Though not strictly a part of the Moselle, lying rather on the banks of the Meurthe, Nancy is only a few kilometres from where the latter joins the Moselle and so we’ve included it in this little section. Besides, our itinerary lay to the south and so we actually did not cruise to Nancy, instead catching the train from Toul, which is most certainly a town on the Moselle.

We decided to visit Nancy when we were detained in Toul waiting for new batteries and battery charger to arrive and be fitted in Eben Haezer. It was an easy 24-minute train journey from the station near our mooring.

Though not the largest city in the region, and only about 20th-largest in France in population, Nancy is nevertheless the largest city we had visited since leaving Schoten/Antwerp. Its size and character as a major city revealed itself immediately we emerged from the railway station, where we were gently accosted and beseeched by people young and old cadging cigarettes and money “for coffee”. Pas de probleme, we thought, but the trick is deciding who to give to and who might merely be seeking cash for a bit of meth or another drug.

The area around the railway  station is the newest part of central Nancy, with some striking examples of modern architecture. The rest of the city is easily reached on foot, encompassing the old quarter, the Vieille Ville – Léopold, dating from the Middle Ages, and the “new town” of Charles III – Centre Ville, dating from the 16th-18th centuries, closer to the railway station.

Sights in the older quarter include the Ducal Palace, built in the 15th century, extended in the 18th, and now home to the Musée Lorrain. Nearby is the the triumphal arch of the Porte Désilles, built in 1782-84 partly as a memorial to the citizens of Nancy who died in the American Revolutionary War. Also here is the 14th-century Porte de la Craffe, a picturesque old gate with twin turrets that is the remaining relic of the city’s medieval fortifications; and the Arc Héré, built by Duke Stanislas in 1753-55, leading from Place Stanislas to Place de la Carrière, a fine boulevarde.

Nancy has its share of fine churches, including the Nancy Cathedral – Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation et Saint-Sigisbert (18th century); Eglise Notre-Dame-de Bonsecours (18th century); Église des Cordeliers de Nancy (15th century); and the neo-Gothic Basilique Saint-Epvre de Nancy (19th century).

Undoubtedly, though, the crowning architectural glory of Nancy is its Place Stanislas, built by Stanislas I, twice-deposed King of Poland, the last Duke of Lorraine and the father-in-law of Louis XV. Built in 1752-55, designed by the royal architect Emmanuel Héré de Corny, the square was a major project of urban planning, designed to link, on the one hand, the ducal seat of government (Palais du Gouvernement) with the seat of city government (Hôtel de Ville); and, on the other hand, the old medieval quarter with the “new town” to its south.

In 1983 the square and its offshoots Place de la Carrière and Place d’Alliance were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (presumably after the city ceased to use it as a car park, which it had done since 1958). A major restoration was undertaken in 2004/5, bringing it back to its former glory and, it has to be said, the results are stunning.

In the late 19th/early 20th century, Nancy was a major centre of art nouveau, via its École de Nancy, a movement started by the glassmaster and furniture maker Émile Gallé. Still today chic shops in the city sell furniture, glassware and pieces of decorative art from the major artists of the time, and the architectural traces are found through the city in stained-glass windows and lacework on doors and balconies.

All in all we spent a thoroughly enjoyable day exploring Nancy, before catching a train for the short journey back to our boat in the port at Toul. We had little chance to enjoy the chic shops, boutiques, boulangeries, patisseries, cafes, brasseries and restaurants on offer (in any case, it was a Sunday), but what we saw of them encourages us to dream of a longer return visit soon.