Euro-trip 2019 from Reims to Nancy - Friday 05 July

Friday 05 July

Harry drove us from Reims to Nancy. We had a break for coffee at Vitry le François.  we parked in a spot near a nursery school and the river Saulx, a tributary of the Marne.

In the heat the water looked tempting but very fast flowing. It was a pleasant spot. I  chatted to a local as he was dog walking., and he said people had been known to drown there. 

By the river we saw a splendid butterfly, shining iridescent purple when its wings opened and caught the sun. 

Photos by Harry

Dave Holden assured us it was a lesser purple emperor. We have seen a purple emperor in Britain, but not this species.

Back at the car park, approaching noon, lots of cars arrived to pick the kids up. 

Some time later we stopped for a lunch break at Pagny sur Meuse.

There was a convenient car park, and we were bale to get a coffee in a fast food bar with a loo, before eating our picnic in the little parc. Chiens interdits, même tenus en laisse.

Not so many of these in evidence these days!

We arrived at the hotel at around 3pm.  A very well appointed hotel, and situated in what lloks like a respectable, well-heeled quiet suburb. And so it was, apart from the fact that we'd arrived at the wrong weekend.

To be fair we were warned by email as we were approaching Nancy, that a "group" would be staying there on Saturday night... today was Friday...

Our policy is to use the car as little as possible once we have arrived somewhere, so we went into the town on a bus. We explored a little, walked around the main square , Place Stanislas, admired the architecture.

Le Tour is on its way

We indulged in an ice cream, and after a walk through the beautiful Parc de la Pépinière, we dined on a tuna salad at La Brasserie de la Pépinière. 

Nancy has an exceptionally lovely town centre. 
We returned to Villers les Nancy and the hotel, again by bus. We sat in the garden for a while enjoying the relative cool of the evening.

Unfortunately there was loud music from a neighbouring restaurant until midnight, which made for a less than restful night.A little disappointing for a place which advertises itself on the website as " un havre de tranquillité au cœur du village de Villers-lès-Nancy."