Holiday homes & rentals in Lorraine

High art and history define the graceful town of Lorraine in north-eastern France. Near your holiday apartment, art-nouveau masterpieces and historic ducal palaces join World War I battlefields to make your stay both elegant and fascinating.

Lorraine's sweet treats

Quiche Lorraine originated right here, while in the late summer, the region's Mirabelles plums reach their juicy perfection. Lorraine madelines are a classic afternoon snack in France. The name comes from a young maid of the same name who worked for the Duke of Lorriane. At the last minute she had to replace the Duke's chef and prepare a royal banquet. According to the story the shell-shaped cookie was the only pastry she knew how to make. It has since become a mid-afternoon mainstay. In nearby Nancy, the sugared almond macaroon is the preferred sweet treat.

Masterpieces and magic

The Musee des Beaux-Arts is housed in an imposing 18th century building, where wrought iron staircases wind wistfully up to the second floor's collection of paintings spanning the 14th through to the 17th centuries. Spot Tintoretto, Rubens, Monet and Picasso among the greats on display.

The Cathedrale St-Etienne is nicknamed 'God's lantern' because its gleaming gold spires are so inspiring. Ostentatious stained glass windows by Chagall join a dragon sculpture hidden in the 15th century crypt to make this place entirely magical.

Reding history

Fort de Douaumont is the most robust of nearly forty fortresses stretching all the way to Verdun. During the Battle of Verdun, it was taken by invading forces and recaptured by colonial troops from Morocco four months later. Wander its three kilometre labyrinth of galleries and feel the reverberations of history.

Speaking of labyrinths, the vast Citadelle Souterraine winds for seven kilometres under Verdun. It was designed by Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban in the 17th century. During the First World War, ten thousand military personnel camped here while awaiting dispatch to the front.

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