12 Issues To Do In Rouen, Normandy, That Will Enrich Your Tradition

Rouen is a type of cities we’ve all heard of – however in fact, I had in some way uncared for to go to. I dwell on the different finish of France, and Normandy was a stretch. When town’s vacationer workplace invited me to spend a few days exploring Rouen, I used to be on the practice nearly earlier than hanging up the telephone: I used to be curious to see whether or not it could dwell as much as its repute.

That repute included many superlatives – the “capital of Impressionism”, the “Metropolis of 100 Bell Towers”, Metropolis of Gastronomy…

The town left an impression on me so I would wish to share it right here.

Normandy is likely one of the 13 areas of “metropolitan” France and is a part of the “département” of the Seine-Maritime, northwest of Paris, going through the southern coast of England. (France has 101 départements, or administrative items.)

Normandy is the place William the Conqueror sailed from in 1066 on his approach to the Battle of Hastings, the place the Allies made their greatest landings in World Battle II, and the place the Seine River throws itself into the English Channel.

Prime issues to do in Rouen

Rouen is cut up in two by the Seine, its formal founding courting again almost 9 centuries to the yr 1150. The town carries reminders of each period since, from its medieval streets and Gothic buildings to its Belle Epoque inspiration and trendy post-war rebuilds.

Listed below are some unmissable sights price visiting and intriguing issues to do in Rouen.

1. Discover Notre-Dame Cathedral

Rouen’s cathedral wasn’t at all times the “Flamboyant Gothic” edifice we all know right now.

The primary non secular constructing right here dates again to the daybreak of Christianity, within the 4th century CE, and whereas we don’t actually know what it regarded like then, we do understand it was destroyed by Vikings in 841. 

It was rebuilt in Romanesque type beginning in 1030 however most of that’s gone too, aside from a chunk of the outdated wall on the left once you face the cathedral’s major entrance. And so it went, the cathedral ageing, being ransacked, struck by lightning, broken by fireplace, raided in the course of the French Revolution, rebuilt.

The newest harm got here from the Allied bombings of Rouen in 1944 as they fought to repel the occupying Germans. As bombs fell on town, a big a part of the cathedral was destroyed. It could take a dozen years to revive it.

Resilient by means of all of it, Notre-Dame de Rouen stays town’s most prestigious monument, a serious attraction that has misplaced none of its magnetism.

2. Observe the façade of the cathedral as Monet did

When you’ve been to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, you’ve undoubtedly seen a few of Monet’s “Collection of Rouen Cathedrals”. He painted 30, of which 5 are on the Orsay, and one is in Rouen, on the Museum of Effective Arts.

Monet was fascinated by gentle, and all it’s a must to do is stand in entrance of the cathedral for a minute or two to know what motivated him. Rouen’s climate modifications rapidly and may go from rain to summer season solar nearly immediately, at completely different instances of day. The filigree-like façade of the cathedral accelerates that change as gentle bounces off the layers of carvings and its many sculptures.

His work are one of many major causes Rouen has turn out to be generally known as the “capital of Impressionism”.

3. Admire the spectacular assortment of Impressionist work on the Musée des Beaux-Arts

Monet wasn’t the one impressionist who painted Rouen: he simply occurred to be essentially the most well-known. Normandy being the Nineteenth-century artists’ magnet it was, many others have been taken by what they noticed – like Sisley, Pissarro, Caillebotte, Renoir…

Because of this, the museum now hosts the most important assortment of Impressionists in France outdoors the Musée d’Orsay.

An impressionist present, the Ecole de Rouen, was born within the metropolis, and the Effective Arts Museum shows a number of of its main representatives, together with Joseph Delattre, Léon-Jules Lemaître, Charles Angrand and Charles Frechon. Not shocking, for the reason that museum hosted the primary impressionist assortment outdoors Paris.

4. Relive the trials of Saint Joan of Arc on the Historial 

Joan of Arc’s life was short-lived, a mere 19 years which got here to abrupt halt right here in Rouen, the place she was tried and located responsible of heresy, witchcraft, and dressing like a person. She was burned on the stake within reach of La Couronne, France’s oldest inn, which was already standing in 1431 when Joan met her destiny. 

Joan of Arc, France’s patron saint, has left her mark on Rouen. Almost 600 years after her dying (she died in 1431), you may’t go anyplace on this metropolis with out seeing her title – on streets and squares and statues, but additionally on store home windows, as pastry names, or on plaques scattered all through town.

An intriguing monument to her is the Historial Jeanne d’Arc, a contemporary interactive museum that tells the story of her preliminary trial – and of her re-trial, which befell 1 / 4 century after her dying. That second trial would rehabilitate her, discovering fault with the primary tribunal, a narrative stunningly informed together with her personal phrases from official transcripts of the time. As a result of visits are timed, you’d be smart to guide your tickets early.

5. Stroll amongst Rouen’s 2000 half-timbered buildings

Rouen is dwelling to just about 2000 half-timbered homes (there have been almost 1000 extra earlier than town’s partial destruction by bombs in 1944) so in case you like medieval buildings and slim cobblestone streets, take your time in Previous Rouen’s preserved quarter.

See the white areas between the wooden frames?

These have been historically stuffed with a combination of clay, straw and animal dung, however have been finally changed by plaster, brick or stone.

This half-timber method, generally known as “colombage” in French, was extremely sensible. Wooden was plentiful, and homes could possibly be constructed rapidly, typically in comparatively brilliant colours. 

You may discover some homes jut out into the road above the bottom ground. That is known as “jettying” and was a method used to guard decrease partitions from rainfall, but additionally to extend scarce dwelling house for an increasing inhabitants, and typically to decrease taxes, which have been calculated on the idea of a dwelling’s floor floor.

A few of the streets are so slim they’re extra passage than road, stretching silently from one road to the following, a bit just like the well-known traboules of Lyon. One of many final you may stroll by means of is the tiny rue des Chanoines, as a result of most of those have been closed off to all however residents.

So in case you see an open door, take a peek.

6. Discover the culinary delights of this UNESCO Metropolis of Gastronomy

Rouen belongs to UNESCO’s Artistic Cities Community, the one metropolis in France included within the “gastronomy” class (and solely one in all seven French cities in any class).

The explanation? 

• Rouen’s culinary excellence and repute
• Normandy’s produce range and excellence
• Its meals festivals, particularly the annual Fête du Ventre
• Its academic establishments (Nationwide Bakery Institute)
• The town’s many food-related well being and sustainability initiatives

And that’s all of the official stuff. However the meals right here is phenomenal. I didn’t have a foul meal throughout my keep. And I ate a lot (see restaurant suggestions on the backside of this web page), together with strolling into eating places sight unseen, with out trying issues up on an app.

This is a enjoyable reality: Rouen has 650 eating places for its inhabitants of round half one million, and 196 bars – it ranks third in France by way of bars per capita!

7. Have lunch in a former ossuary as soon as stuffed by plague victims

Talking of meals, and you could assume this reasonably ghoulish, an uncommon venue for lunch is hidden away within the Aître Saint-Maclou (from the Latin phrase “atrium”, which suggests central courtyard). 

What’s sudden is that the courtyard was as soon as a cemetery and ossuary, a repository for the our bodies of those that perished in varied waves of the plague in Rouen. The poorest have been thrown right into a mass grave within the heart, whereas the wealthier have been buried beneath the assorted wings which they constructed to encompass the mass grave.

At the moment, the atrium’s metamorphosis is full. Not solely is it the location of concert events and performs, however it is usually dwelling to the Café Hamlet, an intriguing little restaurant whose menu is the work of Gilles Tournadre, a Michelin-starred chef who handed again his stars in change for a much less tense life. 

8. Benefit from the iconic meal Julia Baby ate in France’s oldest inn, La Couronne 

Equally odd in environment is La Couronne, if you consider it.

It’s located on the sting of the Place du Vieux Marché (Previous Market Sq.), in full sight of the spot on which, in 1431, Joan of Arc was burned on the stake. (It’s stated that the rooms within the inn above it going through the sq. have been full on the night time she was put to dying.)

However that’s not the declare to fame I wish to speak about right here.

It was Wednesday 3 November 1948 and July Baby, who had docked in France simply hours earlier than, skilled what she known as “essentially the most thrilling meal of my life”.

“It was an epiphany,” she stated, in her guide My Life in France. “In all of the years for the reason that succulent meal, I’ve but to lose the sentiments of surprise and pleasure that it impressed in me. I can nonetheless nearly style it. And considering again on it now jogs my memory that the pleasures of desk, and of life, are infinite–toujours bon appétit!”

You, too, can expertise Julia’s “epiphany” by sampling the Julia Baby menu, which was widespread at a number of tables the night time I used to be there (I wished to be completely different and tried an beautiful risotto with walnut emulsion…)

9. Inform time with Le Gros Horloge

When you’ve ever seen {a photograph} of Rouen, there’s each probability it included the 14th-century Gros-Horloge, or Large Clock Tower, one of many oldest astronomical clocks in France. I believe solely the clocks in Cluny, Strasbourg and Lyon (examine it right here) are older.

The very first thing you’ll spot is the clock face and its single hour hand (sure, they solely had one hand within the Center Ages), a solar and moon to point the tides of this port metropolis, the day of the week, and the lambs on town’s coat of arms.

Round to the facet, a fountain symbolizes the union between Rouen and the Seine River.

The perfect half is which you can go inside.

Climbing into the small sq. tower – which additionally housed the house of the clock’s Governor – you may see all of the inside workings, together with gears and bells.

Proper on the very prime, a tiny ledge (fortunately protected by a excessive parapet) opens up onto a spectacular view of Rouen.

10. Pay homage to town’s literary giants

Rouen additionally enjoys a wholesome literary custom as the house of Seventeenth-century playwright Pierre Corneille, who wrote The Cid, and Gustave Flaubert, creator of Madame Bovary.

You may go to the home during which Corneille was born, simply off the Vieux-Marché sq., and his “nation dwelling”, now the Corneille Museum, is a ten-minute drive from Rouen, in Petite-Couronne.

As for Flaubert, he spent his first 25 years in Rouen, a lot of it in a wing of the Lodge-Dieu, or hospital, the place his father was head surgeon. The hospital, inside strolling distance of the Vieux-Marché, comprises his room (closed to visits) but additionally a museum of the historical past of drugs.

11. Rummage by means of brocantes and vintage retailers

This go to is the simplest of all of them: stroll out your door, head for Previous Rouen, and window store. I don’t know if that is specific to Normandy however I used to be shocked on the variety of vintage retailers scattered across the historic heart… I wished to enter each single one!

Whilst you’ll discover them all through the outdated city, they’re concentrated in regards to the Church of Saint-Maclou church alongside the rue Damiette.

12. Go to one in all Rouen’s oddest museums, positioned in a former chapel

The primary time I noticed {a photograph} of this uncommon museum, I knew I must go to. If I’m sincere, this museum was most likely what prompted me to go.  

Welcome to the Musée Le Secq des Tournelles, a wrought iron assortment set in a disaffected church, the Eglise Saint-Laurent.

Based greater than 100 years in the past, the museum’s distinctive ironworks come from Henri Le Secqu des Tournelles and his father and consists of every part from architectural parts to slacks and instruments and stitching equipment. 

Right here’s a straightforward approach to go to: Spend the morning on the Museum of Effective Arts of Rouen having fun with Monet. Then have lunch at In Situ across the nook, and eventually, cross the road to the museum after lunch (it’s closed within the mornings).

When you like odd collections displayed with originality, you could not wish to go away. I used to be caught there for longer than deliberate when a thunderstorm made it tough to depart – however actually amplified the sense of thriller I felt inside.

…and some different claims to fame

• The Maison Chic, France’s oldest Jewish monument, is positioned right here (though you may solely go to it through guided tour on Saturdays and I had left, so was unable to see it)
• Rouen is Western Europe’s prime cereal exporter
• its 12 city-owned museums are FREE
• it’s dwelling to the Armada, the world’s largest tall-ship gathering

Attending to Rouen

Rouen is a straightforward day journey from Paris, whether or not by automotive or by practice.

Rouen from Paris by automotive

Rouen is a two-hour drive from Paris, some 135km/84mi, alongside the A13 (though there are additionally different routes). Listed below are Michelin’s driving directions.

When you don’t have your individual automotive, you may examine rental costs and availability right here.

Rouen from Paris by practice

Rouen by practice is easy. Some 28 trains go away each day from St Lazare practice station in Paris and the journey lasts about 1h40. Rouen-Rive Droite station, the primary Rouen practice station, is inside strolling distance of the outdated city. You may guide your practice right here.

Locations to eat in Rouen

Rouen is a delight for the palate]. I can suggest the next eateries:

• Gill Pastry store, with the identical house owners because the Café Hamlet, on the primary road close to the doorway of the Aître

• In Situ, across the nook from the Musée des Beaux-Arts. The chef, Laurent Blanchard, is a member of the Membership des Toques de Rouen, an area culinary affiliation which represents town’s greatest cooks.

• Café Victor, in case you’re able to expertise Canard à la Rouennaise, a world-famous native specialty of duck cooked in its personal blood

• For some snacks, attempt the award-winning Fromagerie Jollit, additionally member of Membership des Toques de Rouen, or Ma Boulangerie, whose chef Christophe Cressent is a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (the elite of France’s culinary scene, with extraordinarily tough entry necessities)

The place to remain in Rouen

I stayed on the Greatest Western Lodge Dieppe, proper throughout the road from the practice station. Tremendous handy, and residential of the Café Victor, of Canard à la Rouennaise fame.

Different beneficial resorts embrace:

• The Radisson Blu, additionally close to the practice station, with its famend Le Jehanne restaurant

• The luxurious Bourg Theroulde, a Marriott property, proper of the Place du Vieux-Marché

• When you’d reasonably keep in a finances house, this one is close to the River Seine however nonetheless downtown 

Earlier than you go…

Going again in time, we should not neglect that as Rotomagus, Rouen was Gaul’s second most vital metropolis (after Lugdunum, or Lyon).

However what has remained most seen are its medieval roots, which you may spot all through the outdated city. Do wander round by yourself, or if you would like to know the tales behind the locations you see, take a guided tour and go to corners you won’t in any other case see.

It is also an ideal metropolis for consuming, and has loads of bike routes for these of you who have to burn off all that good meals. I, however, was completely content material with sitting in a café and watching the Rouennais go about their enterprise.

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