(Rouen, France)

A series of random events (primarily a seat sale to Paris) have led us to Rouen, formerly the second biggest city in France but now a mere “regional centre”. Luckily for us, there is history everywhere and we are already enjoying Rouen despite just arriving from Canada today.

Our hotel is, er, rustic. The breakfast room looks vaguely like a darkened hunting club. We found a boulangerie (bakery) nearby, so it was an easy decision to opt out of breakfast.  The dim rooms don’t really matter either: we won’t be spending much time here anyway!

Rouen is probably best known for being the site of the execution of Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc). But the medieval feel of the city is probably the best reason to visit. If you have a liking for half-timbered houses, this is definitely the place to be!

We’ll be here for a few nights, so we will dig a little deeper in the days to come.  The main events on our first day were orienting ourselves, superficially exploring the medieval streets, and having an excellent al fresco dinner at La Crêperie Rouennaise.   Not only was it reasonably priced, the food was excellent and we are already talking about going back for another meal!

Like many restaurants in Normandy, they specialize in galettes (buckwheat “crêpes” with savoury toppings/fillings) and proper  crêpes themselves (with sweet toppings/fillings).  I chose a Galette Parisienne, filled with emmental, ham, fresh mushrooms, and cream, and then topped with a egg.  For dessert, I had a simple crêpe with freshly squeezed lemon and icing sugar.  The  dessert crêpe was probably unnecessary, but I felt I had a duty to try one!  The locally produced cider was an added bonus.

Alas, northern Europe is having a heat wave that is almost as bad as what we were experiencing in Canada.  Our hotel also doesn’t have air conditioning, so we will have to pace ourselves during the long, hot days.  It is still light until well after 10:00 p.m.  Luckily, there seems to be plenty of ice cream available!

This extended trip to northern France is off to a good start.  Stay tuned for more on Normandy and Brittany, as well as a Bastille Day celebration in yet another historic small city, before our finale in Paris!