Je m'appelle Jeanne

I hate modern art. I do. Maybe it's something in my brain that doesn't comprehend it, but I just don't get it, save Chihuly and an installation I saw my one and only night in Rouen. (Seriously, if you haven't seen Chihuly's works, buy a ticket to Seattle and go now! Amazing! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Chihuly)

Rouen is maybe best well known as the place where Jeanne d'Arc met her demise at the stake under British forces in 1431. It is a town devoted to this young girl turned saint. There is a modern church named after her in the center of the place du vieux marché (the site where she was burned at the stake); this structure dominates the square and the shape of the building supposedly represents an upturned Viking boat and fish shape. It is also home to the long overdue museum to this young girl's life and history. Sadly, I did not have time to visit it.

Rouen is also famous for its half-timbered houses that line the narrow, cobbled streets. The local stone of the area (a chalky limestone) was too brittle to build houses and oak was plentiful, this half-timbered

buildings became a Rouen specialty in the 14-19th centuries. The oak provided the structure for the building, then a mix of clay, mud, straw, or whatever was available was used to fill in the gaps. There are some 2000+ half-timbered houses in old-town Rouen, about half of which have been restored and 227 of which are listed as historical monuments. What this all boils down to is an extremely picturesque and interesting stroll down the narrow streets, especially as you realize the art of cantilevering was used and some of this houses are tilting at odd and palpitation inducing angles.

Besides being home to Jeanne d'Arc's place of death and half-timbered buildings, Rouen is also home to a striking amount of churches, the most famous of which is the Notre Dame cathedral. It was on the gothic front facade of this cathedral that I encountered the modern art installation that breathed new life into modern art for me. I had just finished a lovely dinner and was walking back to the hotel on the cathedral square when an amazing spectacle of light and sound greeted me. What my eyes saw was like nothing it had ever seen before. Lights and video were being projected onto the facade with such precision that there were sometimes highlighting the actual sculptures of the facade, bringing them even more to life. The whole spectacle ran about 30 minutes and features two such "videos". The first, a repeat from last year, called Je m'appelle Jeanne, tells the story of Jeanne d'Arc. The second, Viking, was a new movie and

depicted the history of the Viking, including their assimilation into the French gene pool and culture up to modern day. After seeing this, I did a little research and discovered that this installation is called "cathédrale de lumière", it was the second to last night that they would be showing this installation, as it only runs in summer, and that this was the third summer of doing this. No video I took or explanation I give can do this justice, so I will refer you to the website: http://www.metropole-rouen-normandie.fr/index.php?page=pages/culture/cathedrale_de_lumiere/cathedrale_de_lumiere_jeanne.php

All in all, Rouen was a cute little town and a great place to kick-off my Normandy adventure. I only wish I had a bit more time for further exploration.