Rouen

Tuesday November 30th- We woke up to a very cold morning (as Sven discovered from his early morning walk) so we stretched out our breakfast and battled a little over math homework (grrrr to word problems!). After 10 or so we headed out to see what we could see. We made it about 100 feet before we got distracted by a Christmas fair outside Notre Dame Cathedral and had to all go on the ferris wheel. After that, along with a traipse through the church with their lovely sculptures and tombs for various historical figures like Richard the Lionheart (his heart, anyway) and Rollo the first Duke of Normandy, we headed on an ultimately successful couscous search (Bella’s favorite).

Richard the lionheart's heart is in there?

Saints and prophets

Our feet had defrosted enough for another short outing- and we decided to go search for the mummified cat in the macabre Saint-Maclou’s Aitre (prior cemetery). Built to house the bones of victims of the plague of 1348, this building's half-timbered glory is punctuated by wooden carvings of skulls, coffins, skeletons and shovels as well as a mummified cat, all enclosing a leafy courtyard perfect for contemplating eternity.. We didn’t find the cat, but we enjoyed the strange search and had fun looking at the sculptures of skulls and crossbones adorning the beams of the now arts school’s courtyard. Bella was determined to go on another ride after our mummified cat search so she jumped in a monster truck while we drank hot orange juice with honey (Eilidh and Daddy) and hot mulled wine (oh joyfully me).

After this we were completely frozen so we headed back to the room for what we hoped would be some reading and relaxation but what ended up being a battle of wills between Eilidh and parents regarding a difficult word problem on her math test. So two hours later we were more exhausted than when we started and ready for another walk in the arctic weather. We headed out for dinner (which ended up being an absolutely fantastic Pakistani dinner) and a warming, energetic game of tag in the St. Maclou church square before heading home for bed.

St. Maclou church square

To Rouen

Monday, November 29th-
We checked out early from our hotel in Avranches in order to find some breakfast. After 20 minutes of driving I began to think that we should have just bought the overpriced mediocre breakfast at the hotel- then Sven randomly turned off towards a sign to Villedieu (not in our guidebook) where we parked and walked through the town looking for a breakfast spot. A little river wound itself through the town, at one point being channeled through the houses via a narrow canal. We found a quiet little town center, but alas, the brasserie did not serve food. The nice bar owner pointed us in the direction of the boulangerie (just a few doors down), where we immediately walked. We picked up the 4 yummiest things that we saw, including one gigantic length of brioche with buttery chocolate filling and a croissant almondine and took them back to the café to dip in coffee and hot chocolate (heaven!). After our super satisfying and ultra-rich breakfast we sauntered into the church across the street and were amazed to find the most luxurious, colorful stained glass that we’d ever seen. As we were leaving town we saw 4 monkey puzzles so we decided to stay on the backroads as much as possible until we reached our next stop- Rouen, where we had a hotel booked for two nights.



We decided to take a detour through Bayeux on the way to Rouen since the well-known Bayeux tapestry is there(which I’ve taught about in art history yet never fully appreciated). We enjoyed the gigantic church in Bayeux with the intricately carved faces, the town’s water wall (once used for local industry) and the 70 meter long tapestry (actually an embroidery). The Bayeux tapestry celebrates the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy, and was probably embroidered by monks in the south of England after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. 1066! The colors even now are vivid and the stitches still strong. The embroidering of clothing, legendary animals, ships, Vikings, Norman and Saxon cavalries depicts in amazing detail the battle over England from the first promise by Harold that he wouldn’t claim the throne of England, to his going back on his promise, to William hearing that he’d called himself King of England, to William preparing for battle in France, to the blessing of the food and the transport of the horses, to hunting and to the horrors of battle, all in intricate detail and color. 70 meters long! The tapestry wound its way through two very long rooms (behind glass in a dim room, of course).










After Bayeux we decided to go to the d-day beaches at Normandie and wind our way back to Rouen, since we were so close. As we drove towards the coast the buildings became newer and newer looking, reflecting the fact that this area was bombed out almost completely during world war II. The picturesque, flat and calm beaches near here were a good choice for the allied forces, as once the forces were ashore, it was a clean shot towards the town. This quick stop for us was a good conversation starter about why sometimes war is justified, and the view, so sedate now, was humbling for us…

We made it into Rouen just as it was getting dark. Our hotel turned out to be immediately next to the Cathedral Notre Dame (that Monet famously studied in his series of paintings) in a lovely area. We walked around a bit looking for dinner and marveled at the Elizabethan-looking buildings (all a very expensive mock-up, as Rouen was bombed clean) and narrow passageways. Millions were spent trying to make the city look authentically ‘old’ and the outcome was mostly satisfying, if maybe a bit too ‘bright’. We had a hilarious dinner at a French fast food place called Flunch where the rules and directions for getting one’s food was a challenge for us, but ultimately satisfying. I happily ate brie and salad with a wine from a spigot.