This Saturday, for the first time in over a month, I left Paris and traveled one hour north to Normandy to visit the city of Rouen, France. My friend Melissa has a friend from the US teaching English to high school students in Rouen and she invited me to come along with her to visit her friend in the charming city.
We saw some amazing things in Rouen like the place where Joan of Arc was burned and the church that was later dedicated in her honor.
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| Melissa and Joan |
I was reminded that we were not too far from home as we explored the city, as traces of the Seine were everywhere...Located on the right bank, Rouen has a much more industrial view of the river in comparison with Paris. However, the Seine trickled it's way through the town in the version of a small canal:
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| Small Canal descending from the Seine |
Rouen is filled with beautiful gothic cathedrals. The number of gray gothic towers popping above the buildings was almost disorienting, it was hard to distinguish exactly where we were in the city with such a large number of beautiful churches.
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| Rouen Cathedrale |
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| Monet's Rouen Cathedrale |
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| View from inside the Cathedral |
The cathedral was bombed 7 times during World War II and miraculously still stands today. The bombs just slightly missed hitting some of the central pillars holding up the church. To this day, many of the windows have not been restored back to their original stain glass windows. My grandfather was a pilot during WWII so this history of the church was especially intriguing to me.
Something I also found rather interesting about the cathedral was that it was colder inside the church than than the Normandy winter air was outside. I could even see my breath! Not sure how people sit through mass here?
Get ready to hear all about Alexis' trip to Paris! Many fun restaurants, sights, and stories to come tomorrow!
Bisous bisous,
Mary
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