day trip to Normandy

I had one more big thing to check off my sight-seeing list: Monet's garden in Giverny and Rouen Cathedral.

By 8:15 I was on a train from Paris to Vernon, where I rented a bike and rode the 30 minutes to Giverny. After only one wrong turn, I asked for directions and got myself across the Seine and onto a delightful bike path into the small town of Giverny.

 

It was also an absolutely gorgeous morning! Really couldn't have asked for better weather, just would've been nice to have a friend along (cough Emily Johnson cough).  

Monet's garden was crowded but not unbearable, especially since it covered much more ground than I expected. And it smelled wonderful! A smattering from the gorgeous jumble of flowers...

On the way back, I stopped at the small church where the Monets have their family plot.

 Also in the graveyard. The placard at the foot of the monument reads: "During the night of the 7th and 8th of June 1944, a Royal Air Force Lancaster bomber crashed in flames to the south of the village, in the "Plaine des Ajoux." This statue displays a propeller blade from the aircraft to pay homage to the seven crew lying in our cemetery. Their sacrifice led to our liberty today. This monument stands as in testimony to the crew and is a symbol of the admiration and gratitude of the people of Giverny."

Inside the church I lit a candle for my grandmother, Annamae, who passed away in November because my goodness would she have loved it there. I suppose she's a big reason that I loved it so much, considering she was a painter and avid gardener!

After yet another delicious vegetable quiche in Vernon, I got back on the train to head to Rouen, another 40 minutes away. I headed on Rick Steves' guided walk as always, and enjoyed exploring the city whose biggest claim to fame is that it was where Joan of Arc was tried, convicted, and burned at the stake. 

The cross marks where she was burned at the stake in 1431, and the Church of Saint Joan of Arc was completed in 1979. On the other side of the church are ruins of a 15th-century church that was destroyed during WWII. The church was really beautiful, and incorporated 16th-century stained glass from the aforementioned church.

Down the street is Le Gros-Horlage, the great clock. The mechanism is from the 14th! century, but the face of the clock dates from 1529.

There was an excellent little museum that covered the clock and the mechanism, which is actually in the belfry to the right, with the giant (2-3 ton!) bells.  

I couldn't get a good picture of the other one that actually is rung (well, struck), but here's the slightly smaller one in the belfry. Rick warned that if you are in the tower when the hour is struck, it's pretty dang loud, so I made sure I got to the top of the tower before 3 p.m. Well, the hour came, and some smaller bells rang from the very top, and nothing else. I was a bit puzzled and started down the steps after a couple minutes. Thankfully I didn't make it down to the room where the bells are, because it struck at 3:03 and still scared the bejeezus out of me. I went into the little room as it was still reverberating after the third strike, and I could feel that in my bones! What an unexpectedly fun little adventure.

 View from about halfway up the tower toward Rouen Cathedral.

View from the top of the belfry. 

I made my way down the very commercial yet picturesque streets (thanks to the half-timbered upper floors of the buildings) to the Cathedral that Monet painted so many times:

It's a remarkably intricate facade that has been through a lot. The cathedral was heavily damaged during WWII thanks to seven direct hits, but you wouldn't know that today unless someone pointed out the places were you can tell they patched things up. 

Fun fact: they let you think Richard the Lionheart is buried here, but it's just his heart. Unless the epitaph says that since I can't handle Latin. French is hard enough, please. 

 Fun fact #2: Some 13th-century stained glass did survive WWII! Much of the rest of the Cathedral has clear glass now. It's interesting that other cathedrals, like Tours, have replaced much of the stained glass that was destroyed by Allied bombs... I'm curious as to why they decided not to do that in Rouen. Granted, it would be a big project, and it does let a lot more light into the building. 

Here's a photo I found on a website about the monuments men of the damaged cathedral: 

So sad.

But the good news is it was able to be fixed. Although you can may notice that the rose window above the organ has no color... all the colored glass was lost in the bombing, but they were able to restore the rest. 

 This statue outside made me chuckle. I guess the little creature on her left shoulder is supposed to be devious, but I don't think I'd mind having it around! Ewok? Oh, this might be my gargoyle problem... 

A few shots of Rouen's lovely streets:

After poking around another church, Rick directed me to a courtyard that houses a plague cemetery. This cross marks the spot where there is a mass grave used when nearly 2/3s of Rouen's population was lost to the plague. TWO THIRDS. I'm remembering now that he said this is/was a well......... that doesn't sound like a good idea.

The woodwork around the courtyard had such delightfully macabre carvings! The building surrounding the courtyard is now an art school, which seems perfect.

Last but not least, I went into Rouen's Museum of Fine Arts, where I saw a couple more paintings by Berthe Morisot that made me tear up, like this one (couldn't actually take a picture, found this one on a fascinating blog post about Morisot):

SO BEAUTIFUL. They didn't have this one in a magnet or postcard... Grumble. 

The museum also had another of Monet's Rouen Cathedral studies:

Does that bring my total to six or seven of twenty-four? Pretty good, either way. New life goal? Possibly.

On my way back to the train station, I spotted the Joan of Arc Tower, where she was held prisoner. It survived WWII and is a museum now. I should also mention that there is a full Joan of Arc museum now near the Cathedral that is quite good, according to Rick Steves, but I was running a little short on time, so I skipped it. Sorry, Joan!

I was back in Paris by 7:30, just in time to head out for dinner, when I ordered yet another salade de chèvre chaude (salad with warm goat cheese) because I'm completely obsessed. (May or may not have ordered one tonight, too. Okay I did.)

YUM! What a completely wonderful day. So glad I made sure to take this adventure!