Friday, June 28: France - Amiens to Rouen

We drove 150 miles from the campground just north of Amiens southwest to Rouen.  I had read there was a parking area for RVs and I actually had a street name and not just GPS coordinates.  I entered the nearest intersection, and the GPS took us right there.  We parked among the cars and paid for two spaces, not knowing until later that had we gone 1/4 mile further, the RVs had free parking.

We walked across the bridge over the river Seine - hmmm, did I just say that?  I think I will say it again, we walked across the bridge over the river Seine to the city center of Rouen, home of yet another great Notre Dame cathedral and where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.

The city center was filled with tourists and shoppers walking along the cobblestone streets among the half timbered buildings filled with every kind of shop.

 We came to the ornate Gros Horlage, medieval clock with only an hour hand and walked under it through to the square where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.

According to the pamphlet we read, she was framed and her mother requested a re-hearing after her death and Joan was found not guilty, but she was not made a saint until 1999.

The memorial is a gigantic stainless steel cross in front of a modern church, both of which apparently are controversial and we can see why.  The ultra modern look clashes with the surroundings and just doesn't seem right.  But then again, we are getting old and crotchety and tend to like old things better than new things.

Okay - here's my brag for the day.  I actually went into a tabac (tobacco/magazine small shop) and asked IN FRENCH if they had a directory for the campground Aires (basic motorhome stopovers) and she understood me!  Even better, she dug one out of a bin under a bunch of other stuff.  I had tried to buy one online from the States, but the publisher was sold out. Now I have a database for regular campgrounds and one for the Aires in France.  

We loved Rouen - its ancient look and feel and its vibrancy.  On our way back to the RV, we stopped at one of the many bakeries for a a macaroon - a specialty of this part of France.  They are more like meringues that we know than macaroon as there is no coconut.  Yummy!

We drove 20 minutes east of the city to a municipal campground in the small town of Pont de l'arche, right on the Seine.  The campground manager does not speak English, but with the few French words I remember and the few English words he knew, we got our campsite and we are set for the evening.