My new home

Home sweet home for the next five months.

The apartment is only about a 10 minute walk from the school and15 minutes from the nearest shopping district

After carting my groceries in a sac, I decided to do as the local did and bought a caddy.

It's a 30 minute walk to center of Rouen, across the Seine River.

Because of my year in Leuven, I had some sense of what old European cities look like and Rouen is very similar. The streets in the center of town are narrow and often cobblestoned. There are bakeries, shops and restaurants everywhere.

Sometimes plazas and streets turn into a temporary markets – up for a few hours and then gone again. And you can buy just about anything there.

Now you see it...

Now you don't.

At the center of Rouen is Notre Dame Cathedral. 

Claude Monet created a series of  paintings of this cathedral that caught it in different lights and seasons. I have seen pictures in books and I saw a couple of his original paintings at the D’Orsay museum in Paris. He is a favourite of mine.

It is a shame that there is something in front of the church. I'm not sure it if is meant to be permanent. It advertises a light show that will take place each night on the front of the cathedral. I might go one night.

The interior of the church is very similar to others. (I can hear Mom saying something to the effect.."haven't we see this before?"). Tonight I went to a lecture at the Cathedral that described the relationship between architecture, music and spirituality. Very interesting. Chant works very well in this type of space - it's as if the stones also sing. At the end of the lecture, the co-presenters chanted several pieces.

Chairs (wicker type) are the norm in most churches I've seen here and in Belgium. Churches were multi-functional spaces at one time: place of refuge, law courts, market place... Chairs are moveable. And smaller ones are used for kneelers.

Churches focus on different saints, though. Here at the Cathedral, Saint Joan of Arc (Jeanne d”Arc) figures prominently. She is both a saint and a national heroine. She lead the French troops against the English in the 15^th century and liberated Orleans. Later she was captured by the English and taken to Rouen – which at the time was under English domination. She was found guity of heresy and was burned at the stake.

A church was built at the site of her martyrdom.

Very modern. I decided to go to Mass there on the weekend.

The liturgy is very much the same as in Canada. I noticed a couple of different things: when people first arrive, they stand to pray in their pew before sitting down. There was no “The word of the Lord” at the end of the readings. The creed was done in some sort of dialogue fashion. I couldn’t tell if the priest and people were just alternating lines or if it was different wording. The people were saying it by heart, so it was obviously familiar, but It wasn’t the dialogue type we use at baptisms. People stood for the Eucharistic prayer, but I noticed one person knelt. Those who sat (older folks) stood for the consecration. They sang the Lord’s prayer, but a different version than ours. People didn’t hold hands, but some extended their hands (orans). The hosts that they have looked the same as we have, but tasted so much better. It is obvious that the French take pride in their bread. The hosts are thicker and have more crunch. They actually taste like bread. Music was led by a song leader in front of the assembly with someone playing the pipe organ in the choir loft. Most people sang – we had flyers with all the songs and responses. The congregation was mixed. Mainly older folks, but several children and young people. Not just tourists, either, because they took part in the songs.

After Mass I treated myself to a chicken bunwich and fries. I walked through another section of Rouen and found more churches to take pictures of later. Within a few blocks of each other there are three massive churches. The Catholic Church was hugely rich at one time to be able to build so many magnificant churches so close to each other. Now it seems as if parishes are clustered together in groups with a team of pastors looking after them, just like we have.

A week ago, I traveled to Mont St. Michel with a group from the school. Quite the place. You can see it clearly from a long distance away. It’s like a mirage in the distance, but it is very real.

We parked quite a ways away. There are navettes (shuttlebuses) that take people back and forth, or you can walk. A couple of us decided to walk. We thought it would take 15 minutes, but it took about 35. Although the Abbey looks close, it is quite a distance away. I decided that I’m not build for the camino after that little trek. I want to make tracks and get there.

The place was packed with tourists. 

The anniversary of D-Day was commemorated the day before we arrived. I saw a couple of Canadian flags.

Over 3.5 million people visit each year. The street is narrow and filled with shops, restaurants and a few hotels. It eventually leads up  to the Abbey. 

 The Abbey was built over several centuries. It was started as a church in 709 (8^th century) and in 988 was established as a Benedictine Abbey. It was an important pilgrimage site – similar to Rome and Saint-Jacques de Compostelle. After the French Revolution (18^th century) it became a prison. It was created a historical monument in 1874. In 1966, 1000 years after it was first named an abbey, it became again a place of prayer and welcome. Since 2001 it has been the home of the Brothers and Sisters of the Monastic Fraternity of Jerusalem (des Fraternités de Jérusalem).

I entered the abbey just as Mass was starting – my good fortune. It was very simple – some chants but not quite greorgian in style – both brothers and sisters present. At the sign of peace, they worked their way through the assembly offering everyone the sign of peace. Communion was under both forms. There was a sign near the sanctuary asking that pictures not be taken. Thankfully this sign was taken down once Mass was over and everything was put away.

At one time, the Abbey was surrounded by water at high tide. Over the years the silt has built up so that is no longer the case.

It was very interesting to walk through the massive structure and imagine life in the days gone by. One room was called the cavalry room, and you could almost sense knights with their horses staying there.

One of two fireplace "stoves" used for meals.

As I wrote in my last blog, I was late getting back to the group. For whatever reason when I heard “quinze heure” (15hr) I thought to myself cinq heure (5:00 p.m.). Must be because they both had a five in them. I’m usually better figuring out the 24 hour clock.  On top of that, the van broke down (not my fault!). We didn’t get back to Rouen until after 11:00 p.m. (23h).

While waiting I took a couple of pictures of the French countryside.

It didn't always look like this, though. There were sign of a different reality. (The road of liberty)

Classes are going well. There have been between 6-10 people in my classes. They come from Japan, Venezuela, Philippines, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Korea, Brazil, China and Australia. I am classified as A2. I am preparing for the DELF B1 exams in October (an international exam standard). The school has very much a school feel, even though it is also very casual – there a set curriculum and homework. We work through everything through conversation: debates, descriptions, stories. The topics vary: new technology, French slang, environmental issues, social issues, the economy… It’s all very current. There are various activities after classes (book reviews, film debates, excursions and SOS (extra help for students). I plan to sign up for the SOS each Friday. There is so much I need to work on. Last week it was verb conjugation (future simple and subjunctive), and this week it was the pronunciation of verbs.

June has been fairly nice – some rain but also many good days. I don’t have another trip planned until the end of July (Arras). Lots of time to study.