Ex-Cathedra..... Part 3 Pont de L'Arche and Rouen

With our time in France coming to an end we drove up from Chartres to the town at Pont de L'Arche, about 20 km from Rouen.

We had decided to head back to the UK to get some repairs done on the vehicle roof, as it has been impossible to get any sense whatsoever from the people who sold us the damn thing, either by email or by phone. It shouldn't be a big job but in the UK customer service is a foreign concept. We will see what happens when we get there.

On the way to Calais we stopped in Pont de L'Arche which was distinguished by three things - a very friendly and helpful camp manager, the fine old medieval church and its medieval houses.

A plaque inside the church mentioned that Henry IV, of Shakespearian fame, had given the church an organ, (I presume this organ was of the tuneful variety, but you never know with medieval christian relics, as you will learn when we get to the bit about Rouen).

The church altar and interior.

The best part of the church was yet to come! There was a lovely little garden to the church, full of flowering plants and then in an alcove...... were.......

Bill and Ben, The Flowerpot Men!

Unfortunately Little Weed was nowhere to be seen and Iris refused to substitute for her, boldly stating that since she started Crossfit, no-one can call her a weed anymore!

The next day was our final religious pilgrimage, to Rouen Cathedral. I've only been to Rouen twice and on both occasions experienced thunder, lightning and heavy rain. This latest weather caused us to spend rather longer than I would have liked, (but not as long as Iris would have liked), sheltering in large department stores such as Galeries Lafayette etc.

The Cathedral was a  big let down for although it is spectacular from the outside, the interior is very plain and drab. The main spire is worth seeing though and until about 1895 it was the tallest building in the world (at just under 500 feet tall in old money).

 The spire is made of wrought iron, hence its delicate, lacy appearance. It was added in the 19th century to replace earlier stonework.

Rouen Cathedral was badly damaged by allied bombers shortly after the D-Day landings when the Germans turned the town into a strongpoint. The town and its citizens suffered 900 dead in two days of bombing plus the town was flattened.

Two major historical figures are connected with Rouen. The first is Joan of Arc who was tried and executed, (burnt at the stake), by the English in 1431, (she was sold to the English by her French captor). A statue of Joan is in a side chapel.

 A very murky pic of Joan trying to look saintly and hard done by.

The second "big name" from the medieval A-list is Richard the Lionheart and there is a tomb of his in the cathedral. This tomb contains one of his bits from the various parts that were scattered around Europe after his untimely death. Yes folks, it's one of his organs. His heart!

There was a description on one of the guide posters about which bits of Richard were buried where but I kind of lost interest after it told me where his bowels were interred.





Richard Coeur-de-Lion's tomb.

A pretty big tombstone for a small body part. We have moved on a bit from those days now and if you carry a donor card, they may take the various organs and spread them around but not in diverse cathedrals.

After paying our respects to these two medieval heroes it was back to the bus and Pont de L'Arche. We were lucky enough to get a bus straight away and got back in good time to do the laundry. Of such things great days are made!

On the way back the bus went through the small village of Port St. Ouen. This brought back memories of a trip there with my old friend Hargreaves, way back in 1968. We visited the Gendarmerie there to try to get help for our broken down Ford Anglia and despite being very amicable, the Gendarmes couldn't help too much mainly because they were all pissed! (And that was at lunchtime).

The next day we drove up to Calais for the ferry. We travelled mainly on rural roads to avoid the tolls and passed through a small village called Neuvain (I think). The crowning glory of this village, (and unfortunately we couldn't stop to get a photo), was a building, about the size of a single garage, all freshly painted and new, with the sign "Dispenser L'Automatique de Pommes de Terre".

This must be the only place in the world with a 24-hour spud dispenser! Payment by cash or card.