Rouen

Now we are sitting in the lounge with an hour and a half to go for our taxi to the hotel in Paris. The cruise is over and we’ve said our goodbyes to Sandy and Bob and most of the other friends we have made this week. There are a few stragglers like us though—folks who did not have to leave for early flights or those who are continuing their travels with a few days in Paris like we are.

But back to the itinerary of the cruise. Our next stop was Rouen, site of one of the most classic and beautiful of the great Gothic cathedrals and a frequent subject of Monet’s paintings. It truly is a marvel, full of gargoyles and flying buttresses, dripping with filigree and countless spires on the outside and majestic on the inside with its dizzying heights, statues of the saints, Rose window and the tomb of Richard the Lionheart.

Tom and Eric and I visited this Cathedral some years ago when Eric was about twelve and I remember climbing to the very top via a grand stone staircase inside. Seeing the staircase again jogged that memory. Eric and I trudged up the hundreds of stairs and if I’m not mistaken, Tom sat in a pew below waiting for us. Praying…

Rouen is also the spot where 19-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. Joan, one of the patron saints of France, was not canonized until 1920. Born in Orleans, she had visions at a young age, and believed she had been assigned by God the task of saving France from the English invaders. She cut her hair (a crime in those days for women), wore male clothing and armor, and led several armies to victory over the English. But the English prevailed in Rouen, and because of her exploits she was put on trial under the charge of witchcraft, found guilty and burned alive. According to legend, after her body was reduced to ash, her heart was still beating and unaffected by the fire.

Twenty-six years later—the English having been ousted by then—the verdict was reversed and she was declared innocent and a national hero and martyr for France. She remains revered and beloved to this day and there is a plaque at the site that professes the gratitude of the French people for her sacrifice.

But other than that, Rouen is a very happy place. Although Rouen is a city of 400,000 people, it seems small and intimate with the Old Town spreading out below the looming spires of the Cathedral. The narrow streets are flanked on either side by timbered houses, each brightly painted in different colors, shops selling macaroons, chocolate and Faience pottery, next to restaurants and antique stores. There is a small brightly colored carousel in the Joan of Arc square and down the street a mime dressed as a clown stood for the longest time without so much as a twitch. In the middle of the long promenade there is a beautiful large clock painted in gold, red and blue, over an ornately carved arch which is no doubt a popular meeting spot.

Oops, time to go, more later, let’s see if I can post this…