Take a Vacation

[Green Monstah]

Driving around the French countryside while Mrs. PAC hands me well-buttered chunks of fresh baguettes is one of our favorite vacation indulgences.

Is this a euphemism?

[Pelado]

Keep in mind that a lot of Rouen will be looking at cool old buildings and shopping in cool little stores. The Rouen centreville was preserved during WW2 since most of the fighting took place in lower Normandy. The allies bombed out the bridges to prevent the Axis from being able to move their troops/tanks over the Seine, so all the bridges are newer but the center of town is very historic and mostly only open to pedestrian. If you are arriving by car, see if your AirBNB host can hlep you with a parking spot if they don't have one available at their place. Most of Rouen will be seen on foot over cobblestones but I have a couple things you can do by car. I honestly don't think you'll need more than a day in Rouen itself so if you arrive late one night, see Rouen the next day, and leave early the day after that you should be good. I could stay there longer than a couple days but I'm partial to it since I lived there and fell in love with the city.

Given the amount of history in Rouen's centreville, it might be worth finding a local tour guide (maybe through AirBnb) that can give you a 1-2 hour tour and hlep you better appreciate what you are seeing.

Here's a number of things to consider/do:

In Rouen
- Place du vieux March: Near where Joan of Arc was burned and in likely the most historic spot in the centreville. Watch the Rick Steves video on Rouen to understand the architecture and history of the spot. They hold a market here on most days and there are a lot of restaurants.
- Joan of Arc Church: Not much to see here other than it's a very unique (and small) church right in tihe middle of the place du vieux marche. The spot where she was burned is marked by a tall cross and the church itself has some pretty stained glass windows. The church is newer, however, but still cool to see.
- Rue du gros horloge: Main walking street in centreville and it leads from the vieux marche all the way down to the cathedral
- Rouen Cathedral: Absolutely amazing facade and a cathedral that was painted many, many times by Monet. It's worth going inside as well but the cathedral is less pretty inside than most.
- Rue Saint Romain: This road runs along the north side of the Cathedral. The LDS church used to be at #38 and it was a cool place to have church. You'll find a lot of cool stores on this road including the pottery maker in the Rick Steves video, candle makers, and other shops. You can also go a little north to run Saint-Nicholas and kind of just walk around in this area and do some shopping. If you keep walking east of the cathedral, there will be more historic neighborhoods, shopping and restaurants so feel free to go see those but most of what you'll want to see if between Rue Fontenelle and Rue de la Republique.
- Musee des beaux-arts: Nice little art museum but maybe not something you'll want to see if your wife doens't want to see art museusm
- Place Marechal Foch: This is only cool to see the Palais de Justice and the holes in the walls from the Allied bombing. The building is also very historic but you probably need a love of gothic architecture to really appreciate it (which I don't).
- Panorama de Rouen de la Cote Saint Catherine: You'll need to drive here but it's worth seeing. Rouen sits in a valley created by the Seine and this spot is an overlook of the entire centreville. It's a perfect place for pictures.

Food
- Get your breakfast from a boulangerie in centreville and preferably one that has a "Boulanger de France" sign in the window which indicates the items were made on site
- Camembert: Normandy is know for its camembert, which is a cheese kind of like brie but stronger. I love eating it (I learned to love it) but most Americans I know that try it prefer the milder brie, but it's worth trying while you are in the area.

Places outside of Rouen:
- If you plan on driving from Rouen to Bayeux or some place in lower Normandy, I'd highly recommend that you drive to Etretat on your way. Etretat is not really "on the way" to Bayeux and it would likely add 2 hours of driving time, but it will be worht the quick visit. Plus, from Etretat to Bayeux is an easy drive and you'll get to cross the Pont de Normandie. But Etretat is a beautiful town in the valley of some cliffs on the sea. You'll only need a couple hours in Etretat but I'd suggest you leave Rouen early in the morning and drive to Etretat so you can have lunch at one of the many restaurants along the beach (it's not a sunbathing type of beach since it'll be a little chilly there and the beach is full of rocks). You can either hike to the top of the cliffs or just drive to the top and walk along them. But I highly recommend this place.
- If you wife loves Joan of Arc (or Jeanne d'Arc) and you have a car and you are starting from north of Paris (gare du nord or CDG airport), you could consider driving to Compiegne first to see the location where she was imprisoned. It's not really much of a destination but for Joan of Arc fans it might be worth the short drive to see the ruins of the prison she was kept before being burned. Warning though that there's not much there even in terms of ruins so your wife really needs to love Joan of Arc to appreciate this as it's out of the way.

Merci beaucoup.

We are planning to drive there from Gare du Nord and it will probably be approaching dusk by the time we arrive in Rouen. After two nights there, we're driving to Bayeux. So your itinerary matches almost exactly our timetable.

On the Rick Steves episode, he showed a hat shop that intrigued my wife. Any chance you happen to know where that is?

On appreciation of Gothic architecture, most all my knowledge about it comes from watching Rick Steves.

I don't think my wife cares enough about Jeanne d'Arc to go look at out-of-the-way ruins.

The "Boulanger de France" thing - does that apply everywhere in the country?

[Pelado]

Is this a euphemism?

[Pelado]

International Driving Permit. Have you guys gotten it prior to your forays into Europe?

It looks like the UK doesn't require it, that France requires a translation of my driver's license (for which the IDP would work) and that Italy requires the IDP.

[Moliere]

I’ve never gotten one and I’ve rented cars in France and Switzerland.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I’ve never gotten one and I’ve rented cars in France and Switzerland.

Same. And Italy.

[Moliere]

Same. And Italy.

Looks like all my google searches say you need one in Italy

I think IDPs are a scam and a way for AAA to make money. That said, since all my google searches say you need one you can bet I’ll be getting one tomorrow morning just in case. I’ll try and rent without it and return and report.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Looks like all my google searches say you need one in Italy

I think IDPs are a scam and a way for AAA to make money. That said, since all my google searches say you need one you can bet I’ll be getting one tomorrow morning just in case. I’ll try and rent without it and return and report.

They must have changed the rules.

[Jeff Lebowski]

By the way, if you rent a car in Italy be prepared to be mailed an expensive speeding ticket a few months after you get home. Traffic cameras.

[Northwestcoug]

I didn't need an IDP for Italy. But that was 10 years ago.

[Pelado]

By the way, if you rent a car in Italy be prepared to be mailed an expensive speeding ticket a few months after you get home. Traffic cameras.

I've heard the same is true of France.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I've heard the same is true of France.

If I were you, I would rely on public transportation as much as possible.

[Bo Diddley]

By the way, if you rent a car in Italy be prepared to be mailed an expensive speeding ticket a few months after you get home. Traffic cameras.

I got a ticket for driving in a bus lane in Oxford. I remember I wasn't in it for very long at all before I realized my mistake.

[BigPiney]

I got a ticket for driving in a bus lane in Oxford. I remember I wasn't in it for very long at all before I realized my mistake.

In London I accidently drove into the central congestion zone. Luckily it was early saturday morning and it was free time.

In France they advertise where the speed cameras are, at least I think. I just tried to set the cruise at the speed limit.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I was asked for my IDP last September for the first time ever. That was in Dubrovnik and it actually pleased me to have to produce it. Two weeks later in Venice for a new rental I didn’t need it.