Historically Nancy is a very old fortress town. There are many old fortifications around the town, like this.
A big brick wall leads away from either side of this gate, and the only way to get from one side to the other is through the walkways beneath. Presumably in the Middle Ages there would be a gruff soldier standing there making sure you were some kind of spy. Just like customs at the airport.
There is also a really beautiful square. More beatiful than a lot of the ones in Paris in my opinion, it is a lot cleaner, and all the gold decoration seems to have survived the ages.
I wasn't just in Nancy to sightsee, I was mostly there to meet my boyfriend's family and partake of a lot of amazing french food!
I think I ate at least 7 different types of cheeses; two types of foie grae and about four differnt types of sausage! I also tried escargot as well. They were all delicious.
The escargot (snails) is usually served in their shells, or in little pots with a garlic and parsley (or other herbs) butter on top. The taste is much like mussels or pipis without some of the salt and less 'fishy' tasting.
On Sunday we drove out to one of the many old villages that dot the French countryside to visit my boyfriend's grandmother and eat more french food. She lived in a beautiful old farmhouse in the village that was home to about 400 people. Like all the villages it has a church, but at the moment it is without a priest which means that sadly it is starting to decay because there is nobody too look after it.
The village is called Pagny-la-Blanche-Côte which means "The white hillside." It is nestled into the side of a hill that was once a quarry for chalk.
I have to come back in the spring, because it was so beautiful.
Oh and meeting the family went well, in case you were wondering. I don't speak French, and they don't speak English, but you can communicate quite well with hand gestures!
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