09/05/2026
Where our “Escape to the Château” journey begins… beautiful Rouen 🇫🇷❤️
I can hardly believe we’re just four months away! It feels like we only just returned from our last adventure together. Due to one cancellation, I now have two twin rooms available on this tour.
If you’ve been dreaming of wandering through ancient streets, soaking in French history, and experiencing the charm of rural France & spending a wonderful day with Dick and Angel, I would love to have you join us.
Life in Rural France & Beyond 🙌❤️
In Rouen, history sits out in the open. This is where Joan of Arc was executed in 1431, right in Place du Vieux Marché. It is not hidden behind walls or museums. You can stand in the exact spot where it happened, now marked by a modern church that contrasts with everything around it.
But Rouen is not defined by a single moment. Walk away from the square and the city shifts quickly. Timber framed houses line the streets, many of them dating back centuries, with uneven lines and details that show their age. Some lean slightly, others feel tightly packed together, giving the streets a more lived in feel rather than something preserved for display.
Then there is Rouen Cathedral, which dominates the skyline no matter where you are standing. It has been damaged, rebuilt, and modified over time, yet it still holds that sense of scale that stops people in their tracks. This is the same cathedral that Claude Monet painted over and over, trying to capture how the light changed across its façade.
What makes Rouen work is how close everything is. You can move from major historical sites to quieter backstreets in minutes without needing a plan. It is easy to spend hours here without realizing how much ground you have covered, simply by walking and turning corners.
Rouen often gets skipped in favor of the Normandy coast, but it offers something different. Less about open landscapes, more about stepping through layers of history that are still part of the city’s everyday life.
Would you add Rouen to a Normandy trip, or focus only on the coastline?
📍 Rouen, Normandy
