A traditional handicraft and metalworking town, at the turn of the twentieth century Nancy became a centre of Art Nouveau to rival Paris. The practitioners of Art Nouveau in Nancy attempted to marry the artistic styles of orientalism and Baroque with the industrial advances of the day, and their style became known as the "L'École de Nancy" ("School of Nancy"). The most illustrious exponents of the school were the manufacturer of glass and ceramics, Émile Gallé, and the glass manufacturer Daum. But the town's moment of glory was short-lived, and all that now remains are a handful of buildings and the Musée de l'École de Nancy, housed in a fin-de-siècle villa. For a post-museum coffee in the same kind of atmosphere, try the Art Nouveau café-restaurant of the former hotel L'Excelsior, opposite the train station, built in 1910 and preserved virtually intact to this day. The Nancy tourist office distributes a free leaflet, École de Nancy – Itinéraire Art Nouveau, which details several itineraries around Nancy's Art Nouveau heritage.
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