Within minutes we found our first destination: Place Stanislas, Nancy's main town square. It was huge and empty, with just a statue and a dying Christmas tree in the middle and, many meters away, little café tables huddled around the edges of the square. Place Stanislas is mostly known for the gold-gilded gates and arcs and fountains that encrust its corners--and they are quite beautiful. Kat and I spent many giggly moments in "full-tourist mode," taking pictures like crazy while under the contemptuous eyes of some locals in a nearby café.
Afterthought: the French really do like their gold. In the past week, I've been to Versailles, which was basically showered in gold at one point during its history, and now Nancy, whose golden gates were quite reminiscent of those of Versailles!
Leaving Place Stanislas, the two of us went cathedral-hopping for a good while, jumping from one beautiful church to another. Interestingly, cathedrals really are big tourist sites in most medieval European cities, which is simply not the case in the U.S.
Next, we walked back to Place Stanislas to enter Nancy's Musée des Beaux-Arts. They had a good collection of paintings (mostly biblically-based, mythology-based or portraits) dating back to the XIV century. They also had a large exhibit in the basement of the museum featuring a wide array of Lorraine glasswork, which apparently was a well-known industry for the region.
By far the best part of the museum (and the best part of the day), we discovered accidentally, though. My best description of this artwork is that is was a small dark room, walls and ceiling made of purely mirror, and floor was water excepting for a small platform. And it was full of lights--hundreds of lights--and with the mirror reflections, the lights multiplied to thousands. Created by Yayoi Kusama, this room was named "Fireflies on the Water." Kat and I walked into the room, standing on the little platform, and we were amazed. Then, a smiling museum employee shut the mirrored door behind us, and we were plunged into a never-ending night filled with thousands of fireflies. It was absolutely magical. One of the most magical things I have ever experienced.
We must've stayed in the Firefly room for a good quarter of an hour. Our exclamations of delight and awe were constant, and when we actually stepped out of the never-ending night and back into reality, we were stared at by a group of art students who were standing nearby and must've heard every word. After finishing up one last exhibit in the museum, Kat and I returned to the Firefly room for just a few more magical minutes, then bid the room goodbye. Honestly, it was the coolest things I've ever seen, and I wish that I had a room like that in my house, just so I could visit it all the time.
Kat and I bought lunch from street vendors and wandered around Nancy for a while longer, before grabbing some chocolate-hazelnut frappe milkshakes and heading back to the train station, where we parted. I took a train back to Strasbourg (I had a planned dinner out with my host parents) while Kat went on adventuring in the city of Metz.
The "Fireflies on the Water" room isn't a main tourist attraction for Nancy--in fact, the museum's website doesn't even mention it. We didn't go there to see it, but luckily we stumbled upon it, and it was the best discovery I've made in years. It's amazing how the small things are sometimes the most memorable. For example, only a week ago, I was at Versailles. Sure, I'll forever remember the Chateau de Versailles, with all of its gold and fancy flair, but something tells me that I will remember more fondly the "Fireflies on the Water."
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