LAXOU

Heading due west, on the slopes of the hill that leads to the Plateau de Haye, the old Laxou with its cobbled streets, its streets with names evocative of a winegrowing past (le Pressoir, Mi-lès-Vignes, le Petit Arbois), looks like a postcard. Next to the local church, Saint-Genès, a tree of freedom, planted in 1791, still stands proudly. Further down towards Nancy, there is a neighborhood of mansions in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles (with a predominance of the Art Deco style). The town hall is located in a beautiful building inspired by the Ecole de Nancy, the house of the archaeologist Saint-Just Péquart (stained glass windows by Charles Gauvillé, a collaborator of Gruber) Not far away, the Gérard Thirion Library-Media Library (former mayor of the town) has been home to the European Library of the Popular Novel since 1991, with some 16,000 documents. In the lower part of Laxou, the Provinces district extends, characteristic of the 1960s, a period of accelerated development of social housing construction The former Saint-Paul church is a strong architectural signal of this district and has become a cultural place, the Espace Europe. This building has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Communication as an architectural heritage representative of the creations of the 20th century. On the Plateau de Haye Eco District, towards the west, the most recent Laxovian districts of La Sapinière and Champ-le-B?uf, close to the renovated Parcours de Santé, constitute one of the most important sites of commercial activity and services in the agglomeration. The Champ-le-B?uf has a vast park of pleasure, installed on 8 hectares, in a former quarry. Laxou, Nancy and Maxéville share the Plateau de Haye reclamation program, which is gradually transforming the northwestern part of the agglomeration: collective and individual housing, leisure facilities, sports equipment, eco-construction, public parks, markets and services, the Plateau is a sector in full transformation. For walkers, hikers and people who like to stroll, Laxou has developed and marked out more than 15 km of paths through gardens, orchards and forests. The path sometimes crosses streets and alleys to plunge back to a square of aromatic plants decorated with a small shed. The Fond de Lavaux park has been declared a refuge by the League for the Protection of Birds. It also has municipal beehives, installed thanks to the collaboration of the association "Abeille Lorraine". Every two years, from September to March, the operation "En dehors des Sentiers battus" (Off the beaten track) transforms the paths and gardens of the town into a place of expression for artists. This meeting between the natural and cultural heritage is a very appreciated event.