|
Luneville
|
|
|
LUNEVILLE
is a twenty-minute train ride east of Nancy or a half-hour drive along the banks of the River Meurthe. If you are travelling by train from Nancy, plan ahead because there are not many trains outside peak hours. Everything in this town is closed from noon to 2pm, except the cafes.
Luneville was renowned for the faience (ceramic tile) works set up by Stanislas. There is now a small collection of it - not worth a detour unless you're a specialist - in a museum in the immense eighteenth-century Chateau (daily except Tues 10am-noon & 2-6pm; 15F/€2.29), dubbed Le Petit Versailles , which dominates the town. The rest of the museum is occupied by cavalry uniforms and weaponry, Luneville being a garrison town; the formal chateau gardens, host to an extensive rookery, are good for picnicking. While you're in town, the only thing worth a visit is M. Chapleur's private motorcycle museum, the Musee de la Moto et du Velo (Tues-Sun 9am-noon & 2-6pm; 20F/€3.05), directly opposite the gates of the chateau. Monsieur Chapleur started collecting in the 1930s when he was a mechanic at Citroen, and the museum has over 200 models of different origins on display, all overhauled and in working order. And they are beauties - works of art in copper, brass, chrome and steel. Some of the bicycles go back to 1865, and the motorbikes date mostly from 1900 to 1940. Several of the older bikes are probably unique; one certainly is - a 1906 Rene Gillet 4.5hp belt-driven tandem. Many look like flying bombs and must have been incredibly dangerous to ride: bits of Meccano with a couple of hefty cylinders welded on, and capable of 100kph in 1900. Between the gare SNCF and the chateau run the small-scale cottagey streets of the old town, where the newly restored, splendidly Baroque church of St-Jacques , Stanislas' gift to the town, raises its enormous twin towers.
From the
gare SNCF
, the rue Carnot north will bring you to the back of the old theatre which adjoins the chateau, where the
tourist office
is housed (daily 9am-noon & 2-6pm; tel 03.83.74.06.55, fax 03.83.73.57.95); following the signs, you'll find it right at the front of the chateau on the place de la 2eme Division du Cavalerie. Should you wish to
stay
, try
Hotel des Pages
, 5 quai des Petits-Bosquets (tel 03.83.74.11.42, fax 03.83.73.46.63; 220-300F/€34-46), which is close to the chateau and very peaceful. For something very special, however, the place to go is the
Chateau d'Adomenil
, a couple of kilometres out of town across the River Meurthe (tel 03.83.74.04.81, fax 03.83.74.21.78,
www.relaischateaux.fr /adomenil
; 400-500F/€61-76; closed Sun out of season): its seven beautifully furnished and luxuriously equipped rooms overlook water, orchards and a home farm, and its
restaurant
belongs in the top category (closed Sun evening out of season, Mon & Tues lunch & Jan; cheapest menu 215F/€32.78;
carte
upwards of 400F/€60.98). There's a
campsite
at 69 quai des Beitis Bosquets (tel 03.83.73.37.58; April-Oct), near the chateau. As for eating in town, the
New Vien Tong
, 29 rue de Lorrain (tel 03.83.73.33.96), has freshly prepared Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai food (menus from 55F/€8.38); the decor is very French Indo-China and the atmosphere is friendly and calm. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
|
France,
|