I headed out to Rouen this weekend in order to get out of Paris and see some of the smaller cities in the surrounding area. Rouen is particularly interesting due to its long history. Located on the Seine River, it was an important trading post on the road (river) from the Atlantic Ocean to Paris. It was raided several times by the vikings, it is the place where Joan of Arc was executed, and the city also has several beautiful cathedrals. In terms of culture there were several great writers that were from the city, many impressionists and Monet spent time here during his career. Check out my photos below!
The execution site of Joan of Arc
La Grosse Horloge (the big clock)
This clock was pretty cool. I am probably butchering the history but I believe it was built in the 1300s when the town took the power of the bells (literally the permission to ring bells for time) from the clergy. This signified the power shift that took power away from the clergy and gave it to the wealthy merchants the in area. The clock shows the time, lunar cycle, and the day of the week.
The view from one of the windows inside
The view of the town's cathedrals from the top of la grosse horloge
The towns largest cathedral. Already for the history on this....
The town's second cathedral 
Rouen 
The left side of the river was totally destroyed in the second world war and had to be rebuilt.
La Seine, the highway to Paris 
This featured blog entry was written by Gotti from the blog Gotti in France.
Read comments or Subscribe
