Rouen and other tidbits

Hello there!

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought I would update you on what I've been doing. First though, in regards to the future, tomorrow, nice and early (6 am) I'm leaving for my flight to London! I'll be there for four days, so I'm sure I'll have a lot of stories when I get back. And I've bought everything for plane/train rides and hostel stays for after the program as well. I'll be in Oslo, Norway for two days, Bergen, Norway for three, and Sigtuna, Sweden (outside of Stockholm) for ten days. So even more countries crossed off my to-visit list by the end of June!

So, in the last couple weeks I've gotten into a routine: get up, go to a cafe or CUPA, go to class, maybe go to a monument with people, return home, eat dinner, do homework. I'll give you the highlights.

I went to the Pantheon one afternoon, and saw the tombs of Voltaire, Rousseau, Marie Curie, and many more. It was very cool to see where all the people where buried, but unfortunately the tombs were nothing compared to the necropolis of Saint Denis. I don't know if any crypt can live up to that.

One evening, my host family had some friends over, and I ate a very long dinner with them; long as in three hours long. But it was three hours of delicious food (foie gras!) flowing wine (I actually enjoy it now) and pride in my comprehension level of french. There was a sticky moment when I tried to explain Nordic skiing to six french people, and seeing as how some Minnesotans don't even understand it, I don't think I conveyed the idea very well. But overall, it was a very nice evening.

But the next day, last Saturday, I went to Rouen! Rouen is a very cute french city of about half a million people, an hour and a half northwest of Paris. Taking the train was a great experience itself, as I got to see the beautiful french countryside as it whizzed by. And we had twelve hours there, so there was a lot of sightseeing to be done.

Vibrant green French countryside

Our main goal, however, was the cathedral. There is a stained glass window that Flaubert wrote a short story about. Austin and I read it in a french class last year, and ever since we have been set on visiting this cathedral. The story itself is long and complicated to explain, so click here for a quick summary, if you like. (The second story - it's worth it, and if you're interested, Austin and I can tell it to you in great detail.)

We exited the train station in Rouen, and realized that we absolutely did not know where the cathedral was. We kind of assumed it would be obvious. So we just started walking down the main road, Rue Jeanne d'Arc, and figured we would find it. What we found first was the Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc if you didn't get that) tower! Joan is very important in the history of this little city, so there are monuments to her just about everywhere. We went up the tower, and from a window saw the big cathedral! As we left, we headed in that direction. But along the way, we found many other little Gothic style churches. I found out when I got home that Rouen is called "la ville de cent clocher" the city of 100 steeples, because there are churches around every corner.

At last, we found the cathedral. And the facade, what would be an incredibly stunning, breathtaking sight, was under construction. I almost started crying. I had been looking forward to the beautiful facade for almost  a year, and I didn't get to see it.

Here's what the cathedral looks like on Google images without construction:

Incredible, right? This is what we saw:

Two large white rectangles away from perfection.

Alas. Once I got over my frustration, we entered. It was incredible. It is immense, and not super organized in layout. It felt cluttered. But we found our window, and spent some time identifying each scenes from the story. And then the gift shop (yep, gift shop in a cathedral) had post cards of the window, so I got one, of course.

Looking down the nave.

Can't remember what this is, but it certainly looks cool.

THE WINDOW.

Yes, I took a selfie with the window. Other tourists were looking at me strangely.

To speed things up, I'll give picture summaries of the rest of the day.

The buildings were all cool German style architecture. It was pretty.

Random beautiful church!

We found a facade! This is the Abbey of Saint Ouen,
where Joan of Arc was rehabilitated.

Inside Abbey Saint Ouen. Very tall.

Giant stained glass window at the far side.

We stumbled upon a museum of medieval and renaissance history.
I like this picture because it shows how stone decorations at that time
where painted, something a lot of people don't realize. It gives a very
different feel to all the plain uncolored stone remnants we usually see.

We finished the day with dinner (bread, cheese, fruit) at a small park,
with a swan for company.

I had an amazing time in Rouen, as much as I love Paris, it's great to get away sometimes, and to see parts of France that aren't just that one city.

Tune in next week to hear about all the Harry Potter related things I do in London!