FRANCE - Europe by Eurail 2015: Touring Europe by Train - page 206

Following the tour itinerary suggested by the tourist office, the midway point of
the tour will be the Palace of Justice. Three short blocks beyond, you will enter
Rouen's old market area, with its narrow streets and half-timbered houses. There
are more than 800 structures in Rouen that illustrate the typical architecture of the
city from the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century. The houses were termed
half-timbered because their external and internal walls were constructed of tim-
ber frames, and the spaces between the structural members were filled with brick
plaster or wattle—woven reeds covered and plastered with clay. You'll note that the
upper stories of many half-timbered houses in Rouen project out over the ground
level. This arrangement allows the lower part of the house to be protected against
inclement weather.
Born a peasant in 1412, Joan of Arc believed she heard celestial voices. In 1429,
during the Hundred Years' War when the English were about to capture Orleans,
Joan convinced Charles VII (then Dauphin of France) of her divine mission and led
the resistance against the English at Compiegne in 1430. Subsequently, she un-
derwent fourteen months of interrogation by her captors and was then burned at
the stake in the Old Market Square at Rouen on May 30, 1431. The Maid of Or-
leans, national heroine and patron saint of France, decisively turned the Hundred
Years' War in France's favor.
The place in the old market where Joan of Arc met her fate is marked by a huge
cross of concrete and metal. Towering over it is a modern church, completed in
1979, its roof representing the flames of the stake. It blends masterfully into the
scene against a background of black-and-white timbered houses. The impact of
history can be felt here.
Last stop is that huge clock you may have passed en route to the tourist office. It
was positioned at ground level until 1527, when the people of Rouen asked that it
be raised so they could see it better. The city council obliged by housing it in the el-
egant Renaissance structure you see today. The clock is unique in that it has only
one hand. The globe at the top, which is no longer functioning, used to indicate the
phases of the moon. Although the clock was converted to electricity in 1928, the
original mechanism is still in place.
Day Excursion to