www.tourisme-lorraine.fr. Spread around its château, a mini-Versailles built for Duke Leopold I between 1703-20,Lunéville lies on the banks of the Meuthe. Château de Lunéville was a favourite country retreat of the ex-king of Poland, Stanislaus Leszczynski, who built a pottery works nearby for which the town became famous. For a time it hosted gatherings of the good and the great, and a grand time was had by all until Stanislaus died by falling into his own fireplace. The rambling structure is put to more prosaic use these days, with fire trucks housed in one wing; offices and the S.I. in the other.

A museum is housed here too, with a small collection of 18th-20thC local ceramics, glass from neighbouring Baccarat, and paintings which are fun rather than impressive, including portraits of the portly Stanislaus, his various châteaux and court flunkies. The formal riverside gardens, the Parc des Bosquets, have been revived.

A godsend for cycle and motorcycle enthusiasts with château-fatigue, M. Chapleur proudly presents his amazing Musée de la Moto et du Vélo (facebook.com/collectionChapleur). The entrance, with a bike pedal for a door handle, gives on to three closely packed floors of pre-1940 two-wheeled transport comprising some 200 cosseted exhibits plus a mass of engines, lamps, badges and posters.