Ancient and modern

We set off early again, in full sunshine, though with a chilly breeze, and made good time up to Metz. After yesterday’s marathon, we decided to be less ambitious today, only about 30 kilometres, and also take in a bit of culture along the way.

This piece of rustbelt archeology does not necessarily qualify:

And clearly this is coal mining territory: another barge collects a load.

We got to Metz by lunchtime and found a good mooring, then set off first to the cathedral, which supposedly has more stained glass than any other.

It is an immensely high gothic, or perpendicular, building, and indeed there is plenty of stained glass, including some wonderful modern windows by Chagall: here’s one of them:

After that, we jumped into a waiting taxi and headed off to the fairly new Pompidou Centre satellite, beyond the station. It was designed by Japanese architects, supposedly inspired by the shape of a straw hat – mmmm:

There was one excellent exhibition downstairs, consisting of enormous paintings, too large to be shown regularly in Paris. First off was a great Miró, with plenty of other good stuff to follow. The second gallery was full of pretentious rubbish (copyright that well-known art critic N.Parsons) from the second half of the last century.

Finally there was an exhibition of mostly modern sculpture, which was rather interesting and included some excellent pieces, including Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Brancusi etc, and this lampshade by Man Ray, which Diana wants me to replicate at home:

As we waiting at the bus stop to return to the boat, we couldn’t help noticing that the grass around the gallery has been formed into undulations – perhaps an artistic statement, the significance of which was rather lost on us.