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Preeti Mehra

If Paris bowls you over with its zest and vivaciousness, Nancy is a quaint throwback to 18th-century art and culture.

Picture-perfect Nancy

Amidst Art Nouveau architecture and World Heritage sites, it's Nancy's cobbled boulevards scattered with autumn leaves that bring a sense of longing... as well as belonging. France was really at its charming best in this little city this winter. Though temperatures were at an all-time low and the winds at their coolest, Nancy's warmth came from its gourmet French cuisine, Christmas cum New Year markets and spectacular squares and buildings steeped in history.

After the romance and vivaciousness of Paris that fills you with a zest for life and an eagerness to travel to every nook and corner of the country, Nancy's throwback to art and culture that dates back to the 18th century and onwards, was different and as absorbing.

Tucked away in the east of the country, Nancy is close to the German border and this gives the city its significance in the art map of the world. During German occupation, artists and poets fleeing their hometowns came here to preserve their French identity. Hence, Nancy turned into a cradle for the arts, where the well versed assembled to protect the essence of their culture and rejuvenate their creative processes.

The 300-km travel from Paris to Nancy by Euro Rail, across picture-postcard French countryside, provided a glimpse into the life led by people beyond the hustle-bustle and bright lights of a city that the world admires. Besides, Euro Rail itself was a great experience, even though for an Indian, train travel is part and parcel of the psyche. But the amenities, the efficiency and the sheer fun of it left you wanting to do the European continent by rail.

That Nancy was small and quaint was obvious from minute one. The bags were too large to get into any of the cabs, but the historic hotel hosting us was near enough to wheel the luggage to. All it needed was a brisk walk that did something else as well — it gave you an idea of the kind of effort the city makes every year to herald the St Nicolas parade, an event even more important in the area than Christmas itself. This year too, the parade down the streets of the city was met with a standing ovation by men, women, and especially the children, who sat on the shoulders of their fathers or mothers and clapped with glee.

This is also the time that Nancy attracts visitors. Apart from the colourful parade, they make a beeline for the spectacular churches, museums and squares that draw the visitor to a bygone era of dukes and duchesses.

This was the former capital of the duchy of Lorraine and houses the famous Stanislas Square, a model of 18th-century architecture of UNESCO's inventory of World Heritage Sites. The city is literally built around this exceptional square, which will be the highlight of the city this year as it celebrates its 250th anniversary. The square is being renovated and dressed to the hilt for the occasion.

It is from this rectangular square that visitors start their walking tour of Nancy. Formerly known as Place Royale, this is also where traditional, cultural and folklore events take place. Up to the middle of the 17th century, a vast esplanade divided the Old Town and the New Town of Nancy. Stanislas Leszczynski, an exiled king of Poland who had become Duke of Lorraine in 1737, planned to create a square to honour and glorify his son-in-law, Louis XV of France. The foremost of French royal squares, it sanctifies the royal image.

Initially, a bronze statue of Louis XV in a Roman general's uniform decorated the centre of the square. The statue, along with surrounding allegorical figures, disappeared during the French Revolution and it was only in 1851 that a new statue, this time of Stanislas, was erected in its place.

The old town was built in the 10th century, while the new town came up in the 16th century and houses the City Hall, the municipal opera house and the fine arts museum. While the old town sports urban architecture and the Governor's Palace, the medieval town has the town houses, the narrow cobbled streets and former residences of the gentry.

Apart from the memorable stroll, the well-preserved museums offer an interesting glimpse into Lorraine's rich history including paintings and engravings by well-known artists and the glass-making tradition of Nancy.

In fact, as charming as the museums are the cafes and typical French brasseries offering course after course of traditional cuisine with champagne and wine that only the French can perfect. The Christmas and New Year markets too offer shopping that is typical of a small town, including the most exquisite home made chocolates of every variety possible, including honey, liquor, nuts and raisins.

And though a small city, Nancy has a vibrant nightlife too. The young make a beeline for the bars after 10 p.m., despite sub-zero temperatures.Weekends, of course, are exceptionally active.

While the night can pass easily into another day on the wings of wine and poesy, the sunny — though breezy — afternoons spent searching for the perfect maple leaves on the sidewalks to take back home to frame made Nancy a permanent memory on the wall.

Paris for the shopper

Paris is best for those who want to walk and walk... for that's the ideal way to soak in its sights, smells and colours. And if you are living in the centre of town in hotels such as Concorde Saint Lazare or Bleu Marine, what more could you want? Montparnasse, where Bleu Marine is located, sets the pace — a pace that keeps you going through the cafes, the sidewalks, Champs Elysees, the Eiffel Tower of course, high-rise shopping centres such as Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, Bercy village, the Buddha bar and ... you don't want to stop, as Paris has what it takes to feel free and flying.

While visitors do the usual Lafayette and Printemps rounds, wonder how many realise that their history is as colourful as the bagsful of shopping they take along. Printemps, for one, was founded in 1865 and was one of the first to use electricity in 1883, with lifts installed as early as 1874. Today, it retails products of every variety — from the haute couture to gourmet food, luxury goods to the most exquisite wines and perfumes. Bercy village too has been developed with the first-time visitor in mind. Essentially with rows and rows of warehouses where wine was stored in cellars in the past, today Bercy village is a hot shopping spot.

The art-lover, of course, is the traditional visitor to Paris, but the shopper too is slowly making a mark.

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