Saturday, August 18th
We all went on a day trip to Rouen. It was a strange city, the historical capital of Normandy; hot and abandoned by the locals for summer vacation and where lost souls and run down people sleep in parks. It has impressive churches, including Notre Dame Cathedral, painted many times over, many times of day by Monet. Rouen was where Jeanne d'Arc was burned for heresy long ago. I stood outside the Notre Dame awhile and looked at the front facade of Monet's paintings, it wasn't lit, so it wasn't the right time of day but its sculpted details were endless.
We wandered and eventually ended up escaping the heat in the cool interior of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen. I was impressed by the scale of the grand pieces of which they had many, but I was more inspired by a few small treasures I took the time to study.
Gros Horloge (astronomical clock)
half-timbered street
boxing rabbits, charcuterie
Route, effet de neige soleil couchant, Claude Monet
(my now favorite Monet painting)
Femme nue allongée, Eugène Carrière
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