WEATHER: Sunny and cold 10C
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing the amazing wooden buildings of Rouen
BUMMER OF THE DAY: It got cold in the afternoon and an early return to the ship
BUYS OF THE DAY: More postcards
WORD OF THE DAY: Merci Bercu – thank you / or Merci Beaucol – beautiful arse!
MOVIES WATCHED TODAY: The Adjustment Bureau and Rabbit Hole
WHAT WAS ON THE MENU:
Tower of sun ripened tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella in fresh garden herb marinade
Chicken consommé with vegetables julienne and parisienne gnocchi’s
Roasted rack of lamb in mustard herb crusted on Merlot jus, served with ratatouille and potato gratin
Freshly baked raspberry Napoleon
Today was going to be a low key day, which is what a lot of people needed after yesterday and not just physically but mentally for some as well. We had an included morning tour of Rouen (pronounced Roo-on) and then the afternoon was at leisure. The ship was located only 10 minutes from the main drag of town, so you could come back to the ship for lunch or do your own thing in town and spend some more time in the city. You just had to be back on the ship by 6.30pm as we set sale for Caudebec-en-Caux which was only a 3 hour cruise.
Rouen is the historic capital city of Normandy, in northern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Upper Normandy region. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties, which ruled both England and large parts of modern France from the 11th to the 15th centuries. It was in Rouen where Joan of Arc was burnt in 1431.
Besides the wooden homes that have been faithfully restored to their former glory, Rouen is known for its Notre Dame cathedral, which is gothic style and dates back to the 11th century. It famously houses the tomb of Richard the Lion Heart which contains his actual heart. The city was heavily damaged during WWII and on D-Day the cathedral was all most destroyed by Allied bombs. The cathedral was also the subject of a series of paintings by Claude Monet, some of which are exhibited in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris depicting the same scenes at different times of the day. Other sites we saw included The Gros Horloge which is an astronomical clock (dating back to the 16th century) though the movement is considerably older (1389) and The Tour Jeanne d'Arc, where Joan of Arc was brought in 1431 to be threatened with torture (contrary to popular belief, she was not imprisoned there).
We finished the tour in the center of town next to the Joan of Arc memorial and we were then given clear and concise instructions on how to get back to the ship. There was till 1 hour to lunch, so I walked around some of the shops, trying to think if I needed to buy anything, with was a big fat no, and with the weather starting to turn I decided to just high tail it back to the ship and chillax for the afternoon. So after a delicious buffet lunch, I preceded upstairs to the Monet lounge to listen to the resident piano player Gigi (Zshee) and continued to blog for the rest of the afternoon….
After our port talk at 6.45pm with AJ it was off to dinner. I have to say I am loving this free flowing and FREE wine at dinner. I have been sitting at the same table if not on the same side each night, as George has been awesome and they are his tables and the waitress has also been awesome in keeping out drinks continually topped up all night. It’s one of those things that you just don’t know how much you have had to drink as your glass is never empty!
So comes to an end a nice restful day in Rouen (Roo-on). Tomorrow we head into a small fishing village of Honfluer.
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