Porte des Allemands, Metz

Today we woke up to blue skies and sunshine. We need more weather like this as it makes exploring a new town so much more enjoyable.

First up this morning we walked to the Porte des Allemands, the Door of the Germans. It is a fortified town gate east of Metz that served as a bridge over the River Seille from the thirteenth century to the early twentieth century. The building is now the most important vestige of the medieval ramparts and demonstrate the evolution of the Metz military architecture of the Middle Ages. It is the largest surviving building on the medieval ramparts with two 13th century round towers and two gun bastions of the 15th century.

Metz old town does not have much in the way of gardens and green spaces so it was refreshing to walk along the river bank while admiring the bridge, the castle and the river and greenery. I also got a cheeky compliment by an elderly French man as I walked past (well I hope it was a compliment - him and his mates seemed a bit cheeky).Read more