Wonderful Visit with Renee and Marcel in Metz, France

The TGV sped me to Metz in the Lorraine region of France in less than two hours. The French train system is not known for its reliability, but the TGV was great! Its workers are notorious for striking at the proverbial “drop of a hat”! Smiling Marcel met me at the train station. Marcel Megel was the exchange student in my senior year in high school as part of the Weston-Rombas Affiliation. Thanks to the internet, we reconnected about fifteen years ago. He and his delightful Renee have most graciously hosted me on three previous occasions. (The first time my friend Carol and I went!) I was looking forward to spending three nights at their house and hoped to see their (local) grandchildren as well.
As an aside, I had gone to Stuttgart, as I thought that my mother's family was from there originally. Johannes Hench had emigrated to the United States in the mid 1700's from Stuttgart. Thanks to Susan Bradford's help, I learned that his family had left Metz, France, due to religious persecution! Marcel could find no Henches in the local telephone directory.

Renee welcomed me in their still colorful garden. She was a German teacher and says she does not speak English! But, of course, her English is much better than my French! (Nonetheless we did fine communicating between my pidgin French and my dated dictionary which I will replace when I get home...EXCEPT when I was too tired to understand!) They eat their “big meal” mid-day, which makes so much sense! So she had a delicious roast pork dinner with salad waiting for us. She always served a big bowl of fruit with four cheeses. (Luckily there was a bathroom scale! The damage so far has been negligible.) Renee is a wonderful cook so I always looked forward to enjoying her très delicious cooking!

That afternoon we took a delightful walk along the Moselle. It is called the Chemin des Corporation, which means that in the 1400’s each group of tradesmen-shoemakers, carpenters, etc.-was responsible for a particular section of the walk and wall. (They were ahead of the times of "naming the stadium", as each section did belong to each trades" group!) It was a bit overcast but it never rained.

Wednesday after breakfast of the always wonderful fresh French baguette (Marcel walks every morning to pick it up) and jams, Marcel and I went to nearby Imneville. VERY interesting! This multi-faceted resort serves all ages and interests. The Snow Hall was most unusual, as people can ski there year-round! The temperature is -3° Celsius on this 600 meter ski run. Many of the French ski team practice there, but on this no–school Wednesday, there were few skiers. Most people were in one of the there swimming pools, on the ice rink, or in the casino. They also have a very comprehensive spa and exercise facility. With a doctor’s prescription, you can go to the spa for 10% of its standard cost, as the government reimburses the difference! It was a most amazing place; it all started because springs were found there!

We returned in time for our-of course!-delicious dejeuner of veal and mushrooms in a white sauce with rice, followed by apple tart, fruit and cheeses. In the afternoon we went to a newly renovated château Montbrouck à Manderen, which also had a wonderful exhibit of the works of  German sculptor Stephan Balkenhol, whose work is done in wood. It took ten years for the renovation, and because much of the château was in ruins, they had to follow the rules of the Convention of Venice which detail how that sort of work has to be done. It looked great! Of course, the wonderful “look out” vantage point gave us spectacular views of the entire area.

Shortly thereafter, Marcel pointed out that inside of five minutes we were in three countries-France, Germany, and Luxembourg! We also passed Schenken, where the countries all signed the agreement for the European Union. And then were parked in Luxembourg center. We walked around the square, saw HOW EXPENSIVE everything really is, stopped for a drink, and returned to Metz. There were some wonderful buildings to enjoy, but Marcel, who had not been there for forty years, still said-as he had before-there was not much there! STILL I am glad that I have seen Luxembourg.

Thursday was the day I would see their grandchildren Louise and Charles again-after many years. Louise is now 14; Charles is 12. They came for the steak, potato, broccoli, salad, dinner and then returned to school. Renee and I went to the new Pompidou Metz Museum for a few hours; Marcel needed to take Charles back to school. The museum, which specializes in modern art, featured an exhibit around labyrinths and mazes. It was strange. The only thing I could take away from an exhibit like that is; it is just ASTOUNDING how many different ideas people CAN come up with! One large space featured all the notes which a deaf man had saved over his life? This was in English, so at least I could read it! The third gallery was a new exhibit to open the next day of furniture by two Italian brothers and designers. This was most interesting to both of us. Then Marcel picked us to go to the 76^th annual regional fair, which was similar to what we know as the Home Show, except there were many booths with various wines and foods. It was very interesting to hear the various sales spiels in a fast and furious French! We ate at an Italian restaurant there. Marcel thought it was pretty funny that my last meal in France before I would get to Italy was Italian!
On the way home I had a message from the SNCF, the French train system, which said there was a strike of the conductors, and my train to Strausburg in the morning would not be running! With three connections-tight ones at that-to Milan the next day, getting to Italy the next evening looked most unlikely! However, we got up as planned, and Marcel and I went to the station. HOW lucky he was there! My French would have been sorely tested talking with Christian at the information desk! No one really knew exactly what was happening. Marcel had thought it would be over by mid-day. Then I spotted Strausbourg on the board! It had not been listed before; the 7:48 train was coming through. I got on it easily-although Marcel had to run to get my ticket stamped or “composter” to validate it. Thank you for that! And thank you and Renee for a wonderful visit!