內文提到此1979年完成之新教堂: St. Joan of Arc Church, Rouen
其實相當好可以紙上觀摩
PAVILLON FLAUBERT
Category : FAMOUS CITIZENS
Localisation : Western Rouen
This pavilion is the only vestige of the propertysituated on the banks of the Seine where Flaubert lived for more than 35 years and wrote most of his works. Here, Flaubert welcomed his friends, including Maupassant, Louis Bouilhet, Georges Sand, the Goncourt brothers. Exhibitsinclude writing utensils, goose quills, inkwells,portraits and drawings, views and engravings ofCroisset at the time of Flaubert.
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Overnighter
Near Paris, a City of Flaubert and Joan of Arc
Corentin Fohlen for The New York Times
A statue of St. Joan in Rouen.
By NELL CASEY
Published: August 8, 2013
Gustave Flaubert reportedly once said that he wrote his novels to
resemble a particular color. “In ‘Madame Bovary,’ ” he remarked, “all I
was after was to render a special tone, that color of the moldiness of a
wood-louse’s existence.” He may well have achieved that with his
depiction of illusory love in his novel. But Rouen, France — Flaubert’s
birthplace and the setting for a good portion of “Madame Bovary” —
evokes a different mood altogether.
Multimedia
I got a sense of that mood on a recent visit to the historic capital of
Normandy. After a 90-minute train trip from Paris, my family and I
arrived in Rouen with a ready desire to explore. We put our bags down at
our cheery hotel, the Mercure Rouen Centre Cathédrale, in a room
overlooking the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Rouen, also known as the Rouen
Cathedral. One of the most commanding sights in Rouen, this towering
flamboyant Gothic church with its lacy stonework has not only been
masterfully portrayed by Flaubert (complete with a historical tour given
by a beadle, an “everlasting guide,” to Madame Bovary and her
soon-to-be lover) but also by such disparate painters as Claude Monet
and Roy Lichtenstein.
Rouen is on the Seine, so we decided to walk along the narrow
cobblestone streets toward the river. As we ambled past the rows of
half-timbered houses, which evince a sweet innocence, an accordion
player on the corner and stands selling multicolored macarons, I was
immediately charmed.
After sitting down for a bite to eat at La Place, an Asian-inflected
brasserie, I took a look at the map to get my bearings. I discovered
that, through the window of the restaurant, we were gazing out on Old
Market Square, a little area bound on one side by a terrific food market
with a single table tucked into a nook allowing six people lucky enough
to nab it to sit and enjoy the many offerings, including duck foie gras
and petits choux with crab. Next to this market, there is an
unexpectedly modern building with a large cross rising up in front of
it. This marks the spot where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for
heresy in 1431.
Because Rouen was heavily damaged in World War II and then rebuilt, the
town offers an odd yet compelling juxtaposition of sacred history and
modern architecture. For example, the St. Joan of Arc Church, the
building behind the cross, was designed in the ’70s by Louis Arretche so
that it would, in part, resemble the flames that overtook the saint.
This bold structure, completed in 1979, has a roof that twists up in the
center as if it were being drawn toward the sky by an invisible
centrifugal force. Surrounded as it is by medieval buildings, it looks a
bit like a spaceship that has landed in Rouen.
Inside the church, however, is another story — and another era. Upon
entering, we faced a wall showcasing 13 16th-century stained-glass
windows. These were salvaged in 1939 from St.-Vincent Church, which was
destroyed when Rouen was bombed in 1944. (Thankfully, these panels had
been removed and stored elsewhere during the war.) Sunlight pours
gloriously through the biblical illustrations of the stained glass,
bringing the stories to life in vivid hues of crimson and deep blue and
yellow.
Joan of Arc is one of the most celebrated of Rouen’s notable residents
from the past. The keep where she was threatened with torture is now
called the Joan of Arc Tower and can be toured throughout the week
(except on Tuesdays). Plans are also underway for a Joan of Arc
Visitors’ Center to open, housed in the archbishop’s palace.
As we exited the church, the afternoon had turned rainy. Despite this
hint of a wood louse’s moldiness creeping into my day, I pressed on, to
look around a bit on my own. I stopped for a chocolate croissant at La
Tarte à Papa, one of the many patisseries whose aromas wafted into the
streets.
Afterward, I wound my way back through the center of town, walking past
the showy Palais de Justice, the former seat of the parliament of
Normandy, and back to the grand cathedral. I explored the church’s
interior and discovered that one of the towers is nicknamed the Butter
Tower because it is said that citizens who did not wish to give up
butter during Lent were able to buy back this indulgence by donating
money to the church. At the tourism office across the street, I learned
about the Museum of Flaubert and the History of Medicine,
a 10-room gallery where one can see the room in which Flaubert was born
as well as the hospital where his father worked as a surgeon. It is
also possible to visit the Flaubert Pavilion, a small country house in Canteleu, about 15 minutes outside Rouen, where Flaubert lived and wrote for 35 years.
The afternoon drizzle had turned into an early-evening downpour, so I
stopped for a drink at the Hôtel de Bourgtheroulde, a boutique hotel
converted from a 15th-century mansion. Inside, guests sipped wine on
black leather couches with bright red walls surrounding them. The long
bar on the side, lighted from within, looked like a giant ice cube. The
floor was largely transparent so that I could see into the pool below as
well as spy on the couple lounging beside it in their robes. I felt a
little as if I’d walked onto the set of “The Bachelor.”
Heading back to my own hotel, I once again found history jutting up
against modernity: On my way toward the Gros-Horloge, or the Great Clock
— a magnificent astronomical clock constructed in the 14th century and
set in a Renaissance archway — I passed the seemingly endless shops that
populate the center of Rouen. So, on the way to visit the belfry
adjacent to the Gros-Horloge, which contains one of the oldest clock
mechanisms in Europe and offers a terrific view of Rouen from the top,
you can also pick up a few things at places like H&M, Benetton and
Esprit. This high-low pairing might have made the onetime Rouen resident
Marcel Duchamp proud; he did, after all, introduce the urinal to the
art world. Duchamp is buried, along with Flaubert, in the Rouen
Cemetery.
The next day, I went out solo again while my family ate breakfast at our
hotel. I visited the Roman Catholic church of St.-Maclou — an
impressive Gothic building that was unfortunately largely obscured by
scaffolding during my visit — which took me just east of our hotel. In
doing so, I realized how Rouen suddenly opens up and expresses itself
anew, even just a block or two in another direction from Notre-Dame.
Before heading back to Paris, I took my daughter, then 2, for a ride on
the old-fashioned wooden carousel, with its exquisite miniature painted
animals, next to the St. Joan of Arc Church. As we went around, first
seeing a vibrant flower market, then the modern restaurants surrounding
the Old Market Square — a place Flaubert himself must have strolled —
then the cross commemorating Joan of Arc’s death with the Seine in the
distance behind it, it felt as if we were spinning through the
centuries, time simultaneously standing still and racing past.
IF YOU GO
WHERE TO STAY
If you’re looking for luxury, the Hôtel de Bourgtheroulde (15, place de la Pucelle; 33-2-35-14-50-50; hotelsparouen.com)
is a good choice. It’s located in the heart of the city and offers a
full list of spa services. Doubles start at 180 euros, about $232 at
$1.30 to the euro, per night during the week.
Hôtel Mercure Rouen Centre Cathédrale (7, rue Croix- de-Fer; 33-2-35-52-69-52; mercure.com)
is a standard 125-room hotel in an excellent location with 13 rooms and
4 suites overlooking Notre-Dame Cathedral. Doubles begin at 134 euros,
but there are often last-minute offers for lower rates.
WHERE TO EAT
Gill Côté Bistro (14, place du Vieux-Marché; 33-2-35-89-88-72; gill.fr/en/bistro.php).
The chef Gilles Tournadre and his wife, Sylvie, have cornered the
market on culinary experiences in Rouen with four establishments all
within walking distance of one another: the high-end Restaurant Gill, Le
37, La Place and this contemporary bistro. Gill Côté Bistro can be
found near the St. Joan of Arc Church. Dinner for two costs about 50
euros.
La Couronne (31, place du Vieux Marché; 33-2-35-71-40-90; lacouronne.com.fr).
Julia Child and Meryl Streep-as-Julia-Child (in the film “Julie &
Julia”) have both eaten at this historic restaurant. “It was the most
exciting meal of my life,” Child wrote of her lunch here. This very
formal restaurant offers a 25-euro lunch as well as a “Julia Child’s
Menu” for 65 euros.
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