Day Four- Les Andelys and Rouen

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Today, we woke up even earlier!  Last night, Emanuelle told us about this great castle built by Richard the Lion Heart in 1197.  The group was going to bus up, but if we wanted more time to explore, we should walk up earlier.  We were out the door by 7 am, which was pretty cold.  Luckily we had a LONG walk up very steep hill, which warmed us up considerably!  This is why Uniworld buses you up.

We reached the Chateau at about 8:15.  Called the Chateau-Gaillard, this castle and keep was one of the most strategically located strong holds in Normandy.  Richard the Lion Heart, the last English duke of Normandy, built the Chateau specifically to hold onto English claimed Norman lands, and protected the water way, the Seine, which leads into the English Channel.  It was built in only 12 months.

When Richard died, his brother John added two more toilets, which lead to the downfall of this Château.  King Philip II of France found that his troops could climb up the chute of this new toilet and thus gain entrance into the keep.  And with Philip taking this Château, he united all of France under one ruler.

The castle was dismantled after the 100 years war, nearly 400 years after its original building.  The keep still stands, and you can take tours of it.  There are several ruined walls and towers to poke around in, which we did extensively.

We returned from the Château and set in to sail through lunch.  Sebastian gave an interesting talk about the many locks we went through, and how they worked.  Emmanuelle gave a talk on French history and culture from its infancy to modern day.  Again, my mother was board and antsy, but I was really interested to hear about France and Paris from a native.  It was lovely to watch us dock in Rouen while we finished lunch.

An important note to remember for those of you who will go to France and Rouen:  Americans see the name Rouen and think to pronounce it Rue-en.  If you talk about Rue-en to a French person, they will look at you funny, and say they have never heard of this place.  The French pronounce it Woo-onh.  This entertained my mother and I to no end, and we proceeded to practice it constantly, as we never got it quite right.

I loved Rouen!  It was very much like Paris, but on a much smaller level.  Rouen was one of the most prosperous cities in the middle ages, and was the capital of Normandy.  Rouen has some of the oldest original wood buildings in all of France.  These wooded buildings were once homes on the second and third levels, and shops on the bottom.  We took a walking tour that highlighted these buildings, and the incredible Notre Dame, Rouen’s cathedral.  It is just one of hundreds of cathedrals and churches that share this name all over France.

The other fascinating thing that took place in Rouen was the execution of Joan of Arc.  Joan of Arc has been a long time hero of mine, and I was very excited to stand on the spot of her martyrdom.  My biggest disappointment was the church erected near the sight in her honor.  It was built in the 1970s and looked completely retro.

I also stopped by the Joan of Arc museum across the street.  Do not waste your time!  It was mostly posters of movies about Joan of Arc, and had bad wax figures depicting about 10 scenes from her life.  It was horribly armature, as was the narration in 5 different languages.  Did I mention that all this cost me 7.50 Euros?

It was in Rouen that we finally sat in a café among other French people.  Mom had a glass of white wine, and I had a hot chocolate.  We sat inside because it started to drizzle and was about 32 Fahrenheit.  Ironically enough, we found out when we left that the name of the café was the Café Big Ben.