In the city of Nancy, northeastern France

 "The wine they drink in Paradise

They make in Haute Lorraine."
-- Gilbert K. Chesterton
=====================================================================
(in northeastern France) The city of Nancy is the prefecture (district) of the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine (west of Strasbourg, near the left bank of the Meurthe River), which was annexed by France under King Louis XV in 1766 and replaced by a province with Nancy maintained as its capital. Following its rise to prominence in the Age of Enlightenment, Nancy was nicknamed the "capital of Eastern France" in the late 19th century. The motto of the city is Non inultus premor, Latin for "I am not injured unavenged" (a reference to the thistle, which is a symbol of Lorraine).
+ Shown here is Place Stanislas, a square built in the mid 1750s to link the Old Town of Nancy and the New Town built under Charles III, Duke of Lorraine in the 17th century, whish is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site (the first square in France to be given this distinction). The city is one of Europe's centers of Art Nouveau, thanks to the École de Nancy (the Nancy School). It is also a large university city; with the Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Brabois, the metro-area is home to one of the main health centrers in Europe, renowned for its innovations in surgical robotics.

+ Until the 18th century Nancy was composed of two distinct fortified towns. To the north stood the medieval town, the Ville-Vieille (Old Town), and to the south the Ville-Neuve (New Town), founded in the late 16th century. In 1750 Stanisław I (Stanisław Leszczyński), king of Poland and father-in-law of Louis XV, pulled down the walls that separated the two towns and commissioned the French architect Emmanuel Héré de Corny to design a new, well-planned town center. (At Stanisław’s death in 1766, the town passed to France.}

+ The town was further enlarged after the Franco-German War of 1870–71 and during the 20th century. After the Franco-German War of 1870–71, the population increased considerably, as Nancy became the main refuge for French-speaking emigrants from Alsace and Metz, which had come under German rule. (Nancy suffered damage in World War I but was almost unharmed during World War II.)

+ Delightful Nancy has an air of refinement found nowhere else in Lorraine. With a resplendent central square, fine museums, formal gardens, and shop windows sparkling with Daum and Baccarat crystal, the former capital of the dukes of Lorraine catapults you back to the riches of the 18th century, when much of the city center was built. Nancy has long thrived on a combination of innovation and sophistication. The art-nouveau movement flourished here, thanks to the rebellious spirit of local artists, who set out to prove that everyday objects could be gorgeous. An air of grandeur still resides in this city, and there are architectural marvels around every corner, from its UNESCO-listed 18th-century squares to baroque palaces and elegant art nouveau villas.