We’re in Rouen, the capital of Normandy, France. Walking around in Rouen is like being in a time machine. We stroll around town, passing by modern buildings that one might see in any cosmopolitan city. Then we turn a corner and it looks like we’ve walked into the 15th century.
Rouen in World War II
Nazis occupied Rouen for four years, starting in 1940. In August of 1944, Allied bombing and advancing Allied forces forced them to withdraw. Canadian divisions that had landed on Juno Beach on D-Day were the first to liberate the city.
Allied bombs had leveled some city blocks completely, while other blocks were left untouched. When you walk around Rouen now, you never know what’s going to be around the next corner. It might be a modern city block or a narrow street lined with ancient-looking half-timbered buildings.
Le Gros Horloge
We turned a corner and, “Whoa!” “C’est le Gros Horloge!” (There’s the Big Clock!”). It’s pronounced, “groh or-lohj.” Pronounce the “r” in “gros” like it’s not really there, just like we did last time, when we were saying “Rouen.” (And good luck with that!) I’d seen pictures of this clock, but seeing it in person is much more impressive.
The original mechanism, dating way back to 1389, is still working. I bet you’re thinking that must be a typo. “He must mean 1839.” Nope. A couple of really talented guys built this huge clock more than 600 years ago. Even more impressive, given its age, is that this is an astronomical clock. It doesn’t just show the time. It shows the hour, (with its one hand), days of the week, and phases of the moon. (There’s a 1-minute video here that shows this in detail).
And just think – when this astronomical clock was constructed, people thought the earth was the center of the universe. Copernicus would set us straight 150 years later, but even 200 years later, Galileo was forced to keep quiet about it. Would it be terrible to say these guys were ahead of their time? Doh!
La Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen
We walked on until we came to Rouen Cathedral. It’s enormous. In fact, when they topped it with a new spire in 1876, it was the tallest building in the world. In WWII it was hit by seven bombs, but it survived mostly in tact.
One of the towers of this 16th century gothic church is called the “Tour de Beurre,” (Butter Tower). The story goes that it was financed by indulgences collected by the Catholic Church from people who didn’t want to give up eating dairy products during lent. This is Normandy, after all, eh?
Back in the day, if you were Catholic, it was OK to sin as long as you paid for your sin – literally – by giving the appropriate amount of money, (the “indulgence”), to the Church. If you didn’t pay the indulgence, the priest wouldn’t come over and break your kneecaps, (as far as I know), but when you died and went to the hot place, you’d be working closer to the flames than your fellow citizens who paid up. That’s how I understand it, anyway.
L’Heure du Déjeuner! (Lunchtime!)
It was time for lunch, so we made our way to La Place du Vieux-Marché, (Old Market Square). There’s a restaurant there called “La Couronne.” This is where Julia Child had the meal that changed her life. Dining in France can definitely do that to you – and not just in the “weight” department.
We found the square without a problem. La Couronne was one in a row of restaurants there. We looked at the menu, and at a few other menus, too. It would be fun to have lunch at the famous “La Couronne,” but we ultimately decided to eat at a place called “Les Maraîchers,” a couple of doors down.
We had one of those amazing French lunches. I don’t remember what we had, other than the dessert and the bottle of wine – because I took pictures of them. I didn’t think of pulling out the camera until dessert. Oops.
There’s more to La Place du Vieux-Marché than restaurants and neat old buildings. The Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc church and a monument are here. This is where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.
Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc
During the Hundred Years War, the English had joined forces with the Duchy of Burgundy to fight the French. The French were losing badly until Joan came along. Then everything changed.
Joan was captured by the Burgundians and turned over to the English, who took her to then-English-ruled Rouen for trial. Or more accurately, for a “show” trial. She was accused of being a heretic.
English cardinals and lawyers tried every trick in the book to trap Joan into saying something that could be considered proof of heresy, but she ran circles around them. Not that it really mattered. They burned her at the stake on May 30th, 1431.
She was retried years later and declared innocent. Because of her fame and the two trials, it’s said that more is known about Joan of Arc than any other figure from the Middle Ages. In 1920 she was canonized as Saint Joan of Arc. (More details here).
We walked off our lunch by taking the long way back to the boat. Thank goodness for long walks after French meals!
To be continued…
