Rouen "the city of a hundred spires

I made it to Rouen today. I walked from my hotel in Paris, along the Haussmann Boulevard to the Gare St. Lazare, where after much searching I figured out how to buy a ticket to Rouen. Boarded the train, and with a little hesitation, was off. The trains in France, are pretty cool, but as far as I can see are not very intuitive. I did manage to get my ticket punched before entering the train, however I am still unsure if the 18.90 Euros I payed for a ticket is a round trip. I do not see "retour" or anything like that stamped on the ticket. It seems like it is only good for one way, however I could have sworn that I saw Paris-Rouen 9,50E on the window... then again it could be the Jet Lag talking.













Rouen is pretty neat, although quite touristy. My Hotel is about 900 meters from the train station, and about 2000 from where Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) was held before and during her trial.





From there I saw a huge spire, off in the distance, and with little trouble I found my way to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen (Rouen Cathedral) only stopping once at an "Irish Pub" to grab a beer.

Upon entering the Cathedral, you can't help be simply blown away. The Cathedral was the tallest building in the world from 1876 until 1880, and was bombed several times in 1944.

It contains the tomb of Richard the Lionheart, which only contains his head. From there I walked around looking at the shops, and people, and finally back to my Hotel, where I got cleaned up, and went out for dinner at an Indian restaurant around the corner from my Hotel.






Tomorrow it is off to Le Mans, however I am going to try and take an early morning train to Caen, and to the Normandy beaches, as there wasn't any sort of tour bus from Rouen. I would upload pictures, but since I am using my cellphone as a modem, and I feel it would severely overwhelm the sensitive French cellular network here in Rouen, I will try and post pictures tomorrow.














Some things on my mind: Is there a difference between un café svp and un espresso svp, both seem to taste the same, and are in the same size cup.

More from Le Mans, and maybe Caen tomorrow