Today was one of the best days of our trip so far. Little Rouen, France is one of the most engaging and unique cities I've seen in this world. There are little streets filled with rows of medevil-era houses, cafes and shops full of personality, museums that are eye-popping, and almost no tourists. We started our day with breakfast from the bakery up the street and then I spent a bit of time in the courtyard of our abode. I'm almost certain we're occupying one small part of an old large family home. The front door (which is not our door) is of the fancy kind and above it on the rooftop there's this very cool sun dial. Today it was cloudy, so I had no luck using it (do sundials know about daylight savings time? I bet not).
Soon it was time to see the sights meant for yesterday's eyes (which as you may remember were staring at luggage on various trains yesterday and as far back as I can remember). Rouen has many museums and attractions all in this little area new where we are, so walking to the art museum, to lunch, and then to the ironworks museum wasn't enough to get our 10,000 steps by a long shot. Oh the art - always what I see when in a new city. Rouen didn't disappoint. Since we needed to get a wheelchair for Mom, we followed a man who spoke no English at all down a set of stairs to the basement, clearly not thinking about stranger danger. He was a good guy, though, and set Mom right up with wheels. In this non-public part of the museum we were treated to views of many items not being shown in the galleries. I was able to snap one quick picture of a scuplture hanging out next to a trash can before we were placed in an elevator and sent to the museumy part of the museum's museum. We spent a few hours admiring and appreciating Rouen's collections, some of which featured Rouen itself, which we recognized from our walk around town. And there were so few people visiting, which made the museum even more lovely.
After a delicious lunch at a little cafe, Mom and I headed to our second museum date of the day. The Musee Le Secq Des Tournelles (the ironworks musuem) was housed in an old church, a cathedral really, which was a thrill to see in itself. You may not think about the magic of molded metal very often. I know I don't, but wow. Seeing all of the incredible creations, both utilitarian (what a collection of thimbles and keys!) and decorative in one space was jaw dropping. I could have spent hours hanging out in that space, but alas, it was time to head out, what with tired feet and legs due to no wheelchairs. Seriously, I would rate this place as one of the top museums from this trip. Metal magic.
We spent this evening eating Poke and watching Poirot, two things that generally don't go together but seemd to get along just fine. Tomorrow, we get a car! We are upgrading the wheelchair to a chariot, and adventure awaits!
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