Porte de la Craffe, Nancy, FRANCE

Eight hours of sleep for me, nine hours for AW.  We truly needed it.
While AW was still asleep, used the time to post yesterday's shot.
Actually, when I looked at myself in the mirror in the morning, my eyes were still bloodshot.  No matter, I was well rested.

09.00 -- Breakfast.  Afterwards, check-out.
10.00 to 12.30 -- A beautiful morning in the ancient city centre of Nancy

I suddenly realized that I have visited three ducal capitals these past three weeks.
Rouen -- Viking capital of the dukes of Normandy
Dijon -- medieval seat of the dukes of Burgundy
Nancy -- old bastion of the dukes of Lorraine... before they moved to Strassbourg

The Porte de la Craffe was built early in the 1300s as a defence against hostile enemies from the north.  Burgundy was a powerful dukedom at the time, stretching from Dijon in the south to Brugge in the north, and this gate was especially constructed with the Burgundian dukes in mind.  Sure enough, Charles the Bold fell while fighting at this fort, his death celebrated by the armies of Lorraine for many years.  Its walls are three meters thick, but the defences actually stretch about 50 meters to the back.  Today, the inner passage is being used as a second-hand bookstore and old-book exchange facility.

Of course, this is not the only historic attraction in Nancy.
Extra 1 -- the passage inside the gate
Extra 2 -- shot on our walk towards Stanislaus Square
Extra 3 -- Stanislaus Square
Naturally, I took more shots than these.  However, I need to economize with my extra shots.  BLIP allows me 100 extras a year, and I have less than a quarter left, which is good because this makes me choose my extras carefully.

14.30 -- Back in the car for the final lap of our trip.
18.20 -- Finally back home again.
Gubs has been duly informed that everything went well.
Hopefully, the client will not get it into his head to order more of the same with the idea of having it delivered in the exact same manner at the exact same speed.  Starting tomorrow, I'll have no more time, and AW is not in the mood to do it alone.

Indeed, back to work tomorrow.  I've already received emails with the class lists and general info.  Apparently, many school personnel work in the weekends as well, as I often do.  I'll need to update my Excel sheets, which I might do early in the morning even before I leave.

What I particularly enjoyed about this sudden assignment was that AW and I were able to help each other, taking turns behind the wheel and sorting out traffic signs and directions.  It would have cost us twice the energy and we'd have been crappy with the schedules if either of us had done it alone.  Dijon and Nancy were a bonus, for which I'm thankful.  I'll be even more thankful when Gubs pays out.

It's been quite a day, and a very wild weekend.  Good night!