Ravishing Rouen
The Next County….Rouen has much to offer.
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
"Where Joan of Arc was put to death," she said. Then, adding deliberately, "by the English," though not out loud, in the interest of Entente Cordiale. And sold out by the French, I nearly retorted. The Maid of Orleans and her fate is one of those Anglo-French facts, like 1066, and by the way, William the Conqueror died in Rouen, that stay with us from school. So my first visit to Rouen, Place de Vieux Marche, brought a thrill of recognition as I felt history come alive.
Rouen, the town of 100 steeples, is the ancient capital of Normandy, and has the allure of all grand cathedral cities that often attracts great artists. Guy de Maupassant described the city as "one of the most magnificent skylines of the world," and of the centuries-old evolving gothic cathedral, he termed the most superb human creation.
With its rolling countryside under changing skies, fleeting colours and shimmering light Normandy has always been a haven for artists of all descriptions but it found special favour with the Impressionists. At Rouen, before the Romans, there were the Celts, and the river Seine winds its way to the historical heart of the city in front of the splendid cathedral, with its cast iron spire at 151 metres the tallest in France. Work began on the Notre Dame Cathedral in 1145, a living record of how Gothic architecture evolved over the centuries, whose origins go back to the 4th century. The In the early 1500s, Roland le Roux's sculpted the superb stonework of the cathedral front. The 14th-century naves have 11 soaring bays illuminated through stained glass.
The widest façade of all cathedrals in France was depicted 20 times in 1890 in a series of internationally-famous canvases by Claude Monet. The Fine Arts Museum of Rouen, offers an incredible variety of masterpieces including Monet, Pissaro, Renoir. Manet, Sisley, Degas and Caillebotte.
Also, Rouen boasts the birthplace of two famous sons, giants of French literature, Gustave Flaubert's birthplace [1821-90] and Pierre Corneille's [1606-84] house where the playwright lived for 56 years
I didn't have the luxury of having so much time on my hands, and I was helped by the compactness of Rouen's historic centre, comprising pedestrian walkways, past half-timbered houses and busy shops. It's a green city with 18,000 trees and 25 parks or public squares. Tall ships create an unforgettable spectacle as they tie up at Rouen, a river and a sea port on the Seine, with the Channel at one end and Paris the other.
I checked in at the luxurious Hotel Dieppe opposite the station. It's a family hotel owned by five generations of the Gueret family that invented Rouen's world-famous pressed duck dish, Canard a la Rouennaise.
From Rouen Cathedral I walked to the rue de Gros Horloge, flanked by half-timbered houses, and under an archway that carried the city's famous Renaissance clock, with its 14th-century bell tower and medieval bells. The sweet-tooth offerings of a chocolate-maker do their best to expunge the episode's sour taste yet capitalises on the young lady's misery - Jean-Marie Auzou, highlights his global favourite: ‘les larmes de Jeanne D'Arc (Joan of Arc's tears) a delicious roasted almond slightly coated with caramel and chocolate.
As I noted my new bank's façade, I walked to the exact spot where 578 years earlier my fellow countrymen had incinerated France's Patron Saint. In stark contrast, a wedding party of French and Americans were exiting the revolutionarily-designed Joan of Arc church and entering La Couronne. There was excitement, gaiety and full of new born hopes. But like the young woman who had saved the throne for France, I heard voices too, and it was that of my new Bank Manager maybe approving of my pilgrimage to Joan's place of execution, ensuring that at least this Englishman had first with sensitivity paid his symbolic debt of honour before opening his account.
