Nancy and the Birth of Art Nouveau
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Nancy and the Birth of Art Nouveau Travel Passports Please ensure your 10-year British Passport is not out of date and is valid for a full six months beyond Train Seats the duration of your visit. EU, Andorra, On all legs of the journey you have reserved seat Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino or Switzerland and carriage numbers which are shown clearly on valid national identification cards are also your ticket. acceptable for travel to France. Visas Baggage British and EU passport holders are not required to As with most trains, passengers are responsible for have a visa. carrying baggage onto and off the train. Baggage can be stored on overhead shelves or at the For all other passport holders please check the visa entrance to the carriages. Trollies are available at St requirements with the appropriate embassy. Pancras and Lille, but bags do need to be carried on to the platform. Porters are sometimes but not French consulate: PO Box 57, 6A Cromwell Place, always available at St Pancras. London SW7 2EW; Tel (020) 7838 2000/1. Travel Editions recommends a luggage delivery Information Service: Tel (0891) 887 733, Fax: (020) service called thebaggageman, where your suitcase 7838 2046. can be picked up from your home before departure Opening hours: 0900-1130 (and 1600-1630 for visa and delivered straight to your hotel; therefore collection only) Mon-Fri (except British and French removing the worry about carrying your cases onto national holidays). and off the trains. For further information: http://www.thebaggageman.com Tickets You will be issued with return train tickets. Labels Please take care not to lose your tickets and please Please use the luggage labels provided. It is useful check that the details on your tickets are accurate. to have your home address located inside your Your ticket is non-transferable and non-refundable. suitcase should the label go astray. No refund can be given for non-used portions. Standard Premier on Eurostar tickets is indicated by Transfers two asterisks in the class type section in the top On arrival in Nancy, transfer by coach to your hotel right-hand corner. A light meal will be served to and check-in for three nights at the four-star passengers travelling Standard Premier on Eurostar. Mercure Stanislas. Standard class Eurostar tickets do not include any food or drink on board, although there is a buffet car serving drinks and snacks. Special Requests TGV tickets do not include any food or drink on If you haven’t already, please notify Travel Editions board, although a buffet car is available. of any special requests as soon as possible to allow sufficient time to make the necessary arrangements. Accommodation Mercure Hotel Stanislas, Nancy Almost all restaurants offer two types of meals: a la Located just 200 metres from the historic UNESCO carte (extensive choice for each course, generally World Heritage Place Stanislas in the heart of the more expensive) and le menu (a set meal at a fixed city, this four-star hotel is ideal. It offers a bar and price). The bill (l’addition) will not be presented comfortable, finely-decorated bedrooms themed until it is asked for, even if clients sit and talk for around Terrier art and Art Nouveau. Facilities half an hour after finishing their meal. Usually, a include private bathroom with bath/shower, discretionary service charge is added to your bill in hairdryer, minibar, TV, telephone, wi-fi, safe and restaurants and bars, and no further tipping is coffee/tea making facilities. required. For more information visit their website: Generally speaking, mealtimes in France are strictly http://www.mercure.com/gb/hotel-1068-mercure- observed. Lunch is as a rule served from noon to nancy-centre-stanislas-hotel/index.shtml 1330, dinner usually from 2000-2130, but the larger the city, the later the dining hour. Food Located on the north-eastern border of France, the Drink Lorraine region’s cuisine is inspired by neighbouring Wine is by far the most popular alcoholic beverage Germany – popular dishes include Quiche Lorraine, in France, and the choice will vary according to Bouchée à la reine (vol-au-vent garnished with region. After a Phylloxera infestation in the late savoury filling and thick creamy sauce), potée 1800s, which destroyed much of the vines, the lorraine (pork, potatoes, beans, cabbage, carrot and Lorraine is now one of the smallest French leak stew), and choucroute Lorraine (sauerkraut vineyards. It still manages to produce two original with saucisson de Lorraine and frankfurter sausage). wines – a grey Gamay wine (Toul de Gris) and the Other traditional dishes from Nancy include white Auxerrois wines, as well as Pinot noirs and omelette de Nancy (made with Boudin de Nancy Pinot gris. Along with Côtes de Toul AOC, Moselle and herbs), salade de pissenlits (dandelion salad), AOC and Côtes de Meuse are the main vineyards. Tourte aux grenouilles, côtes de veau à la Excellent mirabelle, damson, pear, raspberry, cherry nancéienne (veal chops served with cheese, cream and bilberry eau-de-vie and liqueurs are also and egg sauce), porc en civet roti aux mirabelles produced in the region. (roast pork with Mirabelle plums). For typical sweets try the macarons de Nancy, In elegant restaurants the wine list will be separate Madeline Lorraine, Gâteau au chocolat de Nancy, from the main menu, but in less opulent the Bergamote de Nancy (hard sweetie made with establishments will be printed on the back or along Bergamote essential oil), and the many fruit tarts the side of the carte. The waiter will usually be glad made with locally grown fruits such as mirabelle to advise an appropriate choice. If in doubt, try the and damson plums, apricots, and cherries. house wine; this will usually be less expensive and will always be the owner’s pride. Coffee is served after the meal and will be black, in small cups, unless a café au lait (or crème) is Meals included in the price of your holiday are: requested. A speciality of the area is the brûlot, a sweetened coffee imbibed with Mirabelle eau-de- Breakfast – daily vie and flamed. Dinner is included on two nights at the atmospheric Art Nouveau Excelsior Restaurant, located 5 minutes’ walk from the hotel. Destination The Art Nouveau Movement flourished throughout exquisite stained glass windows. The group will split Europe between 1890 and 1910, embracing the use in two to visit the lovely interior with a local guide of natural forms and structures in art, architecture and outside see its architectural splendour in the and the applied arts. company of the tour lecturer. The stately town of Nancy - a model of 18th century For more information about the Villa Majorelle, please town planning - enjoyed a second golden age at the visit: turn of the 20th century, when rebellious local https://musee-ecole-de-nancy.nancy.fr/accueil- artists, such as Émile Gallé and Louis Majorelle, 2676.html founded the École de Nancy, which became the leading force of the Art Nouveau movement in École de Nancy Museum France. Today the town is a treasure trove of Located on the former property of Jean-Baptiste wonderful and whimsical Art Nouveau architecture, Eugène Corbin, collector of École de Nancy artwork, glassware, ceramics, stained glass and furniture. this superb museum houses a wonderful collection Other sites in Nancy include the Place Stanislas, the of furniture, fabrics, jewellery and Gallé glassware Eglise Bonsecours, Basilique Saint Epvre, in reconstructed Art Nouveau settings. The lovely picturesque Porte de la Craffe, Basilique Notre- gardens, restored in 1998, feature an oak door by Dame-de-Lourdes. Eugène Vallin and a pavilion aquarium with stained glass by Jacques Gruber. For more information about Nancy, please visit: For more information about the École de Nancy, please http://en.nancy-tourisme.fr/home/ visit: http://www.ecole-de-nancy.com/web/ Details of places of interest included in your tour: Musée des Beaux Arts Excelsior Restaurant The museum is housed in an 18th century pavilion One of the highlights of this tour are the two belonging to the exceptional architectural collection dinners taken in the Art Nouveau splendour of the designed by the architect of King Stanislas, Excelsior restaurant, that serves excellent brasserie Emmanuel Héré. From Place Stanislas, the Museum fare in exquisite surroundings with a lively, bustling of Fine Arts is one of the flagships of Nancy's atmosphere as it has done for a century. The menu cultural life. The museum presents the biggest offers a welcome drink, 3-course menu with a names in the history of European art: Le Pérugin, Le choice at each course, accompanied by wine, water Caravage, Rubens and Delacroix. Its collections are and coffee. particularly rich for the twentieth century, with in For more information about Excelsior Restaurant, please particular the glassworks of the Daum collection, visit: exposed in the setting of the old fortifications of http://www.brasserie-excelsior.com/en/ Nancy or the space dedicated to the constructor Jean Prouvé. Villa Majorelle For more information about the Fine Arts Museum, please visit: The Villa Majorelle, testimony of the Art Nouveau http://mban.nancy.fr/ period in Nancy, had closed for renovation in the summer of 2018. The first phase of renovation is over, and the house will be reopening from Maison Bergeret February 2020. Built in 1908 for the artist Louis Albert Bergeret, a printer known for the production Majorelle, the first completely Art Nouveau style of illustrated post cards, commissioned the house in Nancy, it is a stunning example of architect Lucien Weissemburger to build his family collaboration between Parisian architect Henri home close to his printing works which no longer Sauvage and Nancy artist Majorelle, whose exist.