First of all, I’d like to apologise for telling you a big fib at the end of last week’s post when I told you that Kaiser Wilhelm I had wanted to make Metz look more German than it did. Unfortunately me and Mum had got a bit confused and we’ve since found out that Kaiser Wilhelm I was quite happy with Metz as it was. Instead, it was his son, Kaiser Wilhelm II who ruled from 1888 to 1918, who wanted the changes making.
Now I’ve sorted that out, however, I’ll get on with telling you more about our tour, starting at the railway station where our guide to Metz asked the coach driver to stop so we could all get off and see what an amazing place it was. For a start, it looked more like a huge church than a station…
And when we got inside, it was more amazing still, with platforms that were at least twice the width we expected.
The guide explained that this was because, although Kaiser Wilhelm I had taken Metz from France in 1871, his son never knew whether France would try and take it back by force or not. Because of this, Wilhelm II decided to turn it into military base from which he could quickly mobilise his troops if necessary – and, as this was at a time when horses were the only form of military transport, as well as being used by the cavalry, he had the platforms made wide enough for the horses to be brought to the station and then easily loaded onto special trains for their journey to wherever they were needed.
But, although Wilhelm II liked Metz, he never had a palace built there for himself. Instead, a special apartment was built for him within the railway station and that’s where he stayed whenever he visited the city from his home in Berlin.
Then, having had a good look round, we got back on the coach to see some more of the city, including the outside of St Stephen’s Cathedral…
…the Opera House. Opened in 1752, it’s the oldest opera house in France that’s still used for its original purpose, but the square in front of it was the site of the guillotine during the French Revolution and people were executed there…
…and La Porte d’Allemands (also known as The Germans’ Gate) which was part of the city’s fortifications in medieval times…
Then the coach dropped us by the Christmas Market and the rest of the day was our own.
Before we went to look round the market, however, we went for a coffee with two of the other travellers on our trip. Then one of them wanted to go into a nearby department store to look for a certain brand of saucepan and invited us to go with them.
Now, as you’ve probably realised, me and Mum don’t particularly like that sort of shopping, but we thought it would be rude to say no and so we went along. And we were glad we did, because – to our surprise – we found something there that we’d been trying to find for over two years…
And that was a new glass steeple for the top of Granny Betty’s Christmas tree to replace the old one which had been accidentally broken just before Christmas 1997…
We were so pleased that we bought two of them. Then, as the other two ladies wanted to carry on looking round the big department store, we made the excuse of taking the steeples back to the hotel so that they wouldn’t get broken – which meant we got what was left of the afternoon to do what we liked.
After we’d wrapped the steeples up carefully and packed them away safely, we left the hotel and went back to the Christmas Markets for a good look around.
As we’d done in Trier and Luxembourg City, we enjoyed looking at all the stalls with so many different things for sale, from Christmas tree decorations to toys, jewellery, wood-carvings, sweets, leather handbags, silk scarves and many other items.
And, as the afternoon turned colder, Mum enjoyed a mug of mulled wine to warm herself up again. Then, when her hands were nice and warm, she gave me a big hug so that I was nice and warm as well.
Then, as we both like looking round old buildings – and especially old churches – we made our way to the cathedral, the outside of which we’d seen on the guided tour.
It’s dedicated to St Stephen – or St Etienne as he’s called in France – and work started on it in the 1220s, though it was on the site of a much older religious building. It took three centuries to complete and it was finally consecrated in 1552.
Once inside we were amazed at the height of the nave which is 135.9 feet/41.41 metres, making it one of the highest in the world…
But we were even more amazed with the beautiful stained glass windows, which date from the 13th century to the 20th.
In total they cover an area of 69920 square feet/6495 square metres. This is the greatest expanse of stained glass in the world and has earned the cathedral the nickname “La Lanterne du Bon Dieu” which means “The Good Lord’s Lantern” because they look so colourful from outside when the cathedral is lit up from inside.
Our favourites were those by the 20th century artist Paul Chagall and we sat and looked at them until the daylight gradually faded.
Then, although we knew he wouldn’t get better, we went and lit a candle for Grandpa Graham, before going back to our hotel…
That’s all for today, but in my next post I’ll tell you about the rest of our trip – and also share some writing news from Mum. Until then, please take care and stay safe – and look out for more tales from me soon!
Follow my next blog: 255. MY MUM THE STORY-TELLER – PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO
20/04/2023
Wilf the bear-faced blogger 