Our French Adventure - Rouen

 Rouen is one of those places that is just beautiful. The old stuff is beautiful, the new stuff is beautiful, everything in between is beautiful. I mean what else could you want?

What I loved most about Rouen was this transition from almost Mediterranean life by the river banks, to a medieval almost Germanic styled old town, not too dissimilar to Strasbourg, with crooked house covered in wooden beams, bright colours and alleyways' to get lost in. Rouen is one of the most charming places I have visited, and I will eagerly return to see more of it. We were only here for the day, we had caught the coach - or rather, the bla bla car bus from Paris, and it worked out as a brilliant day trip.

The coach dropped us off just by this enormous tower, which when I looked it up is part of the national archives, you can just see it in the corner of the picture below. We then had a nice little stroll across the bridge, before heading for the old town.

There was a serene sort of calmness in Rouen by the river, which surprised me, I was expecting it to be heaving here, especially on the water, but it just wasn't. Nobody in boats, nobody sailing about. I didn't even see many ducks or swans! 

This was one of the first alleyways we discovered, and it was magical wandering down, peeking into the little shops and cafes that were dotted about, before leading us this beautiful little square opposite the St Maclou Catholic Church.

 We grabbed ourselves a little pastry to snack on while we continued on our exploration, with the eventual goal of finding Saint-Ouen abbey Church, which was our first thing to visit.

I couldn't help but take photos of Rouen as we walked about, it genuinely had a fairy tale feel to it like nowhere I'd visited before had.

Despite the heat, we made it to the Saint Ouen Abbey Church without melting (too much), and I got this beautiful picture of it surrounded by the lush greenery of the park. It was under renovation, so there was a lot of noise and workmen scurrying about, but it didn't detract from the beauty of the building.

The church is no longer used for religious services, and is now an art space, with different art exhibitions rotating through the year. When we visited, there was an interesting photography selection around the theme of being at sea, which seemed beautifully harmonious with the sandy coloured interior, which features many beautiful details, like the stained glass and this wooden pulpit.

Construction of the church began in 1318, and was interrupted several times, by the Hundred Years War and then the French Revolution, and was only declared as finished in 1851 with the completion of the west façade. Interestingly, we were the only people there, which I found surprising. It was beautifully cool there, and James really enjoyed the exhibition, even going as far as to find the photographer on social media to follow them. Entry was free, and I would highly recommend a visit there.

We headed back into the centre, and found ourselves back in the square by St Maclou's church, where we grabbed ourselves a spot of lunch. Well, I guess you could say it was a spot, but any lunch is made better with the addition of a nice cold glass of wine!

When in France, do as the French do? We shared a bottle of wine, with our French onion soup, before having roasted pork with warm sauerkraut. It was quite the combination, but rather delicious too! We ate La Walsheim, the food was delicious, reasonable and the service was excellent. If you're unsure where to eat, then I'd advise you to give them a try!

Once refreshed, we headed for the Cathedral. To say the cathedral is beautiful, is a difficult statement. The frontage is confusing, a mix of finished & unfinished, Gothic, Romanesque and Flamboyant features.

The cathedral has taken almost eight hundred years of construction, with a history similar to Saint Ouen's, with frequent periods of destruction, fires and collapses over time, which has created the mixed appearance of the frontage you see today. 

Inside, it's much more harmonious, the white stone, gorgeous stained glass window, and a replica Viking ship, just because! I'm probably being ignorant by saying that, I'm supposing it was actually a ship from Normandy, possibly the one that brought William the Conqueror to England all those years ago!

Two things really caught my eye in Rouen Cathedral, the first of which was the incredible detailing on the columns, that drew your eye upwards to the ceiling, these long delicate looking strands of stone holding the roof up. It formed a fantastic optical illusion, the building appearing to be much taller that in it. (Although I probably should point out it has the highest spire in France, and was once the tallest building in the world!). The other was this simply gorgeous staircase, that just took my breath away. Oh to be important enough to have such a staircase! It would certainly impress my family when they comes to visit! I wouldn't let them use it though, they can use the servants stairs! 

The Cathedral, along with Rouen itself saw damage from Allied bombing in the Second World War, although it has been lovingly repaired, photos of the damage were in the Cathedral. It's been a continuous process ever since, and it brings images to mind of what we were seeing in Ukraine, with ruined cities and bombed ruins everywhere. I suppose it was proof that as a species, we never do learn from history.

Following the medieval old town, we found more delights, like this lovely astronomical clock, as well as more lanes with little shops, cafe's and ice cream parlours, which we dutifully sampled! It seemed that in some areas there was still Christmas decorations up. I suppose if they are still up by June, you might as well just leave them up until next year!

We came across another victim of bombing in the war, this time the still ruined Saint-Pierre-du-Châtel Church, which still remains in a dilapidated state. It was sad to see it left in such a state. Sometimes the funding goes towards the main centrepiece for restoration, probably here the money was needed to fund the repairs of the cathedral, while other less known & used churches are left to ruin which is a crying shame. Sometimes I wish for billions of pounds (or euros). I'd then be able to save buildings like this, and while I'd never fully restore them, I'd make them safe and beautiful again. Clean them up, plant a garden in them, this would make an amazing little park or outdoor cafe to spend some time in. Anything to make it used by people again. A little further along, I saw this amazing green horse someone had put on to the wall. I love street art, I love the fact there is no rules, and you never quite know what you're going to see next! 

And this was the final view of Rouen as we crossed back over the bridge to where the bus was going to take us back to Paris. What a fantastic place, and I can't wait to return someday to explore it even more!