Rouen

Yesterday we went to Rouen with Pa Swope and Colleen, where we went to the very justly famous cathedral. Notre-Dame de Rouen is interesting for many reasons: it is about nine hundred years old; it was briefly the tallest structure in the world; it has inspired artwork in such people as Monet, Flaubert, Huysmans, and probably piles of other people; and it has been through fires, tornadoes, and World War II but is somehow still standing, mostly intact.

There's also a row of statues in the back part of the nave. I'm unable to find anything that explains what they were doing there or where they normally reside, but they seemed like strange, serious apparitions who had gotten misplaced somehow.

We also visited the birthplace of Gustave Flaubert. Or, as I should say, Gustave Flaubert!!!!!!

Possibly I was more excited about this than the others, but fortunately the Maison Flaubert is also a museum of medical history, so there were many grisly artifacts to entertain them. The most amazing relic for me: the original Loulou, who stood in all his stuffed glory over Flaubert as he wrote "Un Coeur Simple" ("A Simple Heart"). Here is a photo I stole from another site:

credit: http://ecoles.ac-rouen.fr/