Touring Downtown Metz (France): Visiting the Showplace of the Lorraine by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Touring Downtown Metz (France):  Visiting the Showplace of the Lorraine by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

A tour of Metz, the showplace of the Lorraine in Eastern France, awaited us the next day.  How do you do justice to a town like this in a few paragraphs?

Metz is 3,000 years old according to one of the guidebooks I bought (Metz: Découverte) and merits just as much of a visit as the towns in Provence I thought.  Metz is famous for its merchants, bankers, and warriors.

The guide went on to say that Metz tried to profit from its proximity to Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany in the modern era with its university and hi-tech companies.

I felt that the town was more Europe-oriented than Paris, because of the willingness of its inhabitants to speak foreign languages. 

The people of Metz do remember that the European Union was formed by European steel manufacturers, who needed to sell cars, trains, buses, planes, ships, submarines, and weather satellites.  All of these items needed to be sold to decision-makers, who preferred to speak in their own language.

We began our tour at the Place de la Comédie and walked to Saint Etienne Cathedral.  The Cathedral was being restored to its lovely ochre color again.  The construction began in the 13^th century on this Cathedral.

The vaulting inspires vertigo.  The city had not begun restoring the interior, so it had black soot and mold everywhere.  Archaeology involved a lot of sooty scraping I decided.  Mass was in session, so I did not tour the Cathedral.

Outside everyone was selling Lilies of the Valley for May 1^st.  We walked to the Place Saint Louis, which was originally the Place de la Change.  It was built in the 13^th and 14^th centuries.

The Place St. Louis is a series of connected buildings with arcades on the ground floor.  The supporting pillar between each arch ballooned out a bit.  During the Middle Ages, this was the fief of Jewish and Lombard bankers.  The Milanese bankers of Northern Italy were called “Lombards.”

The day we visited, old paintings were being displayed along the arcades.  We walked around town enjoying the sights until noon when we went back to the apartment to meet Laurent’s cousins.  We set out for a little restaurant outside town called Chez Yvette.

We started with Kir – a sweet, white wine made with blackberry liqueur.  We ate white asparagus from Hoerdt in Alsace.  Laurent’s cousin told us that Hoerdt is a small village near Strasbourg, which is the asparagus capital of Eastern France.

The asparagus were served with homemade mayonnaise or vinaigrette.  White asparagus has a milder taste than its green cousin, but I like them both.  We drank a dry Alsatian Pinot Noir (Gaston Lorentz 1992) with the asparagus.

Then, we ate magret de canard, which is the fat line from the breast that comes from ducks and geese.  We drank a Côtes de Beaune from Burgundy with this dish.

As the cheese course, we ate Alsace’s only cheese that is also superlative – Muenster.  It has a stinky aroma, but I like it on pumpernickel bread with caraway seeds.  It actually tastes better with beer than wine I think.

We drank our coffee on the restaurant terrace and watched the children play on the swing set that the restaurant had for children outside.  I went out and pushed the kids in my heels and dress and did a few “underdog” pushes much to the delight of the children, who wanted to swing higher and higher.

I could have stayed there all night, but we had to go back to Paris.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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May Day in Metz (France): Eastern France Celebrates the Day with Traditional Lilies by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

May Day in Metz (France): Eastern France Celebrates the Day with Traditional Lilies by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

My husband Laurent and I arrived in lush, green Metz in Eastern France earlier than planned.  It rains a lot in this region, which makes life disagreeable during winter, but beautiful in summer.

Flowers abound and lilac trees pop up everywhere with their sweet fragrance.  The child in me wanted to pick a few lilac stems just for me.

We enjoyed driving along the limpid Moselle and Seille Rivers.  The charm of Metz is that this city is built on several islands in these rivers.

We spent our time touring town.  We knew that we could not arrive before the appointed time in France for a meal, so we had fun exploring town.

We went to the area around the heavy, stone Germanic train station where we could find parking.  We unloaded Florence and went to a shoe store where Laurent could purchase shoes at a lower price than in Paris; retail store rent in Metz was lower than it was in Paris, which the store owner passed on to the customer here by lowering the price of shoes.

The city was building a parking lot for the train station, which had become an archaeological dig.  There were many Roman ruins in the area.  Some people even believed the bones of “garoully” were being dug up.  I did, too, until I looked the word up in the dictionary and asked people if that was really the word for “dragon.”

We drove along the fashionable Avenue Foch and looked at the heavy, stone Germanic-style houses whose decorative garlands looked ready to fall from their weight.  The feather-light French apartment buildings had decorative garlands that seemed to float.

We drove to St. Symphorien Island where Laurent’s cousin lived.  We were still a little early, but we found a park where Florence could play some more.  A respectable hour to show up finally arrived.  We brushed sand off of Florence and went to the apartment.

We exchanged two-cheeked air kisses once we arrived.  Laurent’s cousin asked Florence, “Treasure, how are you doing?”

I liked Laurent’s cousin, because she called Florence and her grandchildren “Treasure.”

Next, we set out for our hotel.  Laurent’s cousin told the manager of the hotel that the rooms were correct, but, “Surely you must have something better.”  (I think she was in a loyalty program and had points to use for hotel room upgrades.)

Laurent’s cousin worked for the French administration and made sure her little cousins were going to be taken care of well.

We came back to the apartment to eat a delicious lunch that Laurent’s cousin’s husband prepared.  We began our meal with hard-boiled eggs served with sour capers and chopped raw vegetables.  The shiny egg yolks looked like custard.

Our raw vegetables would have pleased any vegetarian.  We started with one of my favorite entrées – a grated carrot salad with oil and vinegar dressing seasoned only with salt and pepper.

Sometimes the simplest things are some of the best.  (I also like the Moroccan version of grated carrot salad with a sweet and lemony dressing, raisins soaked in tea, and fresh mint leaves.)

Next among our tasty openers was grated celeriac, wild celery in remoulade sauce.  Remoulade sauce is made with homemade mayonnaise and Dijon mustard.  We also ate sliced cucumbers in fresh cream.

Laurent’s cousin’s main dish of veal knuckle in a white wine sauce with onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes made me ask for seconds and forget my perpetual dieting to be a runway model.

The tender veal meat fell off the bone and tasted delicious with Pinot Noir from Alsace (Jérome Lorentz fils 1992).  I felt like I was eating a classic French meal, but it could be equally a German meal I thought.

For the cheese course, I thought I ate a ripe, runny Camembert.  Laurent’s cousin served strawberries from the Marne region in red wine for dessert.  I liked this just as well as dunking them in sugar.

We drank strong espressos with an eau-de-vie made of yellow plums called mirabelles, a specialty of the Lorraine region.

This great lunch necessitated a walk around town “to digest” as the French say.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France


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French Seafood Meal in Metz (Lorraine Region, France) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

French Seafood Meal in Metz (Lorraine Region, France) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

My husband Laurent’s cousin’s children invited Laurent, baby Florence, and me for lunch on our long weekend vacation in Metz, France.  We offered them a magnum of Moët and Chandon champagne that we could all drink as a cocktail.

We began our meal with a large platter of white asparagus from Hoerdt in Alsace (France).  We ate these with a bright yellow, homemade mayonnaise that was flecked with freshly chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley.

Our next course was a marmite de pêcheur (a seafood casserole).  The seafood casserole had items in it like shrimp, octopus, scallops, mussels, and salmon in a white sauce made with white wine.

Salmon and shrimp together have a sweet taste and should be paired up in more recipes I thought.  We drank a pinot blanc from Alsace  (Jérome Lorentz fils 1997) – a dry and fruity white wine that is typical of Alsatian white wines.

Then, we had paper-thin slices of prosciutto from Parma, Italy.  The other ham we tried was called a San Daniele from Italy’s Udine region, which also produces Moretti beer.  This region used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is called the Sud Tyrol in German.

We drank a medium-bodied red wine with the ham called Bergerac (La Caste 1990) from southwestern France.

For our cheese course, we ate a perfectly ripe Camembert cheese.   Camembert is luscious when it is the real thing.

For dessert, we ate strawberry tartlets and slices of currant tart.

Finally, I drank an espresso as coretto with some Mirabelle (yellow plum) eau-de-vie in it while Laurent drank a marc de Calvados.  (Marc is the French version of Italian grappa.)

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Eating a Metz Meal: Dining in Lorraine France with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Sampling a Metz Meal:  Dining in Lorraine France with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Quiche Lorraine is certainly well-known in France, but it is the suckling pig and pork products that make the Lorraine famous. 

Pork tastes sweetest when pigs have been raised on milk, but pigs can eat almost anything.  This fact allows the citizens of Lorraine to enjoy nutritious meals even in lean times.

Our host, Laurent’s cousin’s husband, prepared an optimal gastronomic experience for us.  The meal started with several hors d’oeuvres.  The first of these was rillettes (pork cooked in its own fat and preserved in it).

Our host next heated up sausages that were flavored with thyme and white wine.  He also had some plain pork sausages just in case we were not getting enough food.

Just as I thought we had finished, I began to smell bread baking.  Our host now appeared with a tray of puff pastries filled with sausage.

I could have stopped then and there and eaten a sorbet for dessert, but sturdier offerings appeared out of the kitchen again.

This time our host carried out an oversized Quiche Lorraine.  As the American visitor, I just could not have one piece of Quiche Lorraine.

Seconds of a “real” Quiche appeared on my plate despite my unheeded pleas for mercy. 

“What is that?” I asked.

“A pork pie,” he said.

I ate some more and took a nap.  When I woke up, I drank some Mirabelle, an eau-de-vie yellow plum brandy.”

At home, I would have just had a large slice of Quiche Lorraine, salad, and a lemon soda.  I truly was overwhelmed by the meal, but it was very good.

Some French cookbooks with specialties of the Lorraine Region include:

-Saveur Cooks Authentic French:  Rediscovering the Recipes, Traditions, and Flavors of the World’s Greatest Cuisine by the Editors of Saveur Magazine

-Paris: Authentic Recipes Celebrating the Foods of the World by the Editors of Williams-Sonoma

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Exploring Metz: France's Eastern Stronghold by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Exploring Metz:  Visiting France’s Eastern Stronghold by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

My husband Laurent and I took the Autoroute de l’Est (East) to Metz.  Once we passed Eurodisney, the landscape became hilly.

Woods, stretches of forest, and champagne vineyards rolled by the car.  The landscape surprised me.  I thought that the East of France was flat and a little war-ravaged still with patches of unkempt fields and many war cemeteries with their uniform white crosses.

When we arrived in Metz, I did not expect to see a spot that shimmered with such lush, green colors.  It rains frequently, which makes everything grow easily.

Several islands break up the Moselle River.  A canal is attached to the river as well.  There are many pathways alongside the river, which allows everyone to take advantage of the flower-filled walks.

When we met Laurent’s cousin, I said, “Metz is beautiful” with a strong emphasis on the “z’” on the end of the word.

“We pronounce the name of our city as ‘Mess,”” his cousin told me.

She certainly knew how to pronounce the word as she was a high-ranking government official in the Préfet’s Office.  A French préfet is the rough equivalent of an American governor; they are appointed by the French president and not elected.

I had unknowingly touched upon some sore spots with my foreigner’s pronunciation of the final “z’ in the word Metz.  This northeastern region in France has been fought over by the Germans and French in two world wars in the 20^th century.

Metz is bisected by the limpid Moselle River with tiny island parks.  German architecture lines the fashionable Avenue Foch.

Every apartment building on this street seemed to sport a stepped, triangular façade typical of German architecture along with heavy, stone masonry.

The thick, floral garlands decorating the German homes seemed heavier than the narrower versions on French homes with their tall windows and smooth, light-colored stone exteriors.

There have been hideous wars between France and Germany with Metz on the frontlines.  However, there is a fusion of cultures in Metz that is artistic and beautiful.  (The Jews have a long history in Metz as well despite the fact that they no longer live there.)

The most obvious manifestation of contact between the German and French cultures appears in the famous name of Quiche Lorraine.  The name “quiche” comes from the German “küchen,” which means cake.

Housewives in Lorraine make Quiche Lorraine with a mixture of cream, eggs, and ham in an absorbent pie crust with ridges.  Sometimes grated gruyère is added to the recipe along with onions.

Every “mamiche” or “Lorraine Grandmother” has her own recipe.

Some French cookbooks with specialties of the Lorraine in them include:

-Saveur Cooks Authentic French:  Rediscovering the Recipes, Traditions, and Flavors of the World’s Greatest Cuisine by the Editors of Saveur Magazine

-Paris: Authentic Recipes Celebrating the Foods of the World by the Editors of Williams-Sonoma

by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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