Why There Are Two Posts today

We are in Le Havre, France today.  And, for the first time EVER, Bos and I went our separate ways.  Which is disconcerting for me, especially!  Can I do it?  Will I get lost?  Will HE, my Boy Scout, get lost (No Way, I assure myself!).  But I am determined to try. And, to kill the suspense, I did good -- not great, but good!  Mostly we split up because Bos is going to the D-Day landings and war museum; not because we are sick of each other, which might be valid after all this togetherness.  And I'm so not interested in wars!  I know.. I know.  D-Day, Omaha Beach, 10,000 GI's killed and buried in France.  Got it.  And it is history now.  

But that is all so gloomy and so not relevant to today's problems, what with threatened burnings of Korans, recessions/depressions, floodings all over, etc.  SO I decided to go to Rouen and have a look around.  Yes, I've been to Rouen a few years ago.  It is where they burned Joan D'Arc in the town square. That's about war and gloom as well.  But, after all, we are in France and I do love France, from their snippy attitudes to their wandering dogs all over!

Now I'm waiting for a report on Normandy beaches (to see if anything has changed and someone else won or something!).  So my trip to ROuen.  First of all, the Seine runs through it.  And they have a big Cathedral of Notre Dame (which means "our lady").  But, after seeing the breathtaking cathedrals in England, this one is not as impressive.  To be sure, most of the town was bombed out of existence during the battle for Normandy.  So it is explainable.  

And we walked (no, more correctly, rushed around at a very fast pace!) up and down medieval cobblestone streets (actually, up one street and back the same street!) where we saw a plethora of half-timbered houses, now housing boutiques that are darling.  Time period?  Mostly 13th-14th century up to about 16th century for those houses.  That's REALLY old compared to us and our 18th and 19th century U.S. versions of "old."  

Then we sprinted( I know I'm emphasizing this point, but I was exhausted from racing around all day!)  to the old "horloge", which means clock in French.  Impressive, but it no longer works.  You see, back when, people had no idea what time it was, morning night, spring, summer.  So this clock chimed to tell all residents what the actual time was. Probably so they would get to the cathedral for services!!  In any case, now we walk around with little clocks on our wrists and live by minutes, not hours.  When we were in England, they explained that each village had their own clocks and they were not coordinated.  So time was all different from place to place until, finally, they developed a clock that was the definitive "time-ruler".  Must be where the idea of "Greenwich mean time" came from. 

Where Joan burned

A word about this walking stuff.  There is a big difference between European "little walk" and U.S. "walk".  DO NOT, UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH, CONFUSE THE TWO!!  Europeans walk everywhere.  So their "little walk" is what we would call a marathon...one of those 20-something K ones!!  So do not be fooled.  When someone tells you it is just a "little walk" to the bus or to the cathedral, just remember.... And call a cab.