2For66

Visit Day: September 28, 2026

Note: As in other posts, I’ve use Adobe Lightroom AI Generative Remove to erase the images of people in some of the photos. It didn’t always work well in some of the pictures.

In the afternoon we continued our tour to the Normandy beaches and stopped in the Medieval town of Rouen. This little town has a lot to recommend it: a cathedral, a beautiful town clock, reminders of the bombing prior to the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, and a statue of Joan of Arc at the location where she was executed by burning,

The Gothic cathedral was stared in 1488. They really went for ornate back in the day. Here is the entrance

Once again, we had an excellent local expert whose name I did not write down. He is a professor at the Sorbonne.

The Gothic style emphasizes letting in light.

The soaring arches help glorify the church.

If you’ve read my earlier posts on the churches and castles we’ve seen you know I think money would have been better spent helping people. The Romans were pagans and brutal – especially in killing Christians under Nero and other emperors. They build a huge colosseum to highlight that brutality. But they also build roads – many of which still exist today – and viaducts that helped citizens from across their realm. Okay, those roads were made to allow the Roman armies to conquer other people – often brutally. It’s complicated; people are terrible.

When we broke up for lunch – the Mattilas and we had some delightful pizza and ice cream at a sidewalk cafe – our meeting spot was the beautiful astronomical clock in town.

Rouen is within an hour or so of the Normandy beaches where the Nazis built a virtual Atlantic Wall to repel any attempted in invasion by the allies. Dwight D Eisenhower the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expedionary Force, wanted to bomb the inland areas to prevent – or at least slow – the Germans in bringing reinforcements after the invasion had started. For political reasons Eisenhower was not given total authority over the bombing groups attacking Germany, so he had to use his negotiating skills to get what he wanted. (So much for being Supreme Commander). The bombing groups were certain the war could be won by strategic bombing alone and continued to throw up barriers to following Ike’s plan in favor of their own autonomy. This pushback continued up to just days before the campaign started. Their last foot dragging was over the civilian deaths certain to occur; a good consideration, but ingenuous as the strategic bombing killed many civilians. Eventually, Ike entered in talks with De Gaulle’s deputy with the French Resistance (against orders from the US Chiefs) on the issue . The deputy said “That’s War” and said the French would understand the sacrifices would have to be made. Our tour guide at Omaha beach (next post) told us her grandparents were killed by the allied bombing – and confirmed that the survivors agreed it was necessary. Whew. What a decision; I am not cut out to be a general.

Rouen shows the marks of that bombing: there are shrapnel divots everywhere.

This plaque says – according to Google Translate:

The impact marks left by bombs during the air raids on the city of Rouen—both during the “Red Week” and on August 26, 1944—have been intentionally preserved. They serve as a tribute to the thousands of victims from those decisive days, keeping their memory alive and reminding us of the price the city of Rouen paid for the liberation of France.

And this plaque commemorates the death of French resistance fighters.

In memory of the many resistance fighters and patriots who were imprisoned in this courthouse from 1940 to 1944—from where they were taken to face firing squads, or sent to Nazi prisons and camps. A grateful France

The other event for which Rouen is remembered is also death related; it is the town where the English burned Joan of Arc at the stake. In April 1429 she rallied French troops in a pivotal battle of the Hundred Years’ War. After the failed siege of Paris in September of that year the French lost a bit of faith in her. In November 1430 she was captured and turned over to the English who charged her with “heresy which included blaspheming by wearing men’s clothes, acting upon visions that were demonic, and refusing to submit her words and deeds to the judgment of the church. She was declared guilty and burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, aged about nineteen.” Wikipedia [opens in a new tab]. Back then the English called her a witch; today strong women who go against the vested interests are called almost the same thing, just substituting a “b” for the “w”.

In 1456 an inquisitorial court revisited the trial and overturned the verdict. She is a martyr and a national symbol of France.

[Warning: the next three paragraphs are a bit gruesome and graphic].

Joan of Arc has the distinction of having been burned three times. Her first burning caused her death by smoke inhalation. There were still remains after and those were burned a second time to reduce them to ashes. The third burning reduced everything to powder. The powder was then gathered an thrown in the River Seine.

In 2012 I read “Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution it Inspired” [LInk opens in a new tab] and recall something similar happened to William Tyndale in October 1536. He was convicted of heresy for translating the Bible into English so the common people could read it. He was executed by strangulation, his body burned, and the ashes thrown into the River Thames. When the church or state is out for you, there isn’t much left – but the ideals continue.

At the end of the tour we got on the bus to head to Bayeux where we would visit Omaha Beach the next day. European rail travel is a marvel. Our tour guide – who rode with us from Paris through Giverny and on to Rouen caught a train back home to get back to his teaching duties.

Next Post: Normandy [which I hope to have up on Veterans’ Day.