The Medieval City of Rouen France Dec 1, 2024

Sleeping on a hard loveseat has its drawbacks. Fun fact.
We did not get an early start but we did accomplish our sightseeing goals.
First the fine art museum which is free. Astounding. Renoir, several Monet and yes a Caravaggio - huge, many stairs although there is a lift - we walked through before our first coffee. Not easy but we survived. There are no barriers -you can walk right up to the paintings, see the brushstrokes - some of Monets works are really thick, easy to chip off a piece, but we didn't. A fine art museum and being Caravaggio fans we spent some time alone[b] with his masterpiece - it was protected by glass but most of the other works here are not.

It took us quite awhile to find the Caravaggio - the museum is huge. It's on the second floor to the right.

Now we really need our coffee - not used to this delay of gratification.

Yes I am looking a bit worse for wear, this past 36 hours has been a lot for an old girl like me. Now my back hurts because of the short bed. But we forge on to where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and I have enough energy now to act it out.


The Church of Saint Joan of Arc was completed in 1979 in the centre of the ancient market square, known as the Place du Vieux-Marché, the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy in 1431. It was designed to look like a flame as well as an upside down longship. To me it looked like a teardrop for the atrocity against a young woman.

Stained glass windows inside this relatively modern church were saved from an old church decimated by an Allied bomb in 1944 during World War 2. All that remains of that sorry church is this wall.

To add to the fun this cute little carousel is set up next to the church

It was likely a festive atmosphere way back then when crowds would gather for the great and gruesome spectacle of burning at the stake. Joan was given the opportunity to escape the purifying fire but she refused. Hers was a political execution as she had led French troops against the British dressed in men's clothing. Voices of saints had told her it was God's will that the French would succeed in the uprising. She was 19 years old when she died.

We have yet to see the River Seine which flows through Rouen. Our next stop is the Immersive Viking Museum and it's on the other side of the river.

Rollo the Viking brought his warriors to town on this very river, terrorizing the inhabitants.
As we are about to discover after some pretty bitter and violent battles a lasting peace was eventually negotiated and Normandy was formed under his rule. Assimilation occurred and the Normans - a mixture of Northmen and Franks populate the area to this day. These people of Rouen have Viking blood.
So this is a bit of a hike and stairs are involved we have a cafe break before going into the museum.

I had an orange Fanta - a common drink it seems in our travels through Europe.
Admission is about 22 dollars Canadian, mine was two dollars cheaper, seniors rate.
There are English subtitles so we are ok.
We walk back in time to the ninth Century when the Northmen, fierce plundering warriors terrorized the area. Their leader was Hrolf called Rollo -Scandinavian and possibly Norwegian according to the Icelandic Sagas. Wherever he was from Rollo wasn't wanted back home so he was compelled to find somewhere to settle down.
Charles the Simple, king of France and the archbishop of Rouen brokered a deal with Rollo - lasting peace. Rollo agreed to convert to Christianity as a symbolic gesture. He would rule Normandy and own much land and offered in return protection of the area and Paris from further Viking attacks. It was a win win situation and the Normans flourished for hundreds of years, conquering both Sicily and England for a time under the banner of Rollo descendants William the Conqueror and Roger. It seems the French embrace their Viking heritage.

Noted for its large collection of half timber houses Rouen's old town is like walking back to medieval times - a very picturesque city.