Rouen

Rouen. City of One Hundred Spires.  City where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. City of streets and streets of old half-timbered houses.



We stayed in the old town, in a hotel in a historic old 'hotel' (name for a big house in the old days), a scant block from the old market where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.





One of the city's big landmarks is its old clock bridging over the pedestrian walkway.







Rouen's cathedral, made famous by Monet's paintings, is indeed a remarkable piece of architecture:

But despite its complexity, you can't get to 100 spires on this church alone! We saw a couple of other lovely churches too, all of them prettier on the outside than the inside.

Then, finally, there was the audacious modern design of the bright and airy Joan of Arc church:














Even given all these beautiful churches, my most enduring impression of Rouen will be the remarkable number of half-timbered houses surviving in the old town, with facades like these: