Rouen: Historical French City & The Death of Joan of Arc

Rouen is a quaint city in Normandy, full of both beautiful greenery and historical buildings.  I absolutely loved my week of being in France (both times), and may find a way to somehow move somewhere European that speaks French, in the not-too -distant future. Since the first school I collected data at was in this town, it wasn't until my second trip that I really had a chance to take a Saturday to be a tourist.

Pics:  the city (left) and Jardin de Plantes (right)

Taking the Eurostar train from London's St. Pancreas  straight to Paris and staying in an IBIS budget hotel instead of a hostel (since I didn't want to risk leaving my computer and recording device at a hostel) were a couple small highlights. Speaking French the whole time definitely topped the list of highlights.

Rouen's clock tower---worth a visit!

Also, on my first trip, I got a chance to have dinner with Katherine, who was on my course at the Department of Integrated Education at McGill University 2010/2011 (remember this post and this post?). Time flies!  We had a wonderful dinner at La Crêperie du Père Adam  - but unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to take a picture! It was great catching up --and here is to more reunions --both with my friends from McGill, and my friends I met in Singapore...sometime soon!

  

I also spent a good 45 minutes touring the inside of clock tower (which is actually quite cool!) and listening to a French recording about it's origins in 1389 and the duties of the workers in the belfry.

Clock Tower Arch Art

View of the city from inside the clock tower (this one is my favourite!)

Old Mechanisms

The "Glogster" poster I made below (click to view a larger version, or click here to go directly to the poster itself) lists a few points in the life of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc)'s who died at her burning at the stake, which occured on May 30, 1431 in the Rouen town centre. Her mission, which she and others of the time thought was divinely inspired, was to regain land in France back from the English.

Source for the info about Joan of Arc (I know, I know, it's not very scholarly and a bit Wiki-ish): http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/joan-of-arc.htm

Stay tuned for a slideshow of Montpellier and my stories of living with a wonderful host family (for both trips) and visiting the French countryside with them...coming up!