NORMANDY 

Rouen-Church of Saint Ouen- Antiques museum

History and WWII

Cathedral

Gros Horloge and Place Vieux Marché

Palais de Justice Bourgtheroulde

St.Maclou-Aitre St.Maclou

Church Saint Ouen-Musée des Antiquités

Tour Jeanne-Musée Secq des Tournelles-musee des Beaux Arts

Musée de Faience-Musée Flaubert

The ABBATIALE DE SAINT OUEN, dating 14th century is another marvel of gothic French architecture! My god, what this beautiful!! You may be Jewish or Muslim or even Buddhist, if you have some common sense about beauty, you must get goose pimples by looking at this! The view is a bit framed between the timbered houses of the rue Damiette, catching the breath of its lantern towers.

Saint-Ouen

Unlike the cathedral of which this church is larger and higher (only a few metres), it is closely confined in a protective huddle of streets and houses. Combining delicacy and airiness to the extreme it has its arched vaults drawn like rainbows. Tow splendid octagonal towers surmounted by a spire. Rouen’s second grand church rises from lawns, trees and wide-open spaces of the place General de Gaulle. Founded in 1318 it was not completed 200 years. Therefore you can notice a lot of other influences in its architecture than the original Gothic style. Inside, a forest of fine and elegant columns supports the long nave. Often described as being of great unity, the interior impresses more by its great size from end to end beneath an unbroken roof, and its great height (33 meters) Light floods from the windows so vast that it seems impossible that these slender stone framed can support the enormous weight of the roof. In fact, the walls are propped by the flying buttresses outside. Superb 16th century stained windows, with soft pink colours enhance the already stupendous place. In the choir we see a series of one of the most beautiful stained-glass windows in France.
Just beyond the place du General is a former Jesuit college named Lycée Corneille after its star pupil. But also other great names used their shorts on the school benches: Flaubert, Maupassant, Delacroix, and later the modern writer and critic André Maurois. No doubt they would have been fascinated by the collections of the nearby MUSEE D’ANTIQUITES, rue Beauvoisine. This museum is housed in a 17th century cloister. It is an exciting and thrilling conserving a lot of testimonies about the history of Rouen from prehistory to our present time. Don’t forget that Normandy was one part of the great Roman Empire and daily artefacts are found in the city. Like that mosaic Orpheus charming the animals and Apollo pursuing a reluctant Daphne, rescued from the Roman baths in Lillebonne. The collections are of great valour.
The 16h century and up is also well represented by a series of admirable stained glass windows, numerous, sculptures in polychrome wood, locks, chimney pieces, tapestries, ivories and carved woodwork. A whole gallery is only decorated with sculpted timber that ornated Norman houses. Nice tapestries room and another room with ancient mosaics, found in the valley of the Seine.
Next the tour Jeanne d’Arc, Musee Seq des Tournelles, the musée des Beaux-Arts and musée de la Ceramique.

Bibliography

A holiday history of France, by Ronald Hamilton (London-Hogarth press), Region Normandie, ses merveilles, ses cicatrices, by Louis Letellier (ed. Cloison, Rouen 1995), Routard 1998 (Hachette, Paris), Rouen, ville martyr, by Patrick Deware (Ed. Dargelle, 1998)-France today, by John Ardagh (Secker and Warburgh, London) The Identity of Normandy, by Fernand Braudel (Fontana Press, London)