Saint-Nicolas-de-Port 4.81

Saint-Nicolas-de-Port is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département in north-eastern France.The town's basilica, Saint Nicolas is a pilgrimage site, supposedly holding relics of Saint Nicholas brought from Italy. It is one of France's Monuments historiques, and a minor basilica since 1950.The town's inhabitants are known as Portois. In the past, the Portois were known as loudmouths; their neighbours across the Meurthe at Varangéville liked to gather on the opposite river bank to bombard them with a chorus indicating a wish to defecate in their mouths: Booyaî d'Senn 'Colais,Tend tet ghieule quand je...which in the local Lorrain dialect means: Loudmouths of St Nicks,Open your gob when I'm taking a... St Nicholas-de-Port is also known for fossil remains of very early (late Triassic) ancestral mammals.