"Back in France from Germany" a Metz Travel Page by alza

I don't remember how we did this. But we arrived in Metz in the early morning hours, from Germany. We had spent two great weeks in Germany and didn't expect anything in particular of Metz... but I remember how I felt at home there.

It was about 7 am, we walked into a café, sat down and waited. My friend was straight from Canada so she sat politely, in silence. I was my usual impatient self, and years of living in Europe had washed the polite waiting out of me...
I kept saying "hello? anybody here?"

A woman finally appeared from behind a curtained door, wearing slippers. We heard her slipping her slippers on the ground before we actually saw her. She said "What do you want!?" rather roughly... and I thought... "god, we ARE in France!"

I asked for a few croissants and some coffee, the woman raised her eyes to the ceiling like we were asking for some impossible dream, and slippered off into some invisible place. Soon she was back with a plate-full of croissants and some dark coffee. I guess she went to the boulangerie next door for the goods...
Anyway, I can tell you it was different from across the river, in Germany. The way she couldn't care less about us... still, it felt like home. Good or bad, every experience is memorable! :-)