The Little French Adventure

After sightseeing in Vilnius, I took a small plane from the small airport to France where I had the special treat of meeting up with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ken to see Kelsey skate in one of her international synchronized skating competitions. I flew into a tiny airport outside of Paris and had to take a bus into the city and then back out of it to get to Rouen, the little French city where the competition was being held. Although I had the slowest bus driver in the world, as we drove through the city center I couldn't help but think how lucky I was to be seeing the Eiffel Tower twice in a period of barely more than two years.

My visit to Rouen allowed me to see a bit more of France and I found the little city so completely charming! The center is a maze of winding cobbled streets and timbered buildings leaning in the shadows of overwhelmingly intricate Gothic cathedrals. I went sightseeing with Aunt Kathy on the second day, and she showed me all the places she remembered from her visit last year. Probably the most impressive sight is the cathedral, Rouen's very own Notre Dame.

Along the main shopping street is the Great Clock, 'Le Gros-Horloge.' It ran non-stop from 14th century to the 20th, ticking away the hours until electricity was installed in 1928. Besides the time, it also shows the phases of the moon and the days of the week.

It's still telling time

Also fascinating was the St. Maclou courtyard, a small partition of land from what was previously a cemetery from the Middle Ages where many victims of the Great Plague of 1348 were buried. The building enclosing the courtyard is decorated with bones, skulls, and all sorts of death motifs so it's pretty eerie! The knobby, leaveless trees scattered among the courtyard only added to the creepiness!

Feels like Halloween

Rouen happens to be the place in which Joan of Arc was martyred, so there is a large church dedicated to the saint built on the location of her death. The architecture is intended to look like flames.

(Not a shark)

While I'm talking about sights I also have to mention the absolutely beautiful hotel Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ken put me up in. The building is from the 15th century, so it's historic and gorgeous inside and out. As someone accustomed to sleeping on rickety bunk-beds in hostels and sharing rooms with ten other snoring people, it was a dream to stay in such a gorgeous place for two nights! And there was even breakfast (my favorite meal) in the mornings!

The hotel from the outside

In the evening, after sightseeing, we headed to the skating rink to watch the competition. I had the opportunity to meet some of the other parents of the skaters, and I got a sort of crash course in synchronized skating as I listened to the commentary and watched all the performances. I was so impressed by the skaters and really enjoyed watching them!

And this skater in particular!

I had to take a bus back through Paris on the last day to get back to the airport and I had just enough time before changing buses to grab a quick cup of coffee and admire some of the landmarks from afar. Someday I'm going to get to Paris when it's actually warm out!

Eiffel Tower yay!

It was really nice for me to be able to meet up with some family in Europe, and I'm so happy to have had the chance to see Rouen, such a lovely city that I never would have thought to visit otherwise!

(And Aunt Kathy, Uncle Ken, and Kelsey, if you happen to read this thank you again for the wonderful time!!)