Rouen

(Saturday, April 26) The first stop of our tour through Normandy was Rouen, a medieval city with many half-timbered houses. The city's cathedral, shown above, inspired several of Monet's paintings. We arrived by train, luggage in tow. Since Hertz, where we were renting a car for the remainder of our trip, was closed for two hours during lunch, we rolled our luggage down the main road and over a cobble-stoned street to our hotel. We passed the cross marking the spot where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in the Place du Vieux Marche.

Picking up our rental car later that afternoon was an adventure in itself. It took several minutes just to figure out how to open the trunk of our Renault Laguna. Starting the ignition involved inserting the key, shaped like a credit card, into a slot and pushing the start button. Then we had to navigate our way through the narrow streets of Rouen back to our hotel avoiding pedestrians and cafe tables and chairs along the way. Once back at the hotel, we had to take the car in an elevator down to the underground parking garage. I was glad Grandpa was driving since it's been a long time since I've driven stick.


We ate dinner in a cafe overlooking the square. While we were waiting to order (dinner is not served before 7pm), Spencer took a ride on a this mini-merry-go-round.