Rouen - Joan of Arc and the discovery of Nutella Crepes

The Idyllic Backyard of our B&B

What can you say? Rouen is a specacular example of medieval township.

It's a catch up day for us. Laundry. Repacking. Orgainizing a car for our next leg of the journey. (We are seriously over trains at this point and would rather drive!!!)

Liam learns to whittle

The day starts as idyllically as the day before. Our early morning bird friends chirp us awake at five, then we nestle in for another few hours of blissful sleep before awaking to a divine breakfast. Our kids up and dressed and playing in the fairytale garden ahead of us.

Breakfast inside in the art studio this morning. Amazing food!

Downtown Rouen

To work off the pastries and custard of breakfast we decide to hike into the downtown of Rouen for lunch. (How do French women stay slim?) As we are staying in Mont St Aignan on the northern edge of the town its all down hill. The kids are pleased with that. After all these weeks of traveling they have become seasoned walkers, and even I am beginning to relax a bit now that I know that they can be trusted to be sensible when it comes to traffic and staying together. You just don't know how the family dynamics are going to go until you've done it. I'm proud of our tribe for settling in to travel mode so flawlessly.









But back to Rouen!

Rouen was once the most prosperous of medieval cities. And with its position straddling the Seine River and surrounded by fertile planes it has had a long history. Begun in Roman times (but not by the Romans) the city has had so many changes of hands it makes the head spin.
There were the Vikings who devastated the area, and most parts of Europe in the 800's ad. Later Rouen became the capital of the Dukes of Normandy until William the Conqueror moved the capital to be closer to his English holdings. Then it was annexed to the French Kingdom, before the start of the very bloody hundred years war (between England and France over the possession of these lands) in the 1300's. In the 1500's there was the War of Religion that polarized the population. There were terror tactics used on both sides - both Calvanists and Catholics - with many a senseless massacre committed "in the name of god". What a terrifying time to live in. Both sides ready to die and kill for their own version of the same religion. I suppose looking back you tend to look through the filter of time and attempt to pass judgement, but alas, it is hard for me to fathom this bloody era in European history.

One of the many lovely shops in downtown Rouen

After much too-ing and fro-ing, Rouen ended up in French (catholic) rule and stayed that way with brief interludes of Prussian and German occupations during the Franco Prussian war and WWII....

So, that is a history of Rouen in one paragraph. I'm sure there is much that I left out, so much to expand upon, but this isn't the place. I wish I knew a bit more of the positive history so as not to bring light to the negative. But the happy days of farming and afternoon picnics with your family hardly ever make the history books, despite the fact that on the whole the days of happiness out weigh the days of gloom.

As we walk past the ancient Cathedral and through the foot-traffic-only streets the little we know about the town explains some of the buildings that we see, and the feel of staunchness that the town exudes. It has been through a whole lot! There are many half timbered houses that still remain in the city which make you feel as though you have been transported back in time. Buildings that are still standing, looking over squares that would once have been grassy and had peasants carrying their wares and nobles riding horses. If only walls could talk. Well, we may not wish to hear all that they would say!

We buy some baguette sandwiches and a couple fizzy drinks and eat in the lovely wide square - Place du Vieux Marche. There are old taverns and a museum to Joan of Arc. After shopping our way around the square and buying some fresh produce for later snacks we decide to check out the Joan of Arc museum.

While Joan of Arc was not born here, this is where she ended her short life. In fact the same square that we so recently had our lovely picnic was the spot that she was burned alive as a heretic in 1431 - at the age of 19.

Inside the wax museum of Joan of Arc - here she is hearing voices from the saints that instruct her in her mission to save France from the English invaders. She went on to defeat the English army in battle, but was later burned for claiming to hear voices.

I've always had a morbid fascination of the "Maid of Orlean" and the museum turned out to be just the place to spend a hot afternoon. It was a wax museum that portrayed her life in various scenes - from the time as a poor illiterate child when she started hearing voices telling her to take charge of France's armies, to her many victorious battles against the English, to her betrayal and eventual burning at the stake by the English. Who knows how much of her story was factual, and how much was used as medieval propaganda in a war that lasted 100 years between the English and the French. But we do know there was a young girl named Joan who lead the armies of the Dauphin of France in a successful military campaign that kickstarted the return of the French to power in the region. The fact that she was just a young girl and one who died for her belief in her visions had the power to capture the minds of the great playwrights and artists - Shakespeare, Voltaire, Mark Twain, Tchaikovsky, George Bernard Shaw to name a few. So if a few embellishments were made along the way, well, who's to say that the modern era has a monopoly on propaganda?

Liam checks out the image of the burning of Joan of Arc

The kids took it all in and as we all emerged from the dark, cool museum blinking in the afternoon heat there were many questions about medieval times and the ideas of religion so strong that one is willing to be burned alive for it. It's a concept that our modern lives don't come across in day to day life. The fact that our ancestors would have believed it and been a part of that type of system is an eye opener. We can applaud just how much progress has been made in the last 500 years.

As we walked out of the square, all but smelling the smoke from the people who burned in the Place du Vieux Marche all those years ago we passed by a small cart selling crepes. And the discovery of the Nutella Crepe happened. Forget history. This made the kid's whole day, week, month, trip.... (well, at least since the last gelato in Italy that is!) Imagine a fresh crepe cooked on a hot plate in front of you, smothered in rich Nutella, rolled up and voila. You eat it as you walk. Smiles galore.

Not a complaint to be had on the walk home, just happy chompers savoring another discovered delight of foreign cuisine. Even when we had to wait at the train station for an hour until the rental car company opened up. The key to happy family traveling is full stomachs - well, in part at least. :)

The look of Bliss when Liana tucks into a desert Crepe!

That night we have a farewell dinner with our lovely friends at another Creperie. Appetizers, main course and desert, all different types of crepes. I love FRANCE!
A wonderful ending to our sojourn in Normandy. Tomorrow we drive from Rouen to the other side of Paris, to visit our friends who live in the not-so-touristy town of Meaux. But first we have to navigate our way there! It should be an adventure!

Goodbye to our wonderful friends, Roland and Francois! You hold a dear place in our hearts. 

Arrivederci Venice, Buon Giorno Florence

Venice to Florence – It’s Liam’s 10^th birthday!

St Mark's Square in the rain

When you sleep in a room that was inhabited by nuns in the 10^th century (and has been in continuous use ever since) there are a few ghost bound to be lurking about. As much as I enjoyed every minute of our stay I had some bizarre dreams; some of which involved me being a nun. Hmmmm.

Liam's still on the Lion Hunt

The day has dawned dark with heavy rain. It’s a good thing that we got our Lion Hunt out of the way yesterday. Now that we are familiar with the city we can explore it in our own fashion. With the America’s Cup finished and the horrible weather upon us it feels like a completely different city. Coming out onto St Marks Square, on our way to the Arsenal, there are a few groups of tourists rushing about under their umbrellas, but no sight of the crowds of yesterday. Ah, Venice; a city with mercurial moods.

Liam has wanted to see the Arsenal ever since he heard about it yesterday from our guide Erika. The Arsenal was Venice’s massive ship building works and it was at the heart of Venice’s success as a merchant navy. Long, long before the industrial age Venice had employed the ideas of the assembly line and standardised parts to create an amazing factory site that employed over 16,000 people. It created both the merchant ships and the navy that created and supported the most serene republic of Venice, and all her vast trading routes. Starting around 1100 AD, it hit it’s peak with Venice in the 13^th and 14^th century when the Arsenal could manufacture a ship a day, and innovating the latest seafaring technology to sustain the might it had over seas. Pretty impressive. Today it is no longer a ship building facility, but home to the Italian navy.

Outside the Porta Magna of the Arsenale

After a few wrong turns we find our way to the Arsenal’s main gate, the Porta Magna, flanked by some impressive Lions. No open book for the beautiful Venetian Lion that stands proudly on top of this gate. No, his book is closed; the ships built here were not for PAX, but for war!

Walking the rainy streets, with the Arsenale wall to our right.

Liam desperately wants to see inside and even gets the courage to go and ask the military guard. But no, it is a military base and no civilians are allowed in. Too bad, it’s a unique insight into the history of Venice. But the walk in the rain is stimulating and the kids enjoy jumping in every puddle they see.

Soon our feet are sore – we’ve tracked quite a few kilometres over the past month – and so we decide to hop on the waterbus and see where it takes us. I want to go to Murano, the island that is so famous for it’s glass works. But alas, I get us onto a waterbus that goes in the wrong direction. Ooops.

St Mark's square from the water

Instead we decide to sit down and take in the views of the city from the water. Which is the medium that Venice is built to impress form. So many churches and palaces! What must the ancient traders - coming from their walled medieval strong holds - have thought of the delicate and ornate opulence of renaissance Venice?

you never know what treasure you will find around the next corner

Without great beauty in their landscape, the Venetians shaped beauty from their own creativity. When you bop along the choppy waters and look around at the man made grandiosity there is a feeling of specialness that over comes you. Mostly I feel humbled by grand vistas from mountaintops or waterfalls or sunsets, but here these innovative people were able to engineer the same feeling; so hats off to them, the Venetians, proud by culture, mind and deeds.

After the water taxi takes us the length of the city we meander back through the town, heading in the general direction of our hotel, but not caring if we take a circular route. The charm of Venice is in getting lost and seeing the random sights along the way. A black cat sitting atop an ancient wall, an old lady closing her shutters against the rain. And of course finding off the beaten track places to try the pizza.

Far too soon it’s time to get our backpacks from the hotel and make our way to the train station. We are all a little sad to be leaving so soon. Randall and I both think this is a city that needs a full two to three days to be in, to be able to fully soak in the culture.

“I am going to live here someday, says Clara!” Of course she’s said that about most of the towns we’ve visited in Italy so far. But then, I wouldn’t put it past her.

the courtyard of our 10th century b&b

We make it to the train station in plenty of time, only to discover that our Eurail passes have been stolen from my backpack. Damn it! A whole lot of shuffling around occurs before we finally just buy tickets and barely make the train. Unfortunately the tickets we get spread the six of us out over four different train cars, not exactly ideal when there are only two adults. Luckily we meet a super nice Mormon family from Utah who take us in and share their seats with us. And over the next few hours between Venice and Florence we chat away like old friends. It’s my favourite thing about travel: meeting strangers and discovering the commonalities that we all share. By the time the train slowly stops I have relaxed somewhat and we are excited about our next destination – Florence.

The birthday boy with his Venetian Lion tie

Off the train we take two cabs to our next hotel, part of an old palace that is just a short walk out of the main touristy part of town. We arrive and discover that we have to walk up 90 stairs to the hotel, and once checked in at the main lounge, we have to walk about 40 stairs down the internal stairwell of the hotel to get to our room. Um, OK. I guess we’ll be fit after our three nights in Florence. At least there is a luggage lift for the first part, and some strong bellboys who manage to get our bags to our room. Crickey Dickens, mate, it was some feat!

It’s a bit later than we had planned, but we are all dressed up in our finest clothes and Randall takes us all out to a fancy dinner to celebrate Liam’s real birthday. He chooses a restaurant that is right on the Arno River, looking across at the old town. The food is superb, the kids in awe of the fancy restaurant and we can all relax that the hassle of European train travel is over, for a few days at least. And we can all discuss the fun of exploring a new city and the culture that comes along with it.

After dinner we treat Liam with as much gelato as he can eat. He orders the most massive cone ever constructed and begins chowing down; completely oblivious to the fact that we are standing on the edge of the Ponte Vecchio, the most famous bridge in Florence, or indeed anything other than the massive cone of sugar and cream in front of him. Some Japanese tourists ask him to pose for them so they can record this monument to Florentine gelato, not sure if they could see his face over the cone but they were very pleased with their photographic find.

Liam's massive gelato!

Amazingly he finishes the whole thing and walks up the 90 stairs with one heck of a bellyache. It’s midnight and we are knackered; straight to be for all of us. It is hard to believe that just this morning we were riding on the canals of Venice and now we are landlocked in the heart of Renaissance Italy – Florence. 

Amalfi Coast and the Positano Peach Gelato

Amalfi Coast and the Positano Peach Gelato

It’s “early” morning (about 10am) and we are on the Sorrento to Amalfi hydrofoil. The mountains look inhospitable and rough with the layers of fog that have yet to burn off. I’ve driven this coast with my parents long ago so this is a new view, to see it all from the sea. High up, the road is clearly visible with its twisty hairpin turns, crazy drivers and too narrow roads. I’m so happy to be watching from my comfy seat on the boat.

Learning about Maritime Warfare

Just out of Sorrento Liam picks out the old fortresses and watchtowers built at regular intervals along the cliffs. People here were certainly not worried about being invaded from the land, it is too steep and impassable – this was a maritime nation!

A sea view of Positano

Can you spy the fortress?

Amalfi was at the height of power around the turn of the last millennium. A proud trading nation, it competed with the Venetian, Pisan and Genoese empires for the goods of the east. It was also known for it’s schools of law and even came up with the “Tavole Amalfitane” – a maritime code of law that was widely used throughout the Mediterranean until the 16^th century. It is also said that Flavio Gioia, a son of Amalfi, introduced the mariners’ compass to Europe.

It beautiful coastline for sure, you can feel the history that these cliffs have seen. A ridiculous amount of battles and sieges have taken place here. It was such a desirable place. Lets see, there were the Byzantines, the Normans, the Holy Roman Emperor, the Sicilians and then the Pisans.  Then there was a tsunami in the 14^th century that destroyed much of the ports and the Amalfitane region never regained its former glory. Now it is the seasonal home to thousands of tourists who come to revel in the blue waters, faint at the high cliffs and send postcards home to make their coworkers insanely jealous.

The streets of Amalfi

On lookout for cliff side fortresses Liam is in perfect heaven. How did they defend them? Did they use CANONS! Wow. His imagination is on fire. The girls see all the villages, spread across the cliffs, and notice how each one has a garden so that the people can grow their own food. With all the fish of the sea they can understand how these little towns could be self-sustaining. This of course makes me think the food will taste amazing. Hmmm, who is the shallow one here?

Once we are off the ferry at the town of Amalfi it is just a short walk up to the Duomo di Amalfi and the piazza, the heart of the town. The buildings are all so darn cheerful, the stores colorful and even the mist is burning off to enhance the color of the tiles on the roofs. We go up the stairs to the church just as a whole gang of children dressed in their special celebratory robes emerge from the old 12 century cathedral (I think they may have had their communion), and their proud parents and families are all beaming around them. Massive amounts of group photos and hugs take place. Scolding mothers carry a few out-of-control toddlers away. It’s such a warm feeling. I can almost forget that we are in a tourist town.

Picnic in Amalfi

Liam is not too sure about this fountain.... hmmmm...

Inside the Church the Sunday Mass is in session so we don’t take much of a tour. Rather than make the children sit through a service that they will not understand we sit at the bottom of the church steps and have a picnic and watch the world of the little town of Amalfi go by. I wonder what it would be like to live in such a tiny community. Of course it’s not like days of old where they are isolated. It’s only a scary drive or 40-minute ferry to the big bad world, but still, it would feel quite insular to actually be a denizen of this town. We do a bit of shopping, I have an espresso (my new favorite addiction) and Randall finds himself a new watch.

Just so that they can experience it, we buy tickets on the bus that goes from Amalfi to Positano. It’s fairly cheap and runs regularly. Why not, give it a go, I say to them.

The road was completed at the turn of the last century. It is made realistically for two horses to pass comfortably. Now there is two-way traffic of giant busses. Each hairpin curve is a brush with death (in my opinion), and we nearly take out a couple motorbikes at the first one. I close my eyes (yes, I am a coward!) and think that if we were on the boat, and it sank, at least we have a fair chance of swimming to safety! But on this road, if our driver, a cantankerous old fossil, makes one false move, a fiery crash followed by twisted metal falling onto the rocks below will be our fate.  OK, not positive thoughts. But what can I say, I really don’t like heights. Sharks good, heights bad….

Rowing into the Grotto Della Esmeraldo

Good thing we have decided to hop off at the next stop - Grotta Della Esmeraldo (or the Emerald Grotto). This is the Amafi coast’s answer to the world famous Blue Grotto of Capri. These Grottos, or Sea Caves, have tiny air openings into them, but have huge openings facing out underwater to the ocean and the beautiful sun shines through the water and into the caves illuminating the water from underneath, filling the cave with glowing blue and green light. It’s pretty darn amazing.

The Spectacular water inside the cave

We did not go into the Blue Grotto of Capri when we were there, the line was unreal and it had the feeling of the major tourist trap. (Seriously, they wanted a ridiculous fee just to get rowed in and out of the grotto.) But I have to admit that I have been to the Blue Grotto before. My dad bribed the oarsman to let me, and my best friend Cathy, swim around in the glowing warm water when we visited Capri ages ago. An amazing memory that we will always have.

The kids were pretty disappointed not to see the Blue Grotto, and when we set out this morning with the cloudy sky we told them that we most likely wouldn’t do the Emerald Grotto either. No sunshine equals no amazingly lit up water. I truly believe that their collective pleadings to the universe helped us get the sun to shine through just as we were getting on the bus and changing our plans.

From the bus stop you have to descend by elevator to the base of the cliffs. I couldn’t tell you how far, maybe ten stories, probably more. And then we wait for our turn to go into the Grotto. It is pretty low key, just us, two tourists from the UK and our oarsman. He doesn’t speak much English, but he paddles us out into the cave and we have a good look at the stalactites. It’s a cool cave. But the magic isn’t unleashed until we turn around for the paddle back and you can see the light refracting back through the water. It’s all lit up like a jewel. The kids are so very impressed. How does light do that!? It is pretty amazing. Nature can do fantastic things.

Coming out of the cave puts you in a small inlet that you have to walk past before taking the elevator up to the road again. And oh that water is inviting. Too inviting to pass up. It becomes a matter of who can change fastest. Randall, Liana, Liam and Clara all jump into the Green water. (I have a low-grade fever again, so decide not to risk getting wet. No more hospitals for me please.) They frolic for quite a while until a luxury yacht pulls up to dislodge a few sheik looking tourists for their tour of the grotto.

Back up to get the bus. I break out in a sweat thinking about it. Somewhere between the Emerald Grotto and Positano I find religion. And the rest of my family nearly find the barf bags. Partly my heavenly inspiration comes from the nervous drawing that a previous passenger had scrolled across the seat in front of me of a crucifix. It worked. I didn’t throw up, get burned in a horrific crash or even have to clean up anyone else’s vomit. We got off in Positano with firm vows that we were taking the hydrofoil back to Sorrento.

Positano

Positano must be one of the most beautiful towns in the world.

Really. I mean that.

Walking down the cliff-perching street into the heart of the city you can’t help but look up. First you see the flowers hanging off the balconies, then you see the colorful tiled roofs and then you see way, way above the green cliffs and sea birds swirling. It’s dizzying. And looking down you see colorfully coordinated umbrellas of the sun worshipers on the dark beach and the azure water with boats aplenty. Paradise on earth? Well, it is for a while.

Walking down into Positano

 

Once we finally descend all the way to the beach we find the gelato shop to top all gelato shops. Yes, really. I have found paradise on earth. I have never read or heard of food being described in any way that could compare to the taste that it imparted, so I don’t think I will try here. Just know that the very freshest of fruit was used to create the gelato, which was given in most generous portions. See exhibit A, photo of the happiest family in the world, just starting to consume their own particular flavour of gelato. Mine was peach, and I maintain that it was the best. Although each member of the family feels similarly of their own flavour.

Exhibit A - World's best Gelato

And so we have it. Our little tour of the Amalfi coast. It couldn’t be said that we made a very in depth tour. But given my illness we didn’t have the time we originally thought we’d have in this area. It doesn’t matter. It’s special, no matter what you see of it. Beautiful and memorable.

So tonight Liam is off to say good bye to his Italian soccer mates and we are off to another Sorrentine dinner. And tomorrow it’s off to the other coast of Italy to board a ship to take us to Greece and beyond…..

All Roads Lead to Rome

All Roads Lead to Rome

I have a brilliant idea.



Trevi Fountain

Let's take the tourist bus that does the loop around Rome. We can hop on and off when we want and see a few sights that we won't want to walk to. Yes, I know the agenda is the Colosseum, but this will get us there....

Sounds good, but the Green bus I picked was a bit of a dog. Something like 60 Euro later we are sitting on the bus just outside of the Trevi fountain (for the first time I haven't thrown a coin in, I am panicking this doesn't mean that I won't return!!!) but it goes forward 5 minutes and stops at Piazza Barbarini and waits for over 20 minutes before moving on to the next stop (Termini) where it waits for another 20 minutes. The kids are not impressed. Randall is not impressed. OK, i am not impressed either! It's hard to watch the red but doing the same itinerary but moving continuously, without these 20 minute breaks!!

Outside the Colosseum and Forum

Getting our money back won't happen and I am still a bit of a Nazi when it comes to the budget so we stick it out on the bus, slowly passing all the most famous places in Rome (I don't think i will EVER get the monument to Victor Emanuelle, I mean really, what on earth did he accomplish in life to achieve such a grandiose monument??????)

Finally we hop bus at the Colosseo - the most famous Roman amphitheatre in the world. It was started by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD and was finished by his son Titus in 80 AD. It has been home to the famous gladiator fights as well as all sorts of other spectacles to keep the Roman public entertained. What is the saying: Bread and Circuses?

We side step the long line for the Colosseum and buy our joint Colosseum/Forum tickets at the entrance to the Palatine Hill and Roman forum. It saves us a good hour of line waiting and with kids, that is ALWAYS a good idea.

All of us in the Roman Forum

We spend a full three hours walking through the ancient Roman forum and then up on the Palatine Hill. Centuries of trade and business happened here. The forum was where business was done. People prayed. Deals were made. There were celebratory arches for great deed done by emperors. Temples. It's hard to put your head in the space that the Romans were in back then. Large scale buildings to impress the might of the empire onto citizens and travellers alike. To see it now, it looks like a whole lot of marble that has been toppled. There are some walls still left, but most of the beautiful marble has been stripped over the years to create new buildings around Rome, leaving just the inner shell of bricks standing.

The big kids are really into the whole aura of the place. And the little girls are on the hunt for the Roman fountains that we are continually filling our water bottles from.

I just love the red Mediterranean poppies that are pushing out of all the ruins. The remind me of my mom and how much she used to love seeing these colourful little flowers whenever we came to Europe in the spring. They are a cheerful addition to the scene. Like they are saying to us that life goes on, no matter how old the ground is.



Clara in front of the poppies

After touring through the Roman forum, the temple of the vestal virgins we wander through the Palatine Hill. As Liam is very proud to point out, it is one of the original seven hills that Rome was built upon. It is also the hill that the Roman emperors had their palaces on. There are so many ruins it boggles the mind.

Foot weary we toddle out of the ruins, to see the inside of the Colosseum, but alas, somewhere along the way we've lost our tickets!! No matter what we say they won't let us in, and there is no way we are going to pay the entrance fee a second time.

Liana and Liam in the Forum

With sad big kids (they so want to see the inside of the huge building) and happy little girls (they are sooooo over looking at ruined buildings) we head back to the bus. We take the same halting type of trip back to our little region of Rome. On the way back we pass by the circus maximus and a good drive along the Tiber River a long stop at St Peters square. I make a quick hop off the bus at this point and manage to carry six gelato's back to the bus. I must look like a professional because there are tourists taking pictures of me carrying the six dripping cones as I dodge traffic to get back to the bus.

We finally exit at the bus at the tomb of Augustus Ceaser and head back to our apartment and one of the amazing cafes for dinner.

It's been a long day of sightseeing for these guys, and a well deserved pizza is always appreciated. Tomorrow is a new day. Sunday in Rome. We can relax a little.