is quite beautiful in my opinion, I really like the district with bridges and canals. The architecture is a bit strange, as if they wanted to make it rich, but forgot to add details. Compared to Lyon or Toulouse, I felt like the buildings were not finished, lacking decorations.

It seems like a great city to live in, with nice cafés, an Italian festival (with food and music), cool shops and an impressive cathedral.

The Graoully

I discovered the legend of the graoully. A name that makes me giggle. To me, it sounds like a made-up name a 5 years old would have invented. “Graou” sounds like “grow” and “ly” sounds cute. Like cute little monster. My father had the same reaction. But the people I know who have heard the name since they were little never thought about it and don’t think that it sounds ridiculous.

Anyway, the graoully was sort of a dragon. According to the story, it was destroying the city of Metz before being defeated by Saint Clement of Metz, the first bishop of Metz, in the 3rd century.

Here is a photo of a representation you can find rue Taison, in Metz. It is said the name of the street comes from “Taisons-nous” (let’s shut up), because people didn’t want the graoully to hear them.

Centre Pompidou-Metz

The Centre Pompidou is famous in Paris, but there is also another center in Metz. I decided to go there, partly because I was curious, partly because it was so damn hot outside and air-conditioned inside.

Well, I didn’t like it. Apart from a few things, this was not for me. Too weird, too basic sometimes. Some stuff was disturbing… (Who dressed dead birds to expose them as dead?) There was an exhibition about video games, and all the designs were basic and ugly, not much interactive. When you see how amazing the designs of video games are today, you wonder why they chose that…

The only exhibition I kind of enjoyed was the one about Suzanne Valandon.

To see more photos of France, you can visit the gallery France.