Metz France

On August 1st, I took one of our friend's daughter to France.  She really wanted to go and I didn't have any plans for Thursday.  So I packed up the kids and we headed to Metz.  It is only a little over an hour away.  I was told by some good friends that there is a beautiful cathedral in Metz and some decent shopping for Fabienne.  :-)

 

The Saint-Etienne Cathedral was built between 1220-1520 and is considered one of the finest and largest Gothic church buildings in France.  It took 300 years to finish this cathedral.

 

The boys in front of the cathedral.

 

If you look to the left of the tower you can see some of the stained glass window.  I think it is cool with the way the sun is hitting it.

 

What I liked about this is it shows the details on all the parts of the outside of the cathedral.

 

The kids in front of what used to be the main entry way. 

 

You can even see at the top of the building the intricate designs.

 

This was on the way into the cathedral - they had these on both sides of the entry way.

 

You know me and organs - this was a huge organ (it is 134 feet tall ceiling) and beautiful stained glass behind it.

 

This cathedral is the largest French cathedral for its stained glass.  There is approximately 21,325 squared feet of stained glass.

 

The vault height is 134 feet - it is truly awe inspiring!

 

This is the baptismal basin.  It is a genuine roman bath where women and men wishing to become Christians were plunged into the water of baptism. 

 

This is the confessional and was put into churches in the 16th century on saint Charles Borrome's initiative.

 

This is called the Great Rose Window built around 1392.  The symbol of the universe surrounded by peopled with angels, the sign of the "New Heaven" promised to believers.  It is very intricate and includes the setting sun, Christ on the Cross with his mother and John nearby.

 

Fabienne, AJ and Michael in front of the church.

 

AJ is standing in front of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. 

 

This is the Chapel of Notre Dame La Ronde.  The stained glass windows were done in 1960.  This used to be a separate building, but they tore down the wall and are now under the same roof. 

 

This is the outside of the great rose window.  After going through the cathedral, which I do have to say they were not excited at all to go to another one on that day, we decided to stroll along through the town.  Fabienne wanted to do some shopping so off we went.

 

The first shop we went in to had this rhino with a gas mask on it - we all thought it was soooo funny!!

 

The boys were really, really hungry by this point and were done "shopping" and they said they didn't want their picture taken.  So of course I had to take a picture.  :-)

 

This was a neat fountain near where we ate dinner.

 

The boys thought this dragon was really cool

 

One thing that is neat about the buildings is they all seemed to have some sort of carved sculpture or decoration on them.

 

This was a peaceful serene looking church.  It was surrounded by water and just looked like a place I could just sit and think.

 

On the way back to the car we found swans in the river swimming by.  After that we headed to Cora to make sure Fabienne could try some speculos because it is really yummy and fantastic and headed home.  It was a fun day and we all were able to see something new!!