Middle Ages architexture, Rouen

< Black Death imagery

Notre-Dame Cathedral, Rouen

Inspired Gothic architexture

ROUEN

Rouen is in Normandie about 70 minutes west of Paris by train. We were invited there by our new friends - Emeline and Fabien. It is a beautiful town with medieval origins and Emeline and Fabien knew everywhere of interest to show us. I am sure we wouldn't have seen half as much on our own. It is really quite different to Paris and we saw many things of fascination, including Le Gros-Horloge, the clock tower in the centre of town that is certainly the oldest working clock I have ever seen. You can walk all the way up it and at the top it affords a beautiful view of the surrounding buildings that will transport you back to the 14th Century. Rouen is also greatly associated with Joan Of Arc and has the dubious honour of being where she was burned to death for heresy. Emeline and Fabien also took us to a courtyard that was used as a cemetery at the time of La Peste (The Plague or Black Death). The courtyard is surrounded by buildings decorated with images of death - like warnings to all who enter here. Rouen also has many exceptional churches, including its own Notre-Dame Cathedral which is a rival for Paris' Notre Dame with its amazing spire, similar building height, and inspired stained glass windows. Perhaps it is even more Gothic than the cathedral in Paris. We had lunch at a traditional Rouen creperie - Roland - where we all had beautiful savoury crepes, very tasty and surprisingly filling.
Next, Fabien and Emeline took us to the University where they both take Economics - it is surprisingly new and modern for a city of so many Middle Age architextural marvels but it just goes to show that it is a living, changing city like all vibrant places. After stopping for tea/coffee, Fabien drove us all up to an overlooking hilly viewpoint that surprised us with its all-embracing view of the whole city. Quite extraordinary. We were going to have a last leisurely drink at the station but when we got there our train was nearly ready to leave, so it was a sad goodbye to Emeline and Fabien, whose company and easy friendship we have been fortunate to have enjoyed. It may seem that our friendship has been acquired with death always in the background since you may remember that we originally met Emeline and Fabien at the entrance to The Catacombs in Paris but it's really that all of us are interested in history and how the past influences the present. And another thing that we have learned from both Emeline and Fabien is that while much of the momentous history of France may have occurred in Paris, really in France, History is everywhere, and Rouen is a fine illustration of that fact. So many thanks, Emeline and Fabien, we will miss you and hope that we may meet again.

Two Views Of The Seine...and a little Spring blossom

A WET PARIS

It rained quite hard Friday afternoon but Paris is still beautiful

I'M JUST WALKING IN THE RAIN...

The mad weather continues but it is warmer, a big 3 degrees Celsius! The problem is that it rained again today and you can't really walk around in this wet weather. But before it rained, we walked across to the Left Bank, did some shopping in the small shops in the 5th and 6th districts, checked out the comic shops and DVD stores before finding a great Japanese sushi restaurant where we had lunch. So yummy! Then the rain came and so we jumped onto a bus to Opera where we continued looking at stuff in the department stores undercover out of the bad weather. The stores are so beautiful here and everything is so well-presented. France is getting ready for Easter and chocolates are everywhere, but not any old chocolate eggs - there are chocolate fish and we even saw an open can of sardines all made from chocolate. Dad says somewhere in France, there is the Rodin of chocolate sculpture because there are chocolate sculptures everywhere. Joyeuses Paques! (Happy Easter!) We go to Rouen tomorrow to meet our new friends, Emeline and Fabien.

NAPOLEON'S TOMB

It's zero degrees again here - they call it Spring! But actually it wasn't too bad because the sun came out and it didn't rain. We decided to go see Napoleon's tomb and the Military Museum, which is included in the price. Napoleon's Tomb was huge and his coffin sits in the middle of the floor under a dome. Everything is oversized and I wonder why they made such a big coffin for such a small person. Dad said it was because he wanted to show people how important he was and that was one way of being remembered. Before we went here, we had to pass through Saint Lazare to change trains so we also purchased our train tickets to Rouen for Saturday. Saint-Lazare is a hub for all the other trains in Paris so if you live outside central Paris in the suburbs or another town, you come into Saint-Lazare. It is also a way out to the airports too so it is more than just a Metro station. After going through the museum - much military hardware and uniforms from medieval times through to the Second World War - we went and had dinner down the road at a corner brasserie, La Terrasse - penne for me, chicken brochette and rice for Dad. then we bought some fruit and caught the Metro home.