July 17, 2017

July 17, 2017

Our three weeks with the car is over. We are scheduled to return it at the train station in Rouen. A car isn't necessary for visiting cities easily reached by train. In fact a car is usually more of a headache in the narrow streets of most European city centers. We drove the hour ride up the Seine River only stopping to fill up the car with gas. I hope we can drive the last fifteen miles without the gas gauge dropping. Filling up with gas has been problematic. Most gas stations not on the tollway are unmanned and my credit card has only worked once.

When we reach the Gare de Rouen train station, we find construction in front. Missing the detour route, I make an illegal left to avoid starting all over in an area with tons of narrow one-way streets. As we approach the parking garage, we don’t see any rental car sign. We go in the 15 minute free line, expecting to hop out of the car to find the Hertz counter. After driving up a level, Aimee spies a Hertz sign and we continue on. We end up leaving this lot, driving over a bridge to a second parking garage, and winding down to the 2nd basement. All the while, our big mini-van with its surround proximity sensors is beeping nonstop in the narrow spiral ramps. With only a few signs, it was sheer dumb luck that we dead-end, running into a guy who admitted to working for Hertz. We then had to find our way back to the train station on foot to finish payment. Aimee breathes a big sigh of relief that her prayer was answered.

Stashing our bags with Hertz, we walked into Rouen's center. We soon learned that most sites are closed on Monday, so we spent most of the day walking around and eating a nice long lunch.

Rouen is the spot where Joan of Arc was tried, convicted and burnt at the stake in 1431 at the age of 19. Her crime, rallying the French king to drive out the English. Rouen has a fine old cathedral (with a tomb containing the heart of Richard the Lionhearted), and lots of half timbered medieval buildings. Unfortunately it suffered terribly from Allied bombing during WWII. On the old Market Square, where Joan was burnt, is a memorial cross and modern church. The church is a very artistic assemblage of stained glass recovered from another church.

In the late afternoon, we hopped an hour-long train to Amiens. We are only here for the night, so as soon as we arrive we check in, ditch the bags, and walk the several blocks to the World Heritage Site of Amiens Cathedral. It is close to 6 pm when we get to the front door. We luckily find it open for another half hour giving us the opportunity to walk around the interior. It is huge inside, the biggest in France. It contains a beautiful array of Renaissance-era colorfully-painted sculpture. More spectacular is the entrance facade. It is covered with dozens of figures in almost pristine condition. I am shocked, especially after seeing so many damaged by war. There are some storyboards and photos of how residents sandbagged the church to protect it during WW1. Amiens was on the front line in the war! Amiens Cathedral definitely deserves being a World Heritage site.