Monday, 1 October -- Rouen

This is certainly high on my favourite cities list. It's fairly compact, walkable and has a lot of old interesting stuff to see.

We did the "gentle" walking tour this morning, looking at houses from centuries ago -- farther back from the Seine where not everything was destroyed by the world wars.

We went into a huge church that was interesting in many ways, but particularly for the central tower that had windows shining light down on the altar area.

We examined the stonework on the outside of the cathedral, saw war damage on many many large buildings, and then visited

 

the Ste. Jeanne d'Arc Church. It's a modern church that looks quite bizarre from the outside -- a Viking boat turned upside down and a dragon's head and scales -- but inside  has stained glass that dates to the time of Joan of Arc. It was removed from an old church for safe-keeping during World War II and that church was destroyed. The way it's been set into the modern glass walls is very effective.

In the afternoon Larry had a bridge tour on our ship, while I did the gourmet walking tour. We visited two chocolate workshop/stores and had a cheese and charcuterie sampling at a tea room. At the first chocolate place I got to try my hand at the spreading of chocolate, to make a "plate".

On the way back to the ship, Sally-Jo and I stopped in to Notre Dame Cathedral, to soak in some more ancient vibes.

Captain's reception and dinner, so we all dressed up.


All Photos of the Day 
Next Day: Giverny