Day One - How to Rouen Your Vacation
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Published: January 12th 2013
Arrival in Paris
This pretty Christmas display kind of fooled us into thinking we'd be visiting another country just as bonkers over Christmas as the US or Germany. In fact, it was a little disappointing to see that the French weren't nearly as feverish over Christmas as we expected. I think they just see it as a day off from work.Our plane actually landed at Paris De Gaulle Airport a few minutes early. Perhaps the bumpiness was the result of strong tailwinds. In any case, I made it across the Atlantic in one piece and without using the barfbag. Like all European airports, customs and immigration was quick and painless. It was a pretty nice hike from the arrival gate through immigration where the bored agent didn't even look at us to baggage claim. Unlike Philly or Newark, our bags were on the carousel within 5 minutes of our showing up there. After a quick potty stop and using the free video postcard machine to show our family that we made it there, we proceeded through customs where absolutely no one was checking bags or even asking if we had anything to declare.
Our first order of business was to get to the Hertz counter for our mide-size car rental. Everything was in order and went smoothly except for their acceptance of our Wells Fargo credit card. Apparently European bank cards have an embedded computer chip. Our card doesn't. We ran into the same problem a few years back when we desperately needed gas. The gas pumps kept rejecting our
Baggage Claim
By the time we went through Immigration and took a few pictures of that Christmas display, our bags were coming around on the conveyor belt. cards. We had to find an open station that could manually enter our card info to get approval. Instead, I gave Hertz my other Visa card and were soon loading our junk into our gold Renault Clio. I knew we were in for some difficulty when we had to arrange and re-arrange our bags a number of different times in order to get the rear hatch closed.
As we prepared to leave CDG airport I set-up my Garmin Nuvi GPS that I had so painstakingly loaded with all our hotels, sightseeing attractions and carefully planned driving routes. We were barely out of the huge garage when I noticed a huge problem - my GPS was not getting power from the cigarette lighter and was down to only half a charge already. Needless to say I was more than a bit upset. A few months we had the same problem and I had to buy a whole new charging cradle for the Nuvi because it wasn't getting power from the car's power outlet. Quite fortunately for us our rental was equipped with a rather huge integrated Tom-Tom GPS system in the dash. While I drove and fiddle with the Garmin,
No Room at the Inn
At least no free parking. Instead, we used the pay lot just below us. Gail played around with the Renault's built-in GPS. I used the small amount of power in my Garmin to get us out of the airport area and onto a highway toward our first night's hotel in Rouen. Soon Gail figured out how to program the Tom-Tom and set our course for Rouen as well. The only problem was that the Tom-Tom was instructing me in French and my Garmin's weakened battery was whispering instructions in English. Once we were out of the heavy airport traffic we made a couple of roadside stops to try to get the Garmin working (no luck) and to set-up the Tom-Tom to instruct us in a language we understood. Halfway to Rouen we figured-out how to set the display to English and to start receiving instructions from Karen, the bored American voice on the GPS.
One lesson I've learned the hard way on these European driving trips is that no matter how refreshed I might feel after a flight, there is no way I should drive more than 3 hours on the first day. A few years back on a trip to Germany as the rest of my crew snored away in the rental
My Financial Advisor at Work
I do the trip planning and Gail takes care of the money. You never know when you'll see the next ATM and since the European bank as well as your American bank charge fees for each use, we find it best to take out the maximum withdrawal allowed. car minutes after we left Frankfurt airport, I kept fighting to stay awake. I actually fell asleep myself driving along the Rhine river and scared myself to death. In setting up the itinerary I decided we needed to spend our first night no more than two hours away from the airport. An old friend from my airline days, Buster, had spent some time in France during his college days and I still remember him showing us slide pictures of his experiences around Rouen. The countryside was beautiful and some of the towns he visited reeked of history. I mostly recall the beautiful stained glass windows in Rouen cathedral and decided this would be an interesting big city for us to visit. Further reading revealed the fact that this was where Joan of Arc was martyred and that the English controlled the city for much of the Middle Ages. Since we'd be there just before Christmas, we'd also get a chance to visit their famous Christmas Market.
Despite a routing that took us along some rather congested city streets then led us right back to De Gaulle airport, we finally made it to Rouen just before 3:00 pm. A drive
Beginning a Long Afternoon of Shopping
As things turned out, this first day was the only day the girls could get out and do some serious shopping. Had Cassie known this at the time she might have gone back on the next plane. The rest of the trip went through mostly small villages. The few medium-sized towns we were inlater in the trip were closed down for the Holidays . of two hours and 15 minutes.
As I drove the weather grew progressively bleaker with intermittent periods of drizzle. However, we were thrilled to see that the temperature remained in the mid-40's. In fact, during our entire trip the temperature never dropped below 40. The long underwear, gloves and wool socks in my suitcase were never needed.
We had some difficulty finding parking anywhere close to our hotel. The Arts et Seine (
http://www.artsetseine.com/ ) hotel was located on a narrow side street just a block from the Old Town. The Old Town was a pedestrian-only area which made getting around the block a tad challenging. After two times around the block with no on-street parking in sight, we bit the bullet and drove to the underground public lot. At 15€ per day it was worth the price to park just a block away from the hotel. It wasn't too much trouble to wheel our bags down the crowded street to our reasonably priced accomodations. The Arts et Seine was definitely not as luxurious as the name might imply, but the rooms were clean, the heaters worked, the host was friendly enough and spoke some English plus we were
Half-Timbered Houses in the Old Town
As soon as walked onto Rue du Gros Horloge, the pedestrians only shopping street, we were surrounded by these old medieval buildings. footsteps away from the shopping area and the major tourist attractions.
After check-in and hauling our bags up to our rooms, we strolled up the block to explore the Old Town. While Gail and her mother had their eyes out for ATMs and Cassie was checking out all the French fashions, I was scoping out where we might get dinner. After we withdrew a couple hundred Euros from the bank around the corner from our hotel, we soon found ourselves in the middle of the bustling shopping zone. Lots and lots of people were out shopping 4 days before Christmas, but I don't recall seeing anyone with multiple bags. Nobody carrying a big screen TV or a boxed computer system. Nothing like being in an American shopping mall at Christmas. Studying the menuboards of the very few restaurants we passed, none specialized in Normandy cuisine and none looked even remotely interesting. I assumed that we'd find some nice places further up the street.
Back out on the long pedestrian street (Rue du Gros Horlage) I took in the sights and snapped far too many photos while the ladies windowshopped, then got serious. I spent a lot of that
Medieval Skyscrapers
These houses were considered amazing feats at the time because they were six an seven stories high while most buildings were no more than two. The reason they build such tall yet narrow buildings was because the homes were taxed based on their ground floor square footage. afternoon leaning against buildings. As we walked we noticed that the Rouenians seemed to have quite a sweet tooth. There were a good number of fancy candy shops as well as a pastry store on every corner. We passed at least three places selling macaroon cookies. Each of those shops had crowds waiting to buy. Macaroons are a local specialty.
We finally came upon some nice looking eating establishments at the end of the pedestrian zone. Instead of looking at their menus we were distracted by the oddly beautiful Joan of Arc church. There was no admission charge so we went in. As you can see in the pictures it was spacious and bright inside. It was in marked contrast to all the old cathedrals we had seen elsewhere in our European travels. This was very modern and informal. Of course, the church had the usual giftshop and plenty of candles for sale. Donation boxes were everywhere we turned. I particularly enjoyed this rehearsal:
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. By the way, that's two guys singing!
After maybe half an hour inside we headed around to the back of the church, past the site of Joan of Arc's execution and into
Happy Holiday Shoppers
See if you can spot any shoppers with a shopping bag? There were people walking around everywhere, standing around in every store, but very few were actually buying anything. the farmer's market built under the spreading roof of the modern church. We were impressed by all the fresh ingredients on sale here on the official first day of Winter. I was hoping for a free sample or two but with our cameras around our necks we were instanlt pegged as non-buying tourists. But already we were learning that these Frenchmen and women were much different than the aloof, aka Arrogant, people of Paris. These people smiled and asked if they could help us (in French of course).
We then walked back along that same shopping street with Cassie adding more and more to her wardrobe. I was keeping my mouth shut knowing in a few days when we hit the D-Day beaches the girls would be even more bored then I was. When we reached the opposite end of the pedestrian street we were under the shadows of the great Rouen Cathedral. Spread out around the big cathedral square was a bustling Christmas Market festooned with all manner of Christmas lights and greenery and accompanied by the tempting smells of cinnamon pretzels, cotton candy, mulled wine, grilled sausages and Nutella crepes.
Grandma and I were immediately distracted
Halfway Through the Shopping Strip
My Michelin guide tells me that the Renaissance arch which has spanned this historic street since 1527. The clock lies roughly equidistant between the Place du Vieux Marché and the cathedral. The Gros Horloge clock dates back to the 16th century and its movement from 1389. The clock is flanked by a gothic belfry built between the 14th and the 15th centuries, which houses the bells linked to the clock’s movement. The Gros Horloge has been listed as a historic monument since 1862.
by the hot drinks stall. She headed for the Glühwein or Chaud Vin and I got a styrofoam cup of hot apple cider. While we stood around waiting for our drinks to cool, Cassie and Gail ran into yet another store where Cassie found a new pair of boots. By the time we finished our drinks the shoppers had returned. We took a lesiurely stroll through the marketplace often tempted but never succumbing to the many fine wares on display. When we reached the door to the cathedral we headed inside. Again, no entrance fee. Had this been my first or even fifth or tenth European cathedral I might have been more impressed. The fact is it looked like any one of 50 others I had been inside. But the real attraction was the gorgeous stained glass windows inside. I thought these might be the most colorful and stunning I had seen in any cathedral anywhere. Unfortunately because it was now twilight there was not enough light to get a good photo. Add one more place to my list of destinations I need to revisit.
After making our way back through the Christmas Market we returned to our parked
Gros Horlage
This is the centerpiece of Rouen's Old Town. The two face of the clock shows 24 rays of sun against the blue representing the night sky. I saw just an hour hand and no minute sweep. At the top of the clock you can keep track of the full and crescent moons. car which now sat in a far emptier lot. We took out a few more items and stowed some of our purchases then headed back to the Arts et Seine. As tempting as it was to take a nap, we knew that we needed to keep moving. Falling asleep at 6 pm would have us wide awake at 2 in the morning. The only way to quickly adjust to the time difference was to stay awake until normal bedtime.
Soon we headed back into Old Town in search of dinner. We walked and walked and walked but could not find a restaurant we liked. There were Chinese places, kebab stands, hamburger joints and plenty of bakeries, but no sitdown restaurants serving French food. We walked the full length of two main streets and found nothing to satisfy. Near the Joan of Arc church the restaurants we saw earlier were either closed or served Italian food. Two that had outdoor dining had menus with prices that would have us spending double the cost of our two hotel rooms.
I was ready to just go back to Quick and have hamburgers when Cassie and Gail chimed in. At some point
Outdoor Streetside Dining?
These Europeans are a hardy breed. We encountered plenty of places with outdoor tables occupied by folks in the 40 degree weather. Since all of us were fighting colds, we always stayed inside where things were nice and warm. during our shopping jaunt they had spotted a chain restaurant called "Paul" (
http://www.paul.fr/ ), a favorite of Cassie's from her student days in London. She had also eaten in one in Paris during an EF tour. It was located halfway down the pedestrian shopping street and next door to an electronics shop. Paul turned out to be the European version of Panera, probably my least favorite fast food chain in America. But being as hungry as we were and with shelves full of delicious smelling fresh French bread, this little restaurant worked out quite well for us. I had the first of what would soon become my go-to sandwich of choice during the entire trip - ham and cheese. Little did I know at the time, this would be the very best of the dozen or more ham and cheese sandwiches I had in the next two weeks. The baguette was perfect: hard on the outside, but chewy once you bit into it. Normally I remember to take pictures of all my meals when in Europe but I pretty much forget to take any unless Gail reminded me to do so this time. There is no photographic record of the
Cool Building
This was not listed in the guidebook but was one of the most impressive buildings on the street. My guess is that it's Renaissance rather than medieval. best sammy of the trip.
After our somewhat light dinner, we stopped in the big electronics store next door where some very helpful English speaking employees showed me chargers for my Garmin Nuvi. My big quandry was trying to determine if the reason my GPS wasn't recharging was because my cigarette adapter was bad or because the outlet in the car was faulty. I could either buy a new ciggie lighter charger or an electrical plug that would allow me to charge the unit in my hotel room. In the latter case I could only use the GPS for a few hours before the battery would die. I decided that this was the way to go. The Nuvi had worked just fine in my car at home and I really doubted that the sturdy car adapter had broken safely packed inside my suitcase. Since either type of charger was priced at only 10€, I guess I coul've bought both but something told me the car adapter couldn't have been broken. As it turned out, I was right. When we got home the Nuvi worked just fine with that same cigarrete lighter plug in my car. The outlet in the
A Quick Snack
I was starving so when I spotted a Quick (http://www.quick.fr/) hamburger shop I led the group inside. I wasn't overly impressed with the menu or selections, but settled on a bacon burger with Durkee canned onion rings, fries and
the smallest fountain Coke I ever saw. Eight Euro! Almost ten bucks for a snack. I must admit it was pretty tasty and the fries were better than McDonald's. The bathroom came in handy also. Too bad I walked into the lady's room
by mistake. Renault must've been broken or had a blown fuse.
After that purchase it was around 8:30 and all of us were beginning to tire. We headed back to the hotel, watched a little TV and went to bed rather early. The room Cassie and I shared was the bigger of the two, but faced the narrow little street. The innkeeper had told us it might get a little noisy at night. Indeed throughout the night we often heard drunken voices on the street and cars honking (in France the cars waiting at a red light hit their horns almost simultaneously with the light changing), but it hardly deterred us from getting a good night's rest.
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