Grand Est
Grand Est is the north-eastern region of France, created in 2016 by merging three that had little in common: Alsace, Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne. It runs from the Rhine to within an hour of Paris, borders Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, and contains more disputed ground than anywhere else in France.
For a traveller the merger matters less than what is in it: Alsace and its wine route, the champagne cellars of Reims, the Art Nouveau of Nancy, and the battlefields of Verdun.
Alsace
The strip between the Vosges and the Rhine, German four times over the last two centuries and French again since 1945. It is the most visited part of the region and the least French-looking: timber frames, storks, sauerkraut, Riesling, and Christmas markets that draw people from across Europe.
- Strasbourg — the cathedral, the Petite France quarter and the European institutions
- Colmar — the Isenheim altarpiece and the prettiest small centre in the region
- The wine route — 170 km of walled villages from Marlenheim to Thann
- Haut-Kœnigsbourg — the great red sandstone castle rebuilt for Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the most visited monument in Alsace
- Mulhouse — the technical museums, including the largest car collection in the world
Champagne
Flat chalk country west of Alsace, and the only place on earth entitled to the name. The Champagne hillsides, houses and cellars are UNESCO-listed.
- Reims — the coronation cathedral and 250 km of chalk cellars beneath the streets
- Épernay — the Avenue de Champagne, with Moët and Perrier-Jouët along it
- Troyes — the best half-timbered old town in France, and three factory outlet villages
Lorraine
The least visited third, and the one that rewards a detour.
Nancy has two separate reasons to go. Place Stanislas, laid out in the 1750s by the exiled Polish king Stanisław Leszczyński, is one of the great eighteenth-century squares in Europe and is UNESCO-listed, gilded ironwork gates and all. And Nancy was the birthplace of the École de Nancy — the French Art Nouveau movement, Gallé and Daum glass, Majorelle furniture — with a museum and a whole quarter of villas.
Also in Lorraine:
- Metz — a Gothic cathedral with the largest area of stained glass in France, including windows by Chagall, and a Centre Pompidou outpost
- Verdun — the battlefield of 1916, the ossuary at Douaumont, and the forts left as they were. It is not a pleasant day out and it is one of the most important places in France.
- Domrémy — where Joan of Arc was born
- Baccarat — the crystal works, with a museum
The Ardennes and the Vosges
The north of the region is forest and river valley on the Belgian border — quiet, wooded and almost untouristed. The Vosges along the Alsace-Lorraine boundary give walking, small ski resorts, and the route des crêtes along the ridge with the Alps visible on a clear day.
What to eat
Three distinct cuisines. Alsace: choucroute, baeckeoffe, tarte flambée, munster, kougelhopf. Lorraine: quiche lorraine — properly made with eggs, cream and bacon and no cheese — plus mirabelle plums and the macarons of Nancy. Champagne: the wine, biscuits roses at Reims, chaource and langres cheeses, and andouillette at Troyes.
See the cooking of Alsace and French cheeses.
Getting around
- By train — the TGV Est makes this the easiest region in France to reach from Paris: Reims in 45 minutes, Strasbourg in 1 h 45, Nancy and Metz in about 1 h 30. Regional trains link the cities well.
- By car — necessary for the wine route villages, the Vosges and the Ardennes. See parking in France.
- By air — Strasbourg, and the shared EuroAirport at Basel-Mulhouse.
When to go
May to October for everything, September and October for the harvest in both Alsace and Champagne, and December for the Christmas markets — Strasbourg’s has run since 1570 and the region does them better than anywhere in France. Winter otherwise is cold and grey; this is not the Mediterranean.
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