Rouen

We decide to travel to Northern France where we visit Rouen and Dieppe. Rouen is a small city primarily known for its associations with Joan of Arc. An elderly French gentleman chats with Steve on the train ride to Rouen (I can’t talk because that would require me to look sideways which makes me too nauseated) and says “Now you will see why the French hate the English!” Referring to Joan of Arc being burnt at the stake for heresy. Today the French claim her to be a Saint- so in a nutshell, they have a six hundred year old grudge against the English for burning their patron saint. 

We get off the train in Rouen and it starts raining. We scurry around looking for a room and find one that is listed in our travel book (I should clarify, its no longer a travel book- for the sake of space and weight, its a bunch of papers carefully extracted out of the travel book with an exacto knife.) The hotel is old but warm and comfortable- we even get our own bathroom complete with a hair dryer! We have started to appreciate such comforts and refer to them as “luxury items”- sometimes its an extra pillow, sometimes its hangers in the closet. We walk through the old streets of Rouen which are now home to trendy boutiques and cafes. We buy an umbrella which proves to be invaluable as we get poured on daily- needless to say, we’ve mastered the two-man/one umbrella position. Joan of Arc memorabilia is everywhere! I find it interesting that a Saint appears to have achieved celebrity status- you can buy anything with Joan of Arc plastered on it. There were also streets, churches, cafes, and even bars named after her. To get out of one of the rain storms, we visited the Joan of Arc wax museum- it was cheap and dorky but probably high tech in the ’70’s, but we had a good time anyway. We also went to the tower where Joan was held prisoner during her trial and then to the site where she was burnt at the stake.  

Traces of WW2 can be seen in Rouen- older buildings and the Cathedral have bullet and shrapnel damage to the stone. To prevent the Cathedral from collapsing, scaffolding and braces were erected and sand bags replaced the stained glass windows in the church. It worked, and only part of the building had to be replaced.

Because of all the train rides causing my stomach to spin, Steve suggested I go to the pharmacy and get something to help that wouldn’t make me tired. I went in, and to my complete surprise, they had anti-nausea pressure point bracelets. I wasn’t sure if they would work but Steve said is was worth trying. Turns out, they do work for me!! Since getting them, train rides have been much more enjoyable! I can read and even look out the windows!