Longing for Nancy

I have been trying to keep all my Europe Longings to myself for a bit now.

I'll be going along, having a perfectly normal day and then - BOOM - I think of somewhere we went. Some things are just nice memories, others are much more profound, almost a physical longing for places. Like Table du Pain (oh no, a Lait Russe and a Table du Pain Club... mouth watering....)

Yesterday I had the overpowering urge to go to Nancy, in the Moselle "departement" of France. It was home to Stanislas, Marie-Antoinette's father. It's a lovely town with lovely shopping, a huge lovely park with a lovely little zoo and lovely Art Nouveau architecture. And of course a Table du Pain (I think I should go and make some lunch, I am a little too focussed on TdP at the moment).

We used to go to Nancy a couple of times a year - at 120km from Luxembourg it was far enough to be an excursion, but not far enough to require much advance planning.

We've been there in the hot summer, pregnant with Stu and eating Mexican with S & J when they visited. We've braved winter weather and had delicious crepe meals - though the service was so bad the last time we abandoned our favorite eatery (interestingly enough in some areas of France speaking English still gets you glared at, even if you are doing all your ordering in French).

Last winter we were in Nancy the first (and one of the only) day that there was some snow. We had a great time throwing snowballs with the kids in the big square by the parking lot. We of course got stared at, but hey. (unfortunately I was also so sick that I coughed so hard in the car going home that I pulled a muscle in my chest. No joke.)

The last time I was in Nancy was with my mum and the kids in May. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. We bought Julia her much coveted Lelli Kelly shoes, and me my Dorkings (my favourite shoes). We had lunch and walked through the Park/Zoo. Had ice cream in the rose garden.

On a wintery blustery COLD day like today it's a lovely memory... and I wish I could go there right now. Sigh.

I have to stop typing because Julia will not stop talking to me and trying to type. Double Sigh (this is why I haven't posted this week, we're in full on Mummy Love.)