Nancy and beyond

Travelled:139km
Visited:Nancy, Domremy, Grand
Stay:Greux- free parking next to church, free water GPS N48°26.997' E5°40.585'

We drove to Nancy in the pouring rain and arrived in the carpark (GPS N 48.70403 E6.17598 cheap and can stay ovenight for an extra €2) just before 9am.

 On our short walk into the old quarter we stopped in one of the many Boulangeries (just got to love France for this) and  bought a couple of croissants for breakfast.  We entered the town via two gateways- Porte de la Citadelle 

and Porte Notre Dame built in the 14thC. 

Walking past the Ducal Palace, that is now the Lorraine Museum, we admired its copper spire 

and then Saint Epvre's Basilica with its newly cleaned facade.

 We eventually find Place Stanisias that is considered as one of the most beautiful royal squares in Europe. It was inaugurated in 1755 and is a Unesco World Heritage site along with the surrounding classical buildings with gold embossed wraught iron railings and lamps.  

Having been duly impressed we make our way to the Cathedral and take a walk in the gardens. On our way back to Bluey we venture along different streets following the Tourist Map. 

An interesting sculpture in a garden.

After a cup of tea and a heavy down pour we drive to Domremy where Joan of Arc was born. We visited her home and a  museum with exhibits dedicated to the Middle Ages with a film about her short life to sainthood. 

We then head to Grand which has a Roman amphitheatre and huge Roman mosaic floor, as it is late we decide to only visit the later. It was uncovered in 1883 and believed to be part of a basilica built in the 2ndC. We watched a film about the other Roman discoveries in the town including 15km of underground channels to access the water under the limestone rock, some were as deep as 12m. They also had as many as 30 wells/inspection points scattered around the village. 

As there was very poor internet reception here, we went to the small village of Greux and parked in the dedicated motorhome parking area next to the church.