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Thursday, march 6’Th
Actually, the trip from Billund to Rouen was a bit of a hassle. First I
take a bus from Vejle to Billund. Then I take a plane to Paris. Then I
take an RER B to Gare du Nord, where I change to a RER for St. Lazere.
From there I take a train to Le Havre. I get off the train in Rouen in
Normandy. Even though the trip is a bit complex, I arrive in Rouen 2
hours ahead of my own schedule for the trip.
I have
picked Hotel Andersen because of the name. It’s pretty close to the
railway-station in Rouen. The host can hardly believe me when I say I
have arrived early. He thinks that’s impossible when French railways are
part of the journey.
I get
the key to my room. The room doesn’t have a number, but there’s a yellow
string on the doorknob telling me that it’s mine. |
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After
some unpacking, I head for the city of Rouen. Rouen is placed at the
Seine-river, and is a very old city with lots of half-timbered houses.
There’s supposed to be around 2.000 of them. I don’t count them, but it
might be true. There are 100.000 people living in the city of Rouen, so
that makes one half-timbered house per 50 inhabitants. I make a walk
around town for a few hours. It’s not only fine houses around – there’s
certainly also some ugly buildings around. But my main sightseeing is
for tomorrow.
After
dinner, which around here is at 8 or 9, I head back for my yellow room.
There’s a football match on at channel 6, which I watch before going to
bed.
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Friday, March 7’Th
The
hotel has given me a fine map of Rouen with all the sight numbered from
1 to 10. So after breakfast, I head out.
No. 1:
The Tourist office – no – I skip that.
No. 2:
The Cathedral. That’s huge. The first church was built at this spot in
the 4’the century. The one that is here today was built in the 12’Th.
It’s a gothic church. There are high ceilings, some huge towers and the
doors are black and enormous. Richard the Lionheart is buried here.
No. 3:
St. Maclau’s church – closed |
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No. 4:
Aitre St. Maclau. A nice yard surrounded by half-timbered houses.
They’ve cut some strange figures in the wood. You can find skeletons,
skulls and other stuff. The place was build as a cemetery in 1348, where
3 out of 4 people died due to the plague. Now they’ve got an art-academy
at the buildings.
No. 5:
St. Queens Abbey – closed.
No. 6:
Palace of justice. That’s another building with lots of spires.
No. 7:
The Old Market. Now it’s mainly restaurants for the tourists. Jeanne
d’Arc was burned to death here in 1431. |
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No. 8:
Jeanne d’Arc church. This is a strange phenomenon at these places – a
modern church. It’s supposed to look like a ship upside down from
outside. I just think it’s ugly. From the inside it’s very nice, with
some nice mosaic-windows taken from the Saint-Vincent church, which
stood on this spot, but was destroyed during WW2.
No. 9:
Hôtel de Bougtheroude. I can’t find it….
No. 10:
Gros Horloge. This is an old tower with an old clock. Back in the old
days it was a fine thing for any city to be allowed its own clock-tower.
This one is from the beginning of the 16’Th century. There’s an audio
guided tour around the tower, which tells you the story. On the top
there’s a fine view across the city and towards the cathedral. |
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Saturday, March 8’Th
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Most
Rouen-sights were done yesterday, so today is a little more off the
beaten track.
I start
the day with a semi-sight. It’s the Jeanne d’Arc tower dating back to
the 13’Th century. There’s a small Jeanne d’Arc exhibition inside.
Then I
move around the local area. It’s a nice neighborhood. There are plenty
of half-timbered houses and small alleys. As I keep on I head for the
city-center. I get the chance to see two sights that I missed yesterday
– no. 5 and no. 3. No 5 is huge, cold, empty and almost threatening. No.
3 is smaller with a nice tower. No 3 was reopened in 1980, after being
totally destroyed during WW2. Inside there are pictures of how it
looked. |
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Then I
continue down towards the river Seine. In the middle there’s a small
island with apartments and a sports-complex. When you watch inside
during the windows you can see that the ice hockey-practice is on the
way. You could also take a look at the world youth championships in
synchronic swimming. That’s probably why there are so many young girls
in track-suits and with weird hair walking around the city.
Back to
the city-center and a walk along the river, that is not at all used for
touristic purposes. Then I head along some avenues to my hotel for a
break.
My evening-walk is for the city-center. It’s shopping-time in Rouen on a
Saturday evening.
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To Bayeux |