Day 8

When you happen to see a loop icon (as on the left) on the lower right side of a picture, click to see an enlarged view. Hover your mouse over a picture to pause a slide show.

Clcik on this PDF file to download the Recipe for Chouquettes

Daily Schedule

Chouquettes

Daily Menu

After breakfast we took a walking tour with Isabelle and a local guide of the old part of Rouen, the capital of Normandy. We visited the Gothic Notre Dame Cathedral, the big clock and arch, the market square where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, and the very modern Joan of Arc Church. We also walked through the wonderful market with stalls for oysters, cheeses etc. Isabelle bought us some chouquettes. They were good but couldn’t hold a candle to Anne’s our home hostess.

After lunch, we were on our own. We went to Aitre Saint-Maclou, a medieval building that now houses an art school. The building was used as an ossuary and the courtyard a cemetery during the Black Death in 1348. The buildings feature skulls, gravedigger tools and objects of funeral rites. There is a skeleton of a cat in a case. During the Middle Ages cats (especially black cats) were considered bad luck, and the cat would have been enclosed (while still alive) to ward off evil. YUCK!

We then went to the Joan of Arc Museum located in the renovated archbishop’s palace. Interesting museum concept. One receives headphones and moves with a group from one room to the next. Each room is configured differently and delivers a high tech presentation of some aspect of Joan’s life.

The museum focuses on her trial and we meet the judge and the same characters often as we progress from room to room. The entire museum is a sensory audio-visual presentation until one reaches the tower. There one can look around. Once one descends from the tower, there is a real museum with Joan of Arc historical documents and paraphernalia. Back to the boat for we learned how to fold cute animals from towels. After dinner a crooner, Roberto, was on board to entertain.

Tour Group

Church

The inside and outside of many churches and basilicas are particularly hard to take good pictures. Unless the church is on a hill it is hard to capture the entire structure due to buildings surrounding it. And inside it is often dark and so tall, wide and awe inspiring that it can be difficult to capture. Hence, a slide show can’t do it justice. Therefore, Jorge has taken the time to stitch together several photographs to try and capture the magnificence of this place. Click on each individual photograph below to see the enlarged view.