IDENTITY CARD
Best season : in spring, autumn and at the beginning of December for the St Nicholas celebrations.
GETTING THERE
The SNCF offers around ten daily return trips between Paris and Nancy by TGV, three of which are extended to the Vosges. Internet: www.sncf.com/fr/services/ groups/companies
TO FIND OUT MORE
Nancy Tourist Office. Bureau de l'événementiel. Place Stanislas, BP 810, 54011 Nancy Cedex - Tel: 03 8335 9009. Email: bureau@nancy-events.com. Internet: www.nancy-events.com
HOTELS
IBIS CENTRE GARE ET CONGRÈS
In front of the station, a contemporary building with 82 rooms with a minimalist feel - white walls, light medium headboards - and furnished with large armchairs or striped sofas. With rotunda windows, some overlook Place Thiers, others Place de la République. There's a breakfast room where you can try as many hard-boiled eggs, pastries, cheeses and all sorts of breads as you like. Not forgetting hot madeleines. A bar next to reception.
3, rue Crampel - Tél.Ó: 03 83 32 90 16 Email : H0973@accor.com Internet : www.ibishotel.com
HÔTEL DE GUISE
In a little street in the old town, this former 18th-century mansion, built around an inner courtyard, has 50 rooms, including four junior suites. Some, with their Versailles parquet flooring, have retained their classic atmosphere, while others have been redesigned in a contemporary style in dark colours with enlarged details of Boucher paintings at the head of the bed. The very dark breakfast room is also reminiscent of the Louis XIII era, with its French-style ceiling, monumental fireplace and stone floor.
18, rue de Guise - Tel: 03 83 32 24 68. Email : contact@hoteldeguise.com. Internet : www.hoteldeguise.com
RESTAURANTS
BRASSERIE JEAN LAMOUR
On Place Stanislas, this brasserie, founded in 1897, has the advantage of a huge terrace. Its name is a tribute to the ironmonger and locksmith who designed the gates of this Unesco-listed place, and an authentic lantern from the square sits enthroned in its contemporary black and grey décor. Specialities include Vosges salad, fresh salmon tartare, pig's trotters stuffed with sweetbreads, duck breast with blackcurrants and, of course, mirabelle plum tart. The restaurant welcomes groups.
7-9, place Stanislas - Tel.: 03 83 32 53 53 Internet: www.brasserie-jeanlamour.com
LES PISSENLITS
This brasserie owned by the Mengin family, who also own the Hôtel Cottage and the Vins & Tartines wine bar, is a reference to the École de Nancy, with its Eugène Vallin furniture decorated with dandelions - hence the name of the establishment - and its glass ceiling. You must try the dandelion salad with bacon and hot meurotte (hot cream and vinegar), the bouchée à la reine - a dish much appreciated by Marie Leszczynska, the wife of Louis XV - the poultry roulades stuffed with foie gras and the baba au rhum, King Stanislas' favourite cake. The restaurant can cater for up to 100 people with menus from Lorraine.
25 bis-27, rue des Ponts - Tel : 03 83 37 43 97 - Email : reservation@les-pissenlits.com - Internet : www.les-pissenlits.com
THE MERCHANT BROTHERS
Founded by a family of internationally renowned cheese maturers, Patrice Marchand is at the helm of an establishment that invites you to lunch or dinner in a unique atmosphere: an Alsatian Winstub with wood panelling, chequered tablecloths and hanging beer mugs; a library with touches of Asian decor; a conservatory under a glass roof and a lounge just like home. As well as grilled meats, the restaurant serves traditional Alsatian and Lorraine dishes such as sauerkraut, flammenküches, sausages and Gros Lorrain salad au gratin on potato gratin, a homemade creation based on a Munster géromé matured in mirabelle plum brandy. Groups from 10 to 130 people. 100-seat terrace facing the Lorraine Museum. They also have a tasting area at the central market.
93-99, Grande Rue - Tel: 03 83 32 85 94 Internet : www.freres-marchand.com
BRASSERIE L'EXCELSIOR
Immerse yourself in Art Nouveau with this jewel of the Nancy School. The brewery was built in 1911 on the initiative of Louis Moreau, a brewer from Vézelise. The furniture and chandeliers in the vast dining room were designed by Louis Majorelle and the ten stained glass windows by Jacques Gruber. Taken over by the Flo group in 1987, the menu features seafood and classic dishes such as quiche lorraine, carpaccio of scallops, fish sauerkraut, pan-fried calf sweetbreads with crayfish, and a dessert of Lorraine flavours. The Salon Gambetta can accommodate 40 people, the Salon Majorelle 10 to 35 people, and the Caveau up to 100 people for cocktails.
50, rue Henri Poincaré - Tel: 03 83 35 24 57 - Internet: www.brasserie-excelsior.com
THE IMPROMPTU
Set inside the Eiffel-style covered market, the restaurant offers a large glass roof or small galleries where you can enjoy different dishes every day, prepared by a team of women using fresh produce from the market. The glass roof can be reserved for around forty people. Lunch only, otherwise open Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings for groups by prior arrangement. Terrace in fine weather.
Place Henri Mengin - Tel: 03 83 30 02 56 Email : carol.bussy@wanadoo.fr Internet : www.limpromptu.com
PRIVATE AREA
Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Meurthe-et-Moselle Created in 1908, the ironwork and marquee are by Majorelle. The stained glass windows on the ground floor are by Jacques Gruber and celebrate glass, the steel industry and chemistry, as well as a village in Lorraine and a Vosges landscape. The Salle Jean Lamour can accommodate up to 40 people, the Espace Gruber 100 and the Salle des Séances 200.
53, rue Stanislas - Tel: 03 83 85 54 31. Email : caroline.paquotte@lorraine.cci.fr. Internet: www.nancy.cci.fr
