Lemonade

Our inability to end our cruising day on July 23 in Metz resulted in a 4.5-hour cruising day turning into a 6.5-hour cruising day. It's OK to have that length of day once in a while, but it can be rather tiring.  Having started our cruising a few minutes past 8 a.m., it was almost 3 p.m. before we were finally tied up on a quay just upstream of the Ars-sur-Moselle lock. The disappointment of "no Metz" didn't last long, as we quickly decided that we could spend a few days in our next stop, our return to Pont-a-Mousson, and spend one of those days doing a day trip to Metz via train. Easy-peasy, lemonade from lemons.

Our mooring just upstream of the Ars-sur-Moselle lock.

Furthermore, it turned out that our mooring spot for the evening was within easy walking distance of the small town of Jouy-les-Arches. Jouy has a pretty significant "claim to fame" in that it contains 16 arches of what was once a 1.2-kilometer aerial section of a 22-kilometer-long Gallo-Roman aqueduct created to bring water from Gorze to Metz. Construction began in the 2nd century A.D. on an underground conduit in Gorze. After 12.7 kilometers it emerged from the ground in Ars-sur-Moselle and crossed the Moselle to Jouy-les-Arches, where it went back underground for a further 8 kilometers and ended in Metz. The aqueduct was apparently already largely gone by the Middle Ages.

The aqueduct passing through Jouy-aux-Arches. A substantial
amount of restoration has been done on the aqueduct in the past
two decades, sometimes using ancient Roman methods.

Left: taking a stroll close to history--quite a bit of the original construction was left exposed on  

the "far end" of the aqueduct; Upper right: the collecting basin for the aqueduct in

 Jouy-aux-Arches; Lower right: an end-on view of the aqueduct arches in Jouy-aux-Arches.

What remains of the aqueduct on the Ars-sur-Moselle side of
the river can be seen from the river (we cruised by it twice) 
and this view from the bridge adjacent to our overnight mooring.

Despite damage from heavy fighting in the area in WWII--as well as other historical battles over the centuries--Jouy-aux-Arches has managed to preserve more than just the Gallo-Roman aqueduct. 

A 13th century fortified house, originally part of one of two
fortified farms that provided refuge to the area's inhabitants
at times when the town came under attack. 

The beauty of a long cruising day is that it is often followed by a shorter than usual day, and such was the case for us. On July 24th it took us less than 3 hours to get to the quay at Pont-a-Mousson--and this time, we were on a part of the quay that allowed us to plug into electricity from an outlet on the adjacent building. With no reservations awaiting us anywhere, we were free to stay as long as we wanted in Pont-a-Mousson. There were things to see in the town that we weren't able to get to in our initial visit, and of course, we needed a day to visit Metz.

We took advantage of the beautiful weather during the afternoon of the day we arrived to get on the bicycles and pay a visit to the castle ruins on the top of the Mousson hill. Google Maps was up to its usual tricks of leading us through paths that we had no business being on with bikes, and the paved roads were pretty steep at the upper portion of the hill (which had us pushing our bikes in one section), but we managed to survive. We parked in the village of Mousson and walked up the final stretch.

The castle was the residence of the Counts of Mousson from the 11th until the 13th century. It was a commanding spot from which to monitor the trade routes that passed through Pont-a-Mousson and the tolls that were collected there. As was true for many of the fortified castles in Lorraine, the 17th century conflict with French royal power was devastating to the Mousson castle. As he had done elsewhere, Cardinal Richelieu ordered the inhabitants of Mousson to demolish the castle that had protected them. Adding insult to injury, the remnants of the castle and the adjacent village were nearly obliterated by American artillery bombing of German positions in 1944.

The Chapel of the Templars was built at the same level as the village of Mousson, a bit lower than
the castle. The Templars came to Mousson in the 12th century. Abandoned in the 17th century, the chapel became part of a farm. It was significantly damaged by the bombs of 1944 and is currently
 the focus of an ongoing restoration project.

Lon uses a woodsy trail and steps leading from the
Templar's chapel to get to the main castle grounds.

A few sections of standing wall constitute most of what is left of the castle.

The castle chapel is listed separately as a Historic Monument. It was
built by the Countess Sophie during the 11th century, but could not
withstand the bombs of 1944. An old communal cemetery is next
to it. The statue of Joan of Arc once sat atop the chapel, no doubt
headless from the bombings (and not due to Joan's desire to join the ranks
of saints who are known for having lost their heads to martyrdom).

We are fans of the authenticity of the ruins that remain. There
are some repairs, of course, to shore things up, but no
wholesale replacement of what formerly existed.

The view of Pont-a-Mousson from the castle. At the far upper right, C.A.R.I.B. III can be
seen at its mooring in front of a large, light-colored building.

The "Chapel of Lights" was built on the site after WWII.
It's a glass and metal structure that contains a sculpture
of Christ on the Cross.

There are other vestiges of "old" Mousson that have somehow managed to survive the
centuries. At left, the Porte d'Urtal, the last remaining gate of the Mousson ramparts. At right,
a section of the ramparts provides a backdrop for the parking area between two homes in
the village of Mousson.
 

A nice dinner out at a busy local restaurant allowed us to recover from our afternoon exertions and helped us to be ready to face the exertions of a walk around the city of Metz on Friday, July 25. Although it would have been nice to have been moored within walking distance of the old town of Metz, a 20-minute train trip from Pont-a-Mousson was not a bad alternative.

Metz has been a town since at least Roman times, as it occupied a strategic position at the heart of major European routes. In the Middle Ages, it was one of 3 cities, along with the cities of Toul and Verdun, that comprised the Episcopal seats known as the "Three Bishoprics." Metz is currently the capitol of Lorraine, within the Grand-Est region of France. As a city with a population of nearly a half million people, it was obvious to us that one day of exploration was going to be barely enough to scratch the surface of what Metz had to offer. We were able to get to many of the places on the Metz tourist map, but not all, and regret that we had to miss out on, for example, a visit to the collections of the Musee de la Cour d'Or. But what we did manage to squeeze in was very nice, and our overall sense of the city was that (marina aside 😁) it was a pretty special place.

Saint-Etienne Cathedral (13th-16th C) has one of the highest naves
for a gothic cathedral in Europe. 

The cathedral is famed for its exceptional amount of stained-glass (surface area of 6500 meters sq),
 with windows ranging from the 13th to the 20th centuries. At left, windows of the 16th century. At right, contemporary artist Marc Chagall's depiction of the Creation.

The height of the nave and the stained glass everywhere cannot help but draw the eye upward.
At right, the Graoully, who, according to legend, lived in the arena of the Roman amphitheater
in Metz until vanquished by Saint Clement of Metz.

Flowers and florists are a big part of the culture.

Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonains is one of the oldest churches in France. Construction began in the
4th century A.D., at which time it belonged to one of several public bath complexes in 
Gallo-Roman Metz. It became the chapel of a Benedictine monastery in the 7th century. It
is currently an exhibition hall, but its interior shows evidence of the multiple changes in its
form during the centuries: Roman walls, Romanesque arcades, and Gothic vaults.

This photo taken during a lunch of pasta, salad, and
beer includes a view of various antiquities: the Maison
 Rabelais (12th-16th C.) and me (mid-20th C.)

The architecture in this part of Metz made us feel as though we were in
Paris. In the upper photo, at far left, is the train station of Metz, voted
in 2017 as the most beautiful train station in France.

Top: The Cloister of the Recollets (13th C.), a former convent which now
houses the European Institute of Ecology.
Below: A viewpoint on the Moselle River.

The Renaissance arcades of Place Saint-Louis (13th-15th C).

Metz also had a Templar's Chapel. The octagonal, 13th-century chapel is the only one of
its kind in Lorraine and is the last vestige of the Knights Templar in Metz.

It was lovely to see a busy center city and lots of shopping options.

We were exhausted by our whirlwind walking tour in Metz. It really was too much to attempt in one day, so perhaps a day trip from Toul in August or September needs to be considered.

We were in no particular hurry to leave Pont-a-Mousson, and our cruise to Nancy was only going to require about a half day, so we decided to stay put for the weekend in PAM. This allowed us some time to stroll through neighborhoods we'd not visited during our trip downriver, prepare one much-overdue blog posting, and just relax.

We walked across the bridge on Saturday, hoping that Saint Martin's Church would be open. The Tourist
Office no longer had a key to the place, so we were unable to investigate whatever treasures the 
13th-15th C building contained. The building at left used to house the University of Pont-a-Mousson,
a Jesuit university that was well-regarded throughout Europe. It was founded in 1572 and operated
 until the Jesuits were expelled from France in 1768 and the university was transferred to Nancy.

Saturday nights in summer are music nights in Pont-a-Mousson. On July 26th, karaoke was the order of the day--complete with a pretty amazing band and high production bells and whistles. The talent was local, and with a couple of exceptions, was not particularly good. But it was fun to find ourselves in the midst of a family-friendly event.

These two guys (at center) were one of the good acts. The
 back-up band was consistently good.

We did our final "must see" in Pont-a-Mousson on Sunday morning, July 27, with a visit to the Abbaye des Prémontrés. Construction began in 1705 on this former abbey of the Norbertines monastic order. Like many other religious institutions in Pont-a-Mousson at the time, it owed its existence to the famous Jesuit university. Unlike those other religious communities, however, the abbey buildings survived the 1768 abolishment of the Jesuit University. Survival did not mean survival as a religious institution: it functioned as a small diocesan secondary school in the 19th century, and as a hospital from 1912 to 1944. It was heavily damaged in 1944, but thanks to a massive renovation effort, it was restored and became a cultural center in 1964. It now also houses a 3-star hotel.

Top: the exterior of the abbey church and some of the adjacent building
as seen on the non-Moselle side of the complex.
Bottom: the enclosed arcades of the cloister were displaying
paintings about the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral Paris.

Left: the interior of the church is empty of furnishings, as it no longer serves a religious purpose.
Right: a view out to the cloister garden.

The abbey is famous for the beauty of three of its staircases.
At left, the Large Staircase; top right, the Atlantes Staircase; 
bottom right, the Little Round Staircase, the only staircase which
was not destroyed in 1944.

Evidence of the damage of the 1944 bombs.

A panoramic view over one of the abbey's gardens, the Courtyard of Honor. 

As the photo above indicates, the weather was a bit "iffy" on Sunday, so the intermittent rain made it good for staying indoors for the rest of the day. And on Monday morning, July 28, it was time to pull our lines and make our way to Nancy.