So – it wasn’t to be our last look at the Seine River as I said in my last post, because the Seine runs through Rouen on its way to emptying into the English Channel (or La Manche) at Le Havre. (And we are actually leaving France from Le Havre in a few weeks time – so we will see it again there too.)

I should have done a little more research before coming to Rouen – the capital of Normandy. But quite often, Mick and I find out about our new destination once we are there. Anyway, what we saw of it, was not as pretty as other parts of the Seine we have seen.

During our two-day stop over in Rouen, Mick and I chose to stay very close to the old part of town, breaking away from our normal habit of staying near the Gare. That meant we dragged our bags for about 20 minutes until we almost arrived at the city’s most famous site – La Cathédrale; our hotel was only 200m away.

I took this photo on our second day here when it was raining – hence the lack of tourists and Church goers. Despite it being Sunday morning, the only thing that reminded us it was a church were the bells that struck on the hour….

…..and half hour and quarter of hour!!

The cathedral was almost destroyed by Allied Troops during WWII. In April 1944, the British Royal Air Force dropped seven bombs on the cathedral – two large rose windows were destroyed and the southern part of the church was severely damaged. The in June 1944, the US Air Force dropped more bombs on the church which damaged the oldest tower. But, the Tour de Beurre, which was constructed in the 16th Century, was mainly undamaged.

In my photo, the ornate, crown-like tower on the right is called the Tour de Beurre (or Butter Tower). I loved reading about the history behind this tower. It was built using money people paid to the Catholic Church for the privilege of eating butter (or forgoing the indulgence of eating butter) during Lent. It made me think that that sort of payment must have been quite common in lots of places during that period in history.

There are lots of churches in a city as large as this one – most of them though are very old. But, Rouen also has a modern church that was only completed in 1979.

This pan shot I took of the church of Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc probably doesn’t clearly show that is is supposed to be an upside down Viking ship. The church was built on the site where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy in 1431.

The sweeping curves of the structure are meant to evoke both the flames that consumed Joan of Arc and an overturned longship. Many early Christian churches were designed in the shape of an overturned boat.

Anyway, from my point of view, it is very unattractive, particularly as it stands in the centre of the old market square (Place du Vieux-Marché). The town squares were exactly the places that ‘burning-at-the-stake’ events took place.

Another famous landmark in Rouen is the Gros Horloge – an astronomical clock dating back to the 14th Century.

It is built into in an arch crossing the Rue du Gros-Horloge. The mechanism is apparently one of the oldest in France, and the movement was made in 1389.

Along this street there were many beautiful timbered buildings which now house expensive shops and restaurants, including a Maccas.

Crepes and gallettes (made with buckwheat) are popular snack foods in this part of France and we saw quite a few venders making them in front of shops and in market squares, in the hope of tempting passers-by to stop and buy.

We resisted the temptation to try one of them, and also one of these beautiful treats.

Every street in the old part of Rouen had beautiful, oddly-shaped, crooked even, buildings. All were very well maintained, and made for a very pleasant experience as we strolled the streets. We did have to take care though because the cobble stoned roads and pavements made it quite hazardous – more so on the second day when it rained for most of the day.

Mick and I did venture out though during a break in the weather to go to the markets and to walk along the river.

There were lots of foods from different cultures on offer at the markets – Lebanese food, cuisine from Afghanistan, Indian curries, and other foods that I was not sure of the origins. It all smelt delicious.

On our first night in Rouen, Mick and I went to a bar for a pre-dinner drink before then eating at a tapas restaurant.

That is a piece of baguette with tomato purée in the front of the right hand photo.

The second night, being Sunday night, not much was open, but we did find a very busy, cute, warm bar, where we enjoyed watching the locals as we sipped a wine.

We loved the poster of Frank Zappa on the door to the smallest loo we’d ever seen.

We were a bit sorry we hadn’t found this place the previous evening.

Off to Argentan tomorrow.