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S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
The Magazine
Dreaming
Rouen, Seine Valley, a study in light…
Living
On the roofs of Saint-Ouen
Savouring
Rouen’s MIN market
Exploring
Rouen, Seine Valley, 1944-2009: Remenbering heroes...
édition 2009 - 2010 5€
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S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
The Magazine
VALLÉE DE SEINE - NORMANDIE
Le Magazine
Rêver
Rouen, vallée de Seine, enquête sur la lumière…
Exister
Sur les toits de Saint-Ouen
Dévorer
Contents
Il était une fois le MIN de Rouen
Musarder
Sur la route des héros…
édition 2009 - 2010 5€
Dreaming
4
16
23
26
Rouen, Seine Valley, a study in light…
Rouen, star of the screen
Picturesque Normandy
Rouen, a lasting impression
Living
35
40
43
48
55
On the roofs of Saint-Ouen
When hair becomes art
Benedictine delicacies
Excellence and exceptional dexterity
French in Normandy
Savouring
57
60
64
67
69
70
72
83
A happy chef
La Bouille comes to the boil!
The fete du Ventre is ten years old
Rouen’s MIN market
Wholesale with a smile!
Bread, pastries, love and chocolate
Rooms with a country view
Lunch across the city...
Exploring
88
94
98
102
107
Let’s take a walk in the woods…
Rouen, Seine Valley, 1944-2009: Remembering heroes
Rouen in short trousers
Alice’s adventures in the Rouen wonderland
Agenda
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Foreword
“The most magnificent landscape a painter could dream of.” The words are
those of Camille Pissarro. The landscape is that of Rouen, and its
surrounding area, “with the Seine flowing smooth as glass, and the
sundrenched hills”.
On several occasions, during visits in 1883 and 1896, Pissarro painted
Rouen and its countryside, “on the spot”.
The Rouen region was a source of inspiration for the great Impressionist
painters, their forerunners and successors. Turner, Sisley, Monet,
Gauguin… all of them were captivated by the light of the Seine Valley,
and their most beautiful works were devoted to it.
But the light to be found here, exceptional though it certainly is, was not
the only condition for the birth of this movement, among the most
important in the history of art.
The capital of our territory has always been a place of great artistic,
intellectual and scientific life. Was it not in Rouen that philosophers Alain
and Simone de Beauvoir chose to teach? Is it not the homeland of
Fontenelle, Corneille, Flaubert and Marcel Duchamp?
All the prerequisite conditions - natural, urban, geographic and historic which enabled so many talents to blossom, are still with us today, alive
and well and constantly changing…
It is this liveliness, this cultural ferment, which we will be reviving with
the ‘Impressionist Normandy’ festival between June and September 2010.
I hope that reading this magazine will give you a glimpse into the
extraordinary wealth of the 45 communes which now make up our
Community.
These pages will lead you through our forests, along the Seine, and
introduce you to the special features of our locality. You will learn about
the men and women who continue to work every day to make the Rouen
regional community one of the finest territories in Europe.
With very best wishes,
Laurent FABIUS
President of the Rouen Agglomeration Community
Former Prime Minister
Deputy for Seine-Maritime
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Dreaming
] “A friend of mine went to Rouen […]
and saw marvels of which one has no
idea.”
Marcel Proust,
In Search of Lost Time, Time Regained, 1927.
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S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
Rouen,
Seine Valley,
a study
in light…
argarine! What is this vegetable fat
product doing here in Normandy the
region that has the finest butter that
cows can make? Nothing much, other than the
fact that its distant inventor was also behind a
discovery which transformed our perception of
colours. A low of optics in other words, which,
formulated in 1839, would go on to
revolutionise the relationship between painters
and their palettes. This law was devised by
Eugène Chevreul, a French chemist also known
for his research into animal fats. But the work of
this gifted scientist was also decisive for the
history of art and for the reputation of the
Normandy region right around the world… in
an altogether different field.a margarine !
At that time, in the first half of the nineteenth century, Chevreul was greatly interested in Newton’s
work on the decomposition of white light, based on
which he formulated a “law of the simultaneous
contrast of colours and of the combination of coloured
objects”, and with which he brought to light, quite
literally, our perception of colours. This famous law
of simultaneous colour contrast was to be put to
full use by the Impressionist painters, in particular
when they undertook to portray the ever-changing,
fleeting colours of Rouen and the Seine Valley.
This scientific discovery transformed the history of
painting. From that point onwards, artists would
no longer seek to freeze eternity, but instead to capture the passing moment, the complex and fragile
blaze of light which conditions personal impressions. Painters would no longer strive to represent
objects as they were, but their perception of them.
The notion of the present moment, in the epheme-
M
In which we learn that
the father of margarine
formulated a law of
optics; that this law
enabled the land of
butter to solve the
mystery of its light; and
how it came to be that
the said light brought
about the immense fame
of Rouen and the Seine
Valley.
ral as well as the meteorological sense, had suddenly
invaded the art world. “The subject is insignificant to
me. What I want to paint is what lies between me and
the subject,” Claude Monet would declare in front
of Rouen Cathedral.
Like a painter exploring his subject, these pages
from the Tourist Office of Rouen Seine Valley will
take you on a journey into the world of colour.
>
Chevreul’s law
The principle formulated by Chevreul is
simple. His work demonstrates that an object
does not have its own specific colour, since this
depends instead on the objects around it. In
which case everything is a matter of
perception. The scientist explained that the
eye tends to fill in the “missing” colour in
order to form a neutral balance in our brain.
This is a well known principle: if you want to
bring out a blue, place a touch of orange
beside it!
To see this in practice, one might project a
shadow onto a white background. Then, by
tinting the light source using filters of different
colours, you can see that the shadow changes
colour too. This is in fact an optical illusion, of
course, since a shadow is an absence of light,
and therefore has no colour. Another principal
devised by Chevreul: it is the eye which
“blends” the colours found in nature… A spot
of yellow juxtaposed with a touch of blue will
form a nice green colour on the retina of the
observer. This is the principle still used today
in the printing industry.
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Rouen, Seine Valley,
a study in light…
Vanilla, cream, ivory, milky white, opaline, platinum blond…
Light colours dominate the landscape of the Rouen region. Subtly
enhanced by fiery, strong and harsher pigments, these delicate
colours breathe a virginal whisper across the whole area …
If the Rouen region were a precious metal, it would be silver. Its
grey shades, deep and capricious, are like a storm merging into a
troubled sea in the height of summer. Its nuances of tone embrace
a spectrum running from the smoothest whites to the solar dazzle
of languid days.
Grey
Photo M. Markowicz
is beautiful
Concrete
Cobblestones are the
perfect mirror for the
town, reflecting the
thousand and one
nuances of the light.
With one of the
largest pedestrian
networks of any urban
area in France,
Normandy’s capital
remains a welltrodden path for those
who love to stroll
through the streets.
6
Concrete suffers from a bad
reputation. But take a walk
along the banks of the Seine
between Bonsecours and
Canteleu and you will see how
this modern material pays
contemporary homage to the
delicate nuances of the Rouen
valley. The towers of Pont
Gustave Flaubert, the tallest
lift bridge in Europe, the Tour
des Archives [photo], the grain
silos at the port, are all fine
examples of the wealth of
tones which lend subtle colour
to the riverside by night.
Cobblestones
Le Manoir de Marbeuf, Photo J. Tanguy
Stone
The stone used for the old buildings of
the Rouen area varies in colour from
brilliant white to smooth cream, with a
few darker touches. Easily recognisable
are the stones from the quarries of
Caumont (underground quarries located
by the edge of the Seine, near La
Bouille) [photo] which are distinguished
by the deep grey flint embedded in
them.
Grey
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Roofs
Iron
Depending on the changing
skies and the tides at play on the
Seine, the slate roofs of Rouen
are seen to turn from midnight
blue to electric grey. The roof of
Jeanne-d’Arc Church, designed
by Louis Arretche in 1979,
evokes both a fluent aspect and
the flames of the bonfire which
claimed Saint Joan.
Architecture
Sitting like a high-tech
spaceship on the southern edge
of town, Le Zénith was
designed by the architect
Bernard Tschumi, also known
for the Parc de la Villette in
Paris. Its metallic grey tones
enhance the vanilla and orange
skies of late afternoon…
The capital of Normandy is an iron lady…
Metallic colours predominate here. Thanks
to Ferdinand Marrou, whose notable
designs, constructed in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth century, include the
steeples of Rouen’s Notre-Dame Cathedral,
the bell-tower of Saint-Romain Church,
and the decorative roofing spikes on the
Gros Horloge, the Rouen region lends the
sombre brilliance of metal the shape and
appearance of plumes of smoke. Also
noteworthy is Le Secq des Tournelles
Museum, located in the former church of
Saint-Laurent (fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries) which houses a unique collection
of ironwork, bringing together architectural
items, signs, locks, knockers, tools,
jewellery, clothing and costume accessories.
The metallic Eauplet bridge [photo], also
known as the “bridge of the English”
projects its silver frame over the river’s
seagoing port.
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Rouen, Seine valley,
a study in light…
Macarons
Pistachio
8
Macarons, Photo N.Novak-Fotolia
With its memorial to Saint
Joan of Arc, the town of
Bonsecours offers an
exceptional panoramic view
over the Seine valley.
Chlorophyll greens dominate,
filling the nostrils with the
scent of the forest. But the
range of emeralds extends
beyond the bottle greens of the
tree-covered massifs. All
around, there are meadows,
gardens and lawns, even under
the thunderous wheels of the
metro tram. Further away, the
golf courses and fruit-rich
orchards of Jumièges find an
echo in the vert-de-gris roofs of
the cathedral and in the
walnut-stained rivers as they
flow in from afar.
If Rouen had to be a culinary item, the
Normandy capital would be a macaroon. In
addition to a few confectioners with a
divine gift for the production of these
exquisitely soft little cakes, the town basks
in the most delicious colours…
Almond greens, orangey reds, rosy pinks,
gold, chestnut, coral: the range of delicate
tones here can be found in every nook and
cranny of the streets. After the refined
elegance of all those greys, these appetising
colours send the eye dreaming in fairy-tale
fashion.
Snow
white
Macarons, Photo N.Novak-Fotolia
From apple blossom, to the sails
of the ships at the Armada
festival, to the immaculate hulls
of the pleasure boats sailing up
the Seine to the quays of Rouen,
whites are associated here with
the gentle delights of pleasure
cruises. Further out of town,
gourmet whites are to be found
in the generous rind of
Neufchâtel, a regional speciality
and one of France’s oldest
cheeses.
Raspberry
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Chocolate
Like a chromatic counterpoint,
the greens accentuate the pinkish
reds of the quay paths along the
banks of the Seine. At sunset, the sky
fills with dozens of colours and hues,
again dominated by orangey reds and
hints of vanilla. Occasionally, groups of
ducks can be seen flying overhead
against the reddening sky, reminding
us that the gastronomic speciality of
Normandy’s capital is canard au sang
(duck cooked in a wine and blood
enriched sauce).
The half-timbered houses are a reminder
that in Rouen the forest is never far away.
Although many are dressed in Havana
browns, some of the ancient houses also
sport more whimsical tones, such as apple
green, purple or sky blue. And wood
colours are not only to be seen in Rouen’s
architecture. We might also think of the
wood of the orchestra at the opera, or the
chocolate shades of the many gourmet
shops, or, tastier still, the tawny colours of
local game and mushrooms, or those of
horses, or the silky coats of Normandy
cows…
Macarons
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Rouen, Seine valley,
a study in light…
Horizons
The Rouen region is one of the few
provincial towns to have its own metro.
Its metallic blue trains are instantly
recognisable to all local travellers.
Railway
blue
horizons
Of the three primary colours, blue remains
the most important for the Normandy
capital. Forget-me-nots, lilac, sea-blues,
sapphire, azure, cornflower and cerulean:
the chromatic variants of blue to be found
here are known above all thanks to the
famous Rouen faience (glazed earthenware).
But if the Rouen area was to be one thing, it
would surely be a horizon, an azure
perspective, open to the world at large, to
the oceans and rivers, so much does the
range of blues to be seen in the Rouen region
sum up the spirit of adventure which reigns
in this maritime city.
Blue was the easiest colour to fire in a
kiln. Cobalt oxide, the strongest of the
colouring oxides, resists very well
against the 900 degrees centigrade
required to fire ceramic objects. Delft,
Nevers, Sèvres, Savone, Marseilles and
China all have their own kind of
“blue”. And Rouen is no exception; its
blue can stand proudly beside that of
the most celebrated earthenware.
Bleu de Rouen
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Bleu
In June, the countryside
around Rouen provides an
exceptionally delightful
spectacle, as the flax comes
into bloom and its flowers
cover the landscape with
their subtle blue. Linen
from the Caux area,
renowned across the world
for its quality, is mainly
used to make luxury
clothes, as well as being
used to produce some of
the paper on which
American dollars are
printed… Normandy
today represents 60% of
all French land on which
linen is grown (84% of
this being in Upper
Normandy).
P. Normand - Fotolia
Blooming blue
At night in Rouen, the bridges,
banks, silos, cranes and cliffs
overlooking the river are equipped
with projectors or lines of blue
light… This primary colour, with its
powerful, electric feel delineates the
nocturnal identity of Normandy’s
capital.
With examples dating back as
early as the thirteenth century,
the Rouen area is one of the
world’s holy grails in terms of
stained-glass windows. Were
Rouen’s stained-glass windows to
be laid end to end, they would
make up a larger area than those
of any other town in France.
Blue dominates much of this
holy glasswork, due to the cobalt
oxide which, as with
earthenware, has long been the
natural colouring easiest to fire.
The cathedral ranks behind
Metz alone for the total surface
area and beauty of its stainedglass windows.
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West Seine
A THIRD TOWN CENTRE IS NOW
OPEN IN ROUEN.
The architectural whole, combining
contemporary constructions with the
preservation of port heritage, blends
harmoniously with the colours of the
west Rouen landscape. The orangetinted glass cages (backlit at night) of
the central building, function as a
kind of beacon for this western
entrance to the town.
In the vicinity of Pont Gustave
Flaubert, the Docks 76 shopping
centre is located on formerly disused
land around the port, close to the
future Omnisport park. Three
buildings cover the 36,000 m2 of the
commercial
complex.
Perfectly
integrated into its edge-of-town
landscape by the banks of the Seine,
bordering the port, Docks 76 has
enabled the restoration of two
remarkable constructions which are
part of the industrial dockside
heritage. The first is the former
“Agrivin” warehouse, designed by
Eiffel in 1902, with its superb metallic
structure, produced by the studios of
the architect of the famous Parisian
tower. The second building dates from
the 1950s and was used as a customs
warehouse. Its design, in pre-stressed
concrete, is one of the few examples of
this type of port architecture, and
offers a fine silhouette of beige and
bluish tones. The third construction is
a contemporary creation, produced by
the architect and designer Jean-Michel
Wilmotte, also behind the restoration
of the site itself. The shopping centre
is organised around four types of
stores: an “everyday essentials” section
which allows regular customers to
satisfy their recurring needs; a
“trendy” section devoted to
fashion, cuisine and culture; a
restaurant
and
cinema
section; and finally a section
containing stores dedicated to
beauty,
well-being
and
interior decoration.
Stores in Docks 76.
Fashion: Gentleman Farmer; Lacoste;
Armand Thiery; Deeluxe; Jules; Celio;
Mango; Promod; H&M; Esprit;
Chattawak; Somewhere; Copcopine;
MIM; Sinequanone; Princess Tam Tam;
Subway; Le Temps des Cerises; Guess;
New Look; Luna; Camaïeu; Phildar.
Children: Petit Bateau; IKKS Junior;
Okaidi-Obaidi; Toys’R’Us.
Household: Alice Delice; Little Extra;
Rêves d’intérieur; Heytens; Résonances.
Beauty: Franck Provost; Shampoo;
Sephora; Ulric de Varens; Marionnaud.
Food: Monoprix; Nicolas.
Shoes: Eden Shoes; Sprint; kangnai;
Nikita K.
Accessories: Six; Le Tanneur; Marc
Lebihan; Swaroski; Didier Guérin; Piery;
Claire’s; Grand Optical.
Restaurants : Sushi & Roll; Zumo;
El Rancho; Le Comptoir (brasserie);
crêperie; Paul; Jeff de Bruges.
Leisure: cinéma Pathé (14 salles);
Virgin Mégastore; Album; Micromania.
Services : Société générale; Bouygues
Télécom; France Télécom Orange; SFR;
C. Minutes; kiosque presse.
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Rouen, Seine valley,
a study in light…
Old
Around these parts, an alchemist would have had
no problem realising his dream of transforming
metal into gold… Every season sees a new miracle.
In springtime, the bees - and our eyes too - feast on
the mellow delights of the golden pollen offered by
the fruit trees; in summer, wheat covers the fields
of the Rouen countryside in dazzling blonde; in
autumn, the local ciders sparkle with fire in glasses
raised amongst friends; and finally, in winter, on
the roof of the archbishop’s palace, the gold leaf on
the statue of the virgin gleams in the rays of the icy
sun…
GROS-HORLOGE
Apples
Gold
Golden
14
The emblematic monument of
Rouen and its surrounding area is an
exceptional legacy of the Normandy
Renaissance. The original mechanism
of the ancient town clock, known as
the ‘Gros Horloge’, ran between
1389 and 1928, after which it was
successively replaced by an electric,
then electronic, mechanism. This
senior citizen of timepieces still leads
an active life, and has thus clocked
up more than four million hours.
The golden inlays of its dial were
recently refurbished.
As a cider-producing region,
Normandy guards its apple crop
jealously. The fruits are lovingly
pressed to provide a refreshing,
sparkling drink, a joy to the
throat. Alternatively, the golden
flesh is secretly transformed into
apple sugar, the sweet speciality
of the Rouen region.
W
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The white and gold colours of the
Rouen Hockey Elite are famous
worldwide. The “Dragons” play in
the French Magnus league. Since its
foundation in 1982, the white and
gold hockey team has been one of the
most successful squads in the French
league, with nine trophies in its 26
years of existence. This outstanding
club has supplied a significant
quantity of international players to
the French team. The Dragons can be
seen at the Île Lacroix ice rink (2,747
seats, total capacity 3,500).
Rouen is Europe’s leading
cereal port, an activity which
stretches down the Seine
between Rouen and Honfleur over a
distance of some 120 kilometres. It
begins upstream from Guillaume-leConquérant bridge and runs along the
left bank of the river, taking in GrandQuevilly, Petit-Couronne and GrandCouronne, and on the right bank
Saint-Wandrille, Port-Jérôme and
Honfleur. Ships from all around the
world come to the Norman capital to
fill their holds with wheat … Sip on a
beer in Venezuela and the chances are
that it has been brewed with grain
brought from Rouen!
Gold
White and GOLD
Golden leaves
There are some 9,050 hectares of
forest, or almost a third of the
surface area of the Rouen area.
From the end of September, the
capital of Normandy dons a
golden crown, when the foliage
of its tree-covered mountainsides
are ablaze with the ochre hues of
autumn …
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Rouen
star of the screen
Extrait de l’exposition “100 ans de l’Office de Tourisme de Rouen” Photo Paris Normandie
“French cinema is a vehicle for France’s image
abroad and represents a real means of
encouraging people to come and visit France.”
These were the findings of a survey carried out
by the French public opinion research agency
IFOP on behalf of the French film export
association (ADEF), in December 2004. As well
as its excellent location among the major tourist
areas of France, Rouen and the Seine valley
also owe their success in this field to
Normandy’s image as portrayed on the big
screen…
France is the world’s leading
tourist destination, with over 80
million visitors per year. Even if
this figure includes some 14
million tourists stopping off en
route to other places, the
country annually attracts more
visitors
(whose
principal
destination is France) than its
total number of residents… And
80 % of these tourists, again
according to IFOP’s 2004
survey, say that their “wish to
visit France” was a result of
watching “French films in their
own country”. If we also
consider that a new French film
is released every day somewhere
in the world, it is easy to see that
the cinema represents a
powerful driving force for
attracting tourists to France.
Camera! Action!
Rouen and the surrounding region
enjoys a strong reputation
worldwide. With figures such as
Joan of Arc, Madame Bovary and
Claude Monet, the capital of
Normandy has a place in the
collective imagination of much of
the world’s population. From China
to the hinterlands of Patagonia,
from Cape Town to Helsinki, there
are few people who haven’t heard of
the Maid of Orleans who was burnt
at the stake in the Place du Vieux
Marché on May 30, 1431… More
recently, Flaubert’s heroine and
Monet’s cathedral paintings have
>
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« We still need to develop our
cpacity to host film crews. »
been ambassadors for Rouen, well known all around
the world. All three, Joan of Arc, Emma Bovary and the
Cathedral, are also film stars in their own right. Film
crews still travel great distances to shoot scenes in front
of Rouen Cathedral (see box). “Rouen is a great film
backdrop,” explains Richard Turco, Rouen city council’s
deputy director in charge of tourist development and
former director of the Upper Normandy public
relations office. “Rouen and its surrounding area offer
genuine diversity, and truly rich architectural variety. We
have urban atmospheres here which are very different from
each other and truly unique.” And far from being simply
a collection of “old stones”, the Normandy capital, notes
Richard Turco, is a “living, changing city”. Thus a scene
from Jean-François Richet’s “Mesrine: Public Enemy No.
1” was shot here between June 9 and July 6, 2007, with
Vincent Cassel in the lead role. “We still need to develop
our cpacity to host film crews. We’re working on this so that
we can continue to welcome major shoots like the Mesrine
scene, or indeed like Agnès Jaoui’s film, “The Taste of
Others”, filmed here in its entirety in 1999,” says Richard
Turco. “The financial consequences of a film shoot are
highly significant, not just in terms of the economic
activity generated by the days of shooting, but also, and
more importantly in my view, thanks to the impact that a
film can have by attracting tourists to the area.” Even just
for their direct economic consequences, film shoots
bring in a million euros per year to the Rouen region.
A region made for the cinema…
Despite its unexploited potential, Normandy’s capital
city nonetheless remains the leading location for film
shoots after the French giants of the Paris, Lyon and
Marseille regions.
>
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Extrait de l’exposition “100 ans de l’Office de Tourisme de Rouen” Photo Paris Normandie
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« living, changing city »
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And it is easy to see why the Rouen area offers great cinematographic possibilities. “It is one of the few provincial
cities to have a metro,” explains Richard Turco. “We also
have an important industrial heritage, and yet Rouen has
easy access to the countryside… In short, Rouen is made for
the cinema.”
This is further confirmed by the profusion of talent from
the local area. With actors such as Philippe Torreton,
Bruno Putzulu, Olivier Saladin (from Les Deschiens),
Maxime Leroux and Franck Dubosc, and actresses such
as Anny Duperey, Karine Viard, Virginie Lemoine and
Valérie Lemercier, the Rouen region has produced star
after star… thanks in particular to its Conservatoire and
the Audiovisual course offered at Corneille high school.
And on the other side of the camera too, the city has not
done badly. The director Jacques Rivette spent the first
twenty years of his life in the heart of the city of Joan of
Arc (who inspired two of his films, released in 1994,
with Sandrine Bonnaire in the lead role: “Les Batailles”
and “Les Prisons”). Claude Duty, director of “Hypnotized
and Hysterical” (“Filles perdues, cheveux gras”) (2002),
starring Romain Duris, Marina Foïs, Charles Berling,
Sergi Lopez and Léa Drucker, lives and works in Rouen.
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John Sell Codman, La Fontaine de la Crosse, Rouen - Londres, British museum - Crédit photo : Catherine Lancien, Carole Loisel et Morgan Cavecin
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S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
Picturesque
Normandy
The museums of Rouen, Le Havre and Caen are jointly and
simultaneously organising three separate exhibitions between 16 May
and 16 August 2009, around the theme of “Picturesque Normandy”. As
part of this initiative, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen is presenting a
beautiful exhibition highlighting famous sites of old Normandy, as
portrayed and depicted by the great Romantic painters.
n 1798, the German poet
and novelist Novalis set out
the Romantic programme:
“The world must be romanticised.
Thus shall its original meaning be
rediscovered. [...] When I give
common things a higher meaning,
give everyday things a mysterious air
or give something well-known the
dignity of the unknown, the finite an
air, a reflection, a glimmer of the
infinite, thus do I romanticise
them.” It was also during this
period, and with the same ideas in
mind, that Normandy constructed
its own “image”. Far from
Romantic Germany it may have
been, but Normandy’s location
right between Paris and London,
combined with its particularly
active elite, enabled it to forge,
little by little, a new identity.
Learned provincials, scholars, and
English antique dealers mulled
over Normandy’s past and
identified a “school of the Middle
Ages”. This fascination held by the
Romantic movement for the
John Sell Codman, La Fontaine de la Crosse, Rouen - Londres, British museum - Crédit photo : Catherine Lancien, Carole Loisel et Morgan Cavecin
I
Middle Ages can be seen as a
reaction to the ideas, deemed
overly rational and restrictive, of
the “classical” arts and sciences
inherited from the Renaissance.
However, since the Renaissance
had emerged from the ruins of the
Middle Ages, portraying the latter
as a period of unelightenement or
dark ages, the opponents of the
Renaissance were keen to
rehabilitate the Middle Ages’
damaged reputation …
Rich in Gothic monuments,
Normandy therefore quickly
became a place of great interest and
modernity in the eyes of the
upholders of Romanticism. Not to
mention the fact that at this point
in the first half of the nineteenth
century, global “tourism” was
beginning to take off in the
region…
The picturesque genre.
Through
their
studies
of
Normandy’s most beautiful sites,
what did they seek to depict, these
Romantic masters on display at the
Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen?
Preparing the ground for
Normandy to be the home of
Impressionism a few decades later,
Jean Honoré Fragonard, EustacheHyacinthe Langlois, John Sell
Cotman and Joseph Mallord
William Turner greatly contributed
to the image of the province of
Normandy. Preceding, or even
inventing, the concept of “motif ”
which would later be so dear to the
Impressionist
painters,
the
Romantic masters, always great
travellers and explorers of
landscapes able to arouse the
imagination and exalt the “ego”,
established the idea of the
“picturesque”
through
their
pictorial choices. Normandy’s
picturesque sites, having remained
perfectly preserved, were suddenly
seen as the incarnation of an
extremely modern idea: that of the
truth of the “ego”.
Initially a literal translation from
the Italian “alla pittoresco”
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Johannes Bosboom, Quai de Paris à Rouen - Huile sur Toile - Amsterdam, Rijskmuseum - Crédit photo : Catherine Lancien, Carole Loisel et Morgan Cavecin
Normandie
pittoresque
(meaning “in the painted style”), the adjective slowly but
surely evolved towards the notion of countryside or
travel able to “retain the attention through its original
character”… With the systematic quest for an emotion
both “striking” and “unique” which the painter looks for
in subjects deemed as picturesque.
The picturesque concept then became overexposed and
lost its Romantic value. As “picturesque voyages” turned
into exotic excursions, and as tourism, previously the
exclusive preserve of a young, aristocratic elite, began to
be more widely available, the adjective became
increasingly associated with pejorative ideas of
inauthentic folklore and tastelessness… The “Picturesque
Normandy” exhibitions not only rehabilitate that word,
but also demonstrate that Normandy has long been a
subject of fascination for the great artists.
Also to be seen in
Le Havre and Caen…
The Musée Malraux in Le Havre is organising,
during the same period of May 16 to August 16,
2009, an exhibition on the theme of “Monumental
and Picturesque Normandy”. As an extension of
the Rouen exhibition, the Musée Malraux will
exhibit a series of heliogravures published by Le
Havre art publisher A. G. Lemâle between 1892
and 1899. Thanks to this printing process, which
brings out the finest details, Lemâle was able to
offer a vision of remnants of the past untouched by
the great upheavals of history.
In Caen, the Musée des Beaux-Arts expands this
reflection on the notion of the picturesque by
transposing it to current artistic concerns. The
museum is thus presenting a range of works
produced by artists renewing the tradition of
photographic representations of Normandy.
The Gallery of the Rouen
Fine Arts Museum
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Rouen, a lasting
impression
From June to September 2010, the Rouen region will once again
buzz with one of the most important movements in the history of art.
Rouen and its light, its natural setting, as well as its industrial, historical
and cultural heritage played a considerable – if not principal – role in
the birth and growth of this pictorial movement. This dedicated
festival will now take place in the very place of its conception…
26
The cradle of Impressionism.
“In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Rouen
region was an avant-garde place both economically and
artistically…,” says Jacques-Sylvain Klein, curator of the
“Impressionist Normandy” festival, due to be launched
in Rouen between June and September 2010. “Thanks
to its proximity to the United Kingdom and to Paris, as
well as its highly active elites, Rouen was able to attract the
first tourists and, more importantly, the greatest artists of
the Romantic era. Normandy and England rediscovered
their shared Medieval past.” Indeed, British painters such
as Richard Parkes Bonington or Joseph Mallord William
Turner were soon attracted by the landscapes of Rouen
and wider Normandy. Their “visions”, set out in works
of astonishing atmospheric quality, left a deep and lasting effect. Their investigations into the notion of
“motif ”, their interaction with their subject, were remarkably modern for an era in which artists only seldom left
the confines of their studios, and one which radically
altered the contemporary perception of landscape and
nature.
Crédit photo : Catherine Lancien, MBA Rouen
Turner, Monet, Gauguin, Pissarro, Sisley… A
long list of Impressionist geniuses were
fascinated by the Rouen region, sometimes to
the point of obsession. Their works are among
the best known and most loved in the world,
and they certainly remain some of the most
famous, most studied and discussed artists on
the planet. These canvasses are filled with an
insouciance, a lightness and joie de vivre
which have won them widespread popularity;
their “studies” of light, their profound
examination of our perception of colours, of
our comprehension of reality, have attracted
attention and commentary from academics,
philosophers and scientists. In short, one
could be forgiven for thinking that there was
nothing new to say about Impressionism.
Nothing, perhaps, apart from a crucial
question: how and why did Normandy, and
Rouen in particular, bring about this
movement. To date, no major show has
enabled these major works to be brought
together in this their very birthplace, the city
of Rouen and the region which inspired
them…
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Crédit photo : Catherine Lancien, MBA Rouen
S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
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Rouen, a lasting impression
« because until then painters
made their paints themselves,
which meant they had to stay
in the studio »
Jacques-Sylvain Klein, author of an excellent and
superbly documented book on Impressionism,
Normandy, Cradle of Impressionism (published by OuestFrance, 2007), supports the theory that the Rouen
region played a determining role in the appearance of
this artistic movement. “While English and Parisian
artists often travelled to Normandy,” he explains, “there was
also a young French school travelling in the opposite
direction. Painters from Rouen and from Normandy went
to Paris and London to spread their new ideas about
painting.” According to Jacques-Sylvain, the
Impressionism which was born in Normandy is an
extension of the “school of nature” embodied by the
likes of Corot, or the realist movement of artists such as
Courbet and Millet. “As a child, Corot attended a
boarding school in Rouen between 1807 and 1811; he
returned to Normandy in the early years of his
apprenticeship; and then again in 1829 and 1833. Those
years were a time of real revolution. Artists were
emerging from the peasantry and the working classes.
Jean-François Millet was a Normandy peasant who
brought to Paris a new approach to landscape.
“Two other things helped Normandy and Rouen to become
the cradle of Impressionism,” concludes Jacques-Sylvain
Klein. “These were the invention of paint in tubes –
because until then painters made their paints themselves,
which meant they had to stay in the studio – and the
development of the railway. These two inventions did much
to favour the arrival of a new approach to painting.” “On
the spot” painting was born… And the best “spots” were
in Normandy.
The cradle of modern art.
For the first “Impressionist Normandy” festival, the
Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen will of course play a
central role. Already the proud owner of the most
important provincial collection of Impressionist works,
Rouen museum will in 2010 gather together, from
across the world, a hundred or so paintings and drawings
by the great masters of this movement. Laurent Salomé,
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Crédit photo : Catherine Lancien, Carole Loisel
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the director of Rouen’s municipal museums, offers a
foretaste: “We will be bringing together the greatest works
of Monet, Gauguin and Pissarro, as well as those of their
predecessors and successors. The exhibition will provide an
understanding of the decisive role played by Rouen and its
surrounding countryside in the birth of this movement,
highlighting the link which exists between the geographical
setting and the artistic works, showing and explaining what
made Rouen the ideal location for Impressionism.” Yet the
light, the proximity of fields and of the Seine, the growth
of industry and the lively activity at the port do not
alone explain the dawning of this movement in this
particular place, this privileged spot where Rouen and its
surrounding area are located. “Rouen, which has always
been an incredibly modern town, was, in the nineteenth
century, an avant-garde city. It was a bohemian, literary
place, where artists rubbed shoulders with the upper
echelons of society who were open and responsive to
innovation. At that time, there was also a real mania for
painting in Rouen.” This mania for painting led notably
to the birth of “serial works” in painting. Monet and
Pissarro were its pioneers, with, respectively, their series
devoted to the cathedral and to the Seine. “After
Impressionism established painting in proximity to the
subject, this new way of working paradoxically became a
major step towards the disappearance of the subject. The
painted subject certainly remains identifiable – the
cathedral and the Seine are easily recognisable, for example
– but it seems to dissolve into the atmospheric study which
now seems to capture the attention and energy of the artist.”
Not only were the Rouen region and Normandy the
cradle of the Impressionist movement, but by giving rise
to this movement Normandy’s capital thus became the
original centre of modern art… And it was another
Rouen native who would become the father and
emblematic figure of this medium: Marcel Duchamp.
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Rouen, a lasting impression
Laurent Fabius, President of the Rouen Agglomeration Community,
is the man behind the “Impressionist Normandy” international
festival, the first event is scheduled to take place in the Rouen area
between June 4 and September 26, 2010, in conjunction with the
Regional Councils of Upper and Lower Normandy and the
Agglomeration of Caen. Pierre Bergé, President of the Normandy
Impressionism association, is in charge of the festival’s organisation.
Jérôme Clément, director of Arte, is acting as technical consultant.
It is you who have initiated
the festival, what are you
hoping to get from the
event in 2010?
Laurent Fabius: I hope it will be a
great success. A further boost for
our city and for Normandy as a
whole. Also, a reminder of
something everyone should know
and understand: Normandy, and
in particular Rouen, is the
birthplace of Impressionism, the
greatest artistic movement of the
nineteenth century. And it all
happened here, thanks to the
light, and thanks to the local
landscapes. So I’m hoping for
cultural enrichment, for economic
development, for an influx of
tourists, and for a morale boost for
the people of Normandy.
Is this festival intended to
become a lasting feature
and to be repeated at
regular intervals like the
Armada*?
LF : Let’s focus first on making
the 2010 event a success. With its
scale, this festival is a bit like the
Armada of Impressionism. It may
perhaps be repeated every four
years. That’s why we chose to call
it a festival. Impressionism is so
huge, so beautiful and so diverse
that it could be the subject of an
infinite number of events…
particularly in pictorial terms.
Because the 2010 event is already
looking beyond Monet. So, if you
consider
Gauguin,
Pissarro,
Boudin,
Jongkind,
Turner,
Bonington and those who came
after them, it’s easy to imagine an
abundance of future events.
*The next Armada festival, one of
the largest meetings of the largest
sailing ships in the world, will
take place in Rouen in 2012.
Can such a festival be seen
as modern?
LF : The originality of the
Impressionists was not in the
subjects they painted. Their
originality, and what makes them
so incredibly modern, lies in the
fact that the object painted is of
little importance. What counts is
the way of seeing, the light.
Contrary to popular belief, it is
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not the haystacks, the cathedral,
the forest interiors, the Seine,
which are important to the artist.
Because with Impressionism, we
move from art focussing on
objects to art focussing on ways of
seeing, through the use of light…
This is the very definition of
modern art. Impressionism was a
break with the past. To put it
simply, traditional painting was a
painting of ultra-resemblance. In
the most contemporary painting,
the subject has been lost
completely. Impression effected
this transition: one first has the
impression that the subject is
what matters, but in fact it is the
way of seeing which is being
emphasised. There is nothing
more resolutely contemporary
than what is conveyed by this
pictorial movement.
Is this intended to
emphasise Rouen’s claim to
be the future capital of a
reunified Normandy?
LF : The important thing for me is
to detemine what is the best
solution for Normandy, it has to
be strong and for its residents to
be able to resist the current
economic crisis. So, on the
question of the capital, what is
happening at the moment is a bit
like at a football match. If you’re
in Upper Normandy, well of
course it’s Rouen, if you’re in
Lower Normandy, it’s Caen, and if
you’re somewhere between the
two, you say to yourself, why not
somewhere else? I would say
without any ill will that the recent
Balladur report settles the
question, as it recommends that
Rouen should be developed into a
metropolis… In my opinion, the
city with the strongest claim is
Rouen. As far as our festival is
concerned, the Lower Normandy
region and Caen are of course
both deeply involvied and are
working alongside us to make it a
resounding success.
tourism is a key aspect of
development for Normandy. We
are lucky to have a naturally
magnificent region, with an
extraordinary heritage, unrivalled
culture, modern infrastructure,
and excellent living standards.
Tourism is therefore absolutely
essential to our strategy for
economic
development.
Normandy is already a major
European and global tourist
destination, and should be even
more so in the future.
* The next edition of Armada, one of the
most important sailing ships gathering in
the world, will take place in 2013 in
Rouen.
Does this festival mean that
the tourist industry should
be considered as one of
the key aspects of
economic and cultural
development in Normandy?
LF : Certainly. There is no doubt
about that. For a long time, the
economy and tourism were
treated entirely separately, which
was frankly rather shortsighted.
Tourism is one of the driving
forces of our regional economy.
This is all the more important
because it cannot be relocated.
You can’t go and visit Normandy
anywhere else but in Normandy.
So yes, without any doubt,
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2-EXISTER 2009 GB:Mise en page 1 04/06/09 16:33 Page1
Living
“One remains from Rouen all one’s life,
even when one is no longer in Rouen.”
Maurice Leblanc, author of the Arsène Lupin series.
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S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
Its majestic proportions mean it is often mistaken for
the cathedral… But Saint-Ouen abbey, which was once
among the most powerful Benedictine monasteries in
Normandy, and whose foundations date back to the
sixth century, is just as worthy of a visit. Or even a climb.
On the roofs
of Saint-Ouen
his morning, the sky is a clear, bright blue;
here and there a few rare clouds, rich and
woolly, float dreamily six thousand metres
above the dark blue roofs. The fine city of Rouen
stretches lazily, anticipating another fine day. The
mercury moves up to no more than ten degrees,
the air is as dry and fresh as flame from old oak.
Spring is still remote, but the sturdy plain trees in
the grounds of the town hall are precociously in
bud… Henry Decaëns, smiling and warmly
dressed, arrives at our meeting point, the Portail
des Marmousets. Yet there is no sign here of a
white-sideburned marmoset to explain the name of
the southern entrance to this ancient abbey, nor of
any of King Charles VI’s counsellors … But never
mind all that: our experienced guide has the keys
to the upper reaches of Saint-Ouen. This Gothic
edifice, which reaches a height of 82 metres, is
about to reveal its secrets…
T
A monument of light.
There is a cool air in the abbey, but the light here is
wonderful. Thirty-three metres up, the under-vaults
defy the laws of gravity; like a squadron of intrepid aviators, the sun’s rays pierce through the three levels of skylights. Illuminating the fourteenth and fifteenth century stained-glass windows, they greet here and there a
patriarch, a prophet, a sibyl, then veering to the south,
proudly illuminate a saint, a prelate or an apostle.
Galvanised by this spectacle, a nervous pigeon wings its
way along the nave. Its flapping wings break the silence
of the church… “The abbey was built more than 750
years ago,” Henry Decaëns tells us, “on the site of a
Merovingian basilica where the bishop Saint Ouen
(Audoin in English) was buried in 684.” The pigeon is
now at rest, and only our footsteps trouble the magnificent silence of Saint-Ouen. Henry Decaëns continues:
“The Vikings pillaged the basilica in the ninth century,
and a Roman church was then erected in the ducal period.
Part of the choir collapsed in the early fourteenth century,
and in 1318 work finally began on the construction of the
current building.” Our guide, with humour and a great
knack for storytelling, explains the surprising promotional campaign undertaken along with construction of
the abbey. “Pilgrims were sort of like the tourists of their
day,” jokes Henry Decaëns. “In the fourteenth century,
the monks energetically promoted the abbey, in order to
attract pilgrims on their way to Mont-Saint-Michel, and
>
even those heading for Santiago de Compostela.”
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“Pilgrims were sort of like
the tourists of their day,”
Promotional images.
“Do you know the legend of the hanged man who was
brought down again alive?” asks Henry, pointing to a
choir window depicting a young man hanging on the
gallows. “In 1130, Hugonel, a young Germanic pilgrim en
route with his parents to Santiago de Compostela, spent the
night in an inn at Santo Domingo de la Calzada. A young
servant girl made advances towards him, which he rejected.
Enraged and vindictive, the brazen young woman hid a
silver vessel in Hugonel’s luggage. Just as he was about to
leave, she accused him of theft. Hugonel was found guilty
and hanged.” Back in those dark days, young ladies didn’t
mess about, I thought to myself as I stared up at the
window. “The tearful parents,” continues Henry, “went
on with their pilgrimage. On their return from Santiago de
Compostela, they heard their son talking to them from the
gallows. Saint James had protected him and prevented him
dying when hanged. Astonished, they rushed to see the local
Magistrate. He was about to dine on roast cock and hen,
and joked: 'Your son has as much chance of being alive as
this cock and hen have of singing on my plate.' The cock
began to crow and the hen to cluck. The magistrate was
amazed, and had the young man taken down and the guilty
girl hanged in his place. For this reason, since the
fourteenth century, a hen house has been kept in the
cathedral in the Spanish village of Santo Domingo de la
Calzada, and along the Santiago de Compostela
pilgrimage route, stained glass windows warn pilgrims
about the dangers of unscrupulous innkeepers’
daughters… By contrast, the idea in the case of SaintOuen abbey was to extol the irreproachable virtues of
Normandy innkeepers and the respectability of their
daughters.
“The venture met with mixed success: pilgrims did not
flood in en masse, but the abbey was very rich nonetheless. The choir was completed in just 21 years, between
1318 and 1339, a very short time for such a job. The
transept took longer to finish, however, because of the
Hundred Years War, and it was only completed in the
middle of the fifteenth century. As for the nave, it was
built in two phases and finally finished in 1549. It is a
masterpiece of Rayonnant architecture.” Upon which,
Henry Decaëns takes a large key from his jacket and
opens a heavy, narrow wooden door…
All aboard!
Vertigo is an internal disorder which can affect anyone.
Believe me, I flinch at nothing. In my labours as a
journalist, I have heroically churned out a whole ream
of reports, and never - ever - have I flinched. So it was
that without concern that I set off up the stone steps of
the spiral staircase flanking the southern side of the
transept. Alas, when I reached the top of the staircase
and Henry showed me the way outside (I was distinctly
aware, as I emerged into the open air, that I was visiting
a part of Rouen previously unknown to me), my legs
began to tremble like jelly.
It is no easy task to describe the scene which greeted me.
There in front of me was the entire Rouen area,
stretching towards the horizon. Like a ship at anchor in
a sea of slate, the abbey looked down over the rough and
choppy roofs of the city. My knees were knocking now,
as Henry Decaëns, like an admiral pacing the bridge in
the midst of a storm (in this case the vertigo which had
also set my teeth chattering), continued to make his way
along the cornices, walkways and all manner of narrow
passages overhanging the void and the intricate
stonework, which was certainly magnificent, but was also
dozens of metres below. We made a complete tour of the
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7
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abbey, from the outside, at rooftop level. The artisans
who constructed this monument produced work of a
power and delicacy unimaginable from terra firma. Up
here, many dozen metres from the ground, the
stonecutters and carpenters spent hours perfecting the
fine detail of areas which would only be visible to the
few visitors authorised to explore these heights… Next,
we arrived at the western portal of the abbey. This part
was only completed in the nineteenth century, overseen
by Prosper Mérimée, at the time inspector general of
historical monuments. Henry Decaëns quotes ViolletLe-Duc’s caustic reaction to the work carried out at that
time: “This is the least appealing pastiche ever based on
Gothic architecture.” Beginning in 1852, the
reconstruction of the Saint-Ouen portal was the first
major building work funded by the new Historic
Monuments Commission. The challenge was to provide
a perfect example of what restoration of a historic
monument could achieve. Important remains of the
original medieval facade were destroyed. The incomplete
slanting towers were considered not as the work of a
brilliant architect of the Flamboyant era, which they
undoubtedly were, but as a monstrosity out of which an
unfinished masterpiece was to be produced…
We then arrived in a little room at the top of one of the
towers. There, in the dark Oise stone used in its
construction, several pieces of graffiti can clearly be seen.
“J. Buckley, 6th Australian Artillery, Melbourne, 11 Oct
1918.” G’day, Mr. Artilleryman! Exactly one month
before the Armistice, you too climbed Saint-Ouen! “In
1918, they had just dismantled all the abbey’s stained glass
windows,” Henry Decaëns tells us, “for fear of German
bombings. An irony of history meant that by the time they
were finally assembled again, they had to be taken back
down immediately – it was 1939…” Who knows, perhaps
this graffiti by our antipodean artilleryman served as a
lucky charm, protecting the building from the air raids
of 1940 to 1944!
The Saint-Ouen organ
In 1890, the great organmaker Aristide CavailléColl completed his final masterpiece in Saint-Ouen
abbey. In order to tame what he called the “great
empty chasm” presented by the imposing volume of
the abbey, he equipped it with powerful bellows.
This great sixteen footer, with its 64 stops and 32
pedals, was described by the composer Widor as
the Michelangelo of organs, and it inspired him to
write his Gothic Symphony.
The Great Organ is also the most recorded
instrument in the world. It is not unusual, should
you happen to be passing the abbey at night, to
hear notes rising majestically from the instrument’s
array of pipes…
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When hair
becomes art
Member of the exclusive Intercoiffure Mondial association, chaired in France
by Alain Zinzius, Rouen native Xavier Tourmente is a veritable artist with
scissors and dye. People come from Paris, Caen, Lille and Amiens for the
privilege of having him attend to them…
avier Tourmente is a young and stylish man. In a
single minute, he can make forty perfect cuts with
his scissors. Indeed, at the age of 39, his “scissor
cut” is known as one of the hottest styles in international
hairdressing. Intercoiffure Mondial made an excellent
choice in designating him as one of 37 stylists in all of
France worthy of international recognition by his peers.
“Coiffure should meet the standards of couture,” proclaims
the association for which the benchmark of excellence
remains “the most demanding coiffure, combining talent
and technique, originality and fashion”. But to achieve this
high level of artistic expertise, the boy from Rouen had
to climb the ladder rung by rung. His parents had their
own hairdressing salon in Le Havre, which certainly
helped, but there is a major difference between a
provincial family salon and the ruthless world of ‘haute
coiffure’… “Something clicked with me at the world
hairdressing championships, when I was twelve years old. I
had gone there with my parents. I was blown away by the
whole spectacle, by the incredible atmosphere of this other
world. But above all I was truly impressed by the skill
involved.” Xavier went on to be ‘bridal chignon’
champion of France, and opened his first salon, in
Oissel, on the left bank outside Rouen. Then, in 1995,
turning down lucrative offers to move to the capital,
Xavier chose to set up shop in Rouen, on Rue aux Ours.
“I love Rouen. I’m very attached to it; it’s such a friendly
town, a lively town.”
>
X
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pleasure of styling the hair of actresses and comediennes such
Anne Roumanoff and Sophie Mounicot, Alice Hotellier,
lead violinist at Rouen Opera, and I styled a theatre troupe
at a party organised by Pierre Berger in Prunier.” Glamour
The art of the chignon.
“The simpler a chignon looks, the harder it is to do.” The is all part of the job, certainly, but Xavier has kept his
pure and elegant lines of a chignon can take up to twelve feet on the ground. “We don’t make our living from the
hours of work. “A woman is prepared to devote this length stars. What I’m really interested in is cutting 'real' people’s
of time for the major events in her life. Her wedding, for hair. That’s why we keep our prices affordable, unlike
example. Otherwise the average chignon takes around four certain big Parisian salons where the prices are deliberately
hours.” The result is something approaching a work of designed to put people off.”
art. Emmanuel Niaux, Xavier’s business partner, runs a
photo studio with the sole purpose of capturing the Salon Xavier Tourmente,
creations of the maestro of the scissors. “Xavier cuts hair 42 rue aux Ours, Rouen (00 33 2 35 08 34 34).
in a theatrical manner, and it’s incredibly impressive to
watch him at work,” he says. Flicking through the artist’s
portfolio, it becomes clear that the art of the chignon
and of hairdressing in general is not dissimilar to the
paintings of the Dutch and Italian Renaissance masters.
And this is doubtless what attracts so many celebrities
to pay a visit to Xavier Tourmente… “I have had the
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S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
Benedictine
delicacies
Magdala: a name, a taste…
a community. Enclosed in
an environment devoted to
prayer, the Benedictines of
Rouen’s Immaculate
Conception monastery,
founded in 1677, play a part
in the outside world. Since
1936, the crafting of
delicious shortbread biscuits
has been part of their daily
ritual.
T
hey are the fruit of a life’s work. A life
devoted to spirituality and the worship of
God. Delicious and subtly enhanced with a
blend of spices, the famous traditional
shortbread of the Benedictines (using pure
Normandy butter) fills the air of the Magdala
biscuit factory with its delightful aroma. This is a
timeless place, a biscuit factory built in the heart
of the monastery, where the sacrament of good
taste is celebrated every day.
Access could not be easier. From Rue Bourg-l’Abbé, we
pass through the convent courtyard, in the direction of
the kitchen garden, and the Magdala biscuit factory is
right there. Then we make our way through the boxes
of eggs and the bags of flour stamped with the name of
a Normandy miller. From the doors of the workshop,
at all times of the day, the warm aromas of almond
powder, of biscuits fresh from the oven, greet the nose.
The smell of hazelnuts, lemon zest and chocolate
excites the senses.
Wearing a crucifix around her neck, a chasuble and a
sky-blue headscarf, Sister Marie-Gertrude conducts
the ballet with a wave of her small hands. Around the
aluminium worktops, the sisters knead and roll out the
shortbread dough, yellow as wheat.
20
A closely guarded secret.
Despite all this activity, the work is carried out in a
cathedral-like silence. Only the occasional whirr of the
new pressing machine, as it stamps and cuts the biscuit
dough, disrupts the otherwise perfect tranquillity. As
Benedictines of the Blessed Sacrament, the nuns give
their lives over to devotion. “And for us, every moment
of the day, even while working, can be time devoted to
silent prayer,” whispers Sister Marie-Véronique Vauprès
who, for the duration of the visit, slips into the role of
guide.
Working in time to the rhythm of the machinery, the
nuns of this enclosed order sort the biscuits, trim the
edges of the galettes, then arrange them on the baking
trays. The galettes must be perfect: after all they come
with a “monastic guarantee”. Forty-five trays contain
twelve pieces of shortbread each, and the fan-shaped
biscuits are browned for ten minutes at 180 degrees. >
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A little pinch of prayer.
“All this is sprinkled with a
generous pinch of prayer,
guaranteed free of artificial
colours and preservatives! That’s
what gives it the unique taste,”
Here, everything is homemade, without artificial
colourings or preservatives. The cakes and biscuits are
even packed by hand. Though this is hardly surprising.
Faithful to the great tradition of gastronomic products
produced in monasteries, the Benedictine nuns of Rouen
favour quality ingredients.
Their recipe for success? The use of local Normandy
produce. Butter, eggs, sugar, wheat flour, natural flavours
and ingredients. “All this is sprinkled with a generous
pinch of prayer, guaranteed free of artificial colours and
preservatives! That’s what gives it the unique taste,” explains
Sister Marie-Véronique Vauprès.
Over by the kneading machine, a statue of the Virgin
Mary watches over the grain. More than a tradition, the
production of shortbread galettes, almond biscuits and
chocolate creams is nothing short of a ceremony, the
secrets of which remain closely guarded.
Every day, starting at 5.30 am, the sisters gently and
tirelessly repeat the same time-honoured movements.
Making up the dough, then working it slowly in the four
electric mixers used in the factory. There is always plenty
to do be done. While output is modest, orders for
biscuits flood in from all over France.
Then at 6.15 am, as they do every morning, they leave
Magdala and return to their chapel for Matins. Eight
duties of prayer follow one another in the course of the
day, ending with the celebration of Complin at 8.30 pm.
Under Saint Benedict’s rules, monastery life is structured
around regular prayer and work. “Pray and work! But
prayer comes first!” smiles Sister Marie-Véronique, one of
the convent’s longest-serving members. “That’s our
slogan! We are nuns belonging to the enclosed Benedictine
>
20
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order of the Blessed Sacrament - women who have devoted
their lives to the service of God, cradled in his love as revealed
through Christ.”
A wide range of biscuits.
“Pray and work!
But prayer comes first!”
The Benedictine Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament was
founded in Rouen in 1677, on Rue Morand, in the
former Hôtel de Mathan, by Mother Catherine Mectilde
de Bar, less than 25 years after she set up this new branch
of the Benedictine order. Chased out of their original
monastery by the Revolution, in 1802 the Benedictines
took a convent built by the Minimes in the seventeenth
century.
But it was only in 1936 that the Benedictines of Rouen,
to provide for the subsistence of their monastery (until
then their output had been limited to chasubles and
liturgical ornaments), began to make and sell cakes and
biscuits. In the beginning, the nuns only produced
gingerbread and madeleines. The brand name could not
be more perfect: Magdala, a reference to the soft and
sweet little gateaux created in the nineteenth century by
the cook Madeleine Paulmier and immortalised by
Proust, and more importantly a tribute to a famous
character from the Gospels dear to the Benedictine sisters:
a certain Mary Magdalene, from the village of Magdala
near Jerusalem, said to have witnessed Christ’s
resurrection.
Although the abbey’s biscuit plant was modernised two
years ago, the Benedictine sisters have had to abandon
production of the famous raised dough biscuits. Making
Magdala shortbread now accounts for most of the
commercial activity of the thirteen sisters… but not all
of it. In the monastery shop, there are also raisin galettes,
meringues, orange shortbread, chocolate cakes, and much
more. A wide choice of little cakes and biscuits, packed in
bags and boxes, with a range of tastes which never cease
to delight.
Monastère des Bénédictines, 14 rue Bourg-l’Abbé,
Rouen.
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Excellence and
exceptional dexterity
Browsing, rummaging, searching,
ferreting. For over five centuries
Rouen has been, and remains, a
hotspot for artistic craftsmanship.
Traders from Paris, America, Canada
and Japan have long travelled here
to find that perfect item, the jewel in
their collection. And Normandy’s
capital enjoys a great reputation
thanks to its “antiquarian quarter”:
Saint-Maclou, the second largest
antiquarian village in France…
Rues Saint-Romain, Damiette, Martainville, Eaude-Robec, Malpalu and Place Barthélemy have
around thirty antique shops, and there are about
fifty across the city as a whole. Some of the most
renowned names have been in business for close to
a century, such as Boisnard, a Rouen antique shop
dating back to 1910, based at the corner of SaintMaclou church square and Rue de la République,
and its neighbour Métais, specialising in Rouen
faiences or pottery, which has been trading in Place
Barthélemy since 1925 and has passed from father
to son for four generations, or the Planage store,
which has graced Rue Damiette since 1926. It
clearly takes more than just the odd lucky find.
W
hen a piece has seen better days, these
antiquarians are able to turn to an elite body of
artistic craftsmen, capable of restoring antiques as well as
creating modern works destined for galleries, public or
religious buildings, or private homes. And nothing would
be possible without this army of skilled artisans: expert
restorers, able to repair cathedral windows, old Rouen
faience pieces, specialists in cabinetmaking, gilding,
bookbinding. Exceptionally dexterous workers. Artistic
masters with a mission: passing on a priceless heritage,
while continually renewing and reinventing their
techniques. Portraits of five renowned Rouen
craftsmen…
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Ludovic Lecompte
and François Charles
The current trend is no longer for a uniform look.
Ludovic Lecompte, cabinetmaker, artistic craftsman, and
François Charles, ornamenter and antiquarian, decided
to combine their talents. Their credo? Second-hand chic!
More than an attitude, this is a way of thinking, a concept
which combines second-hand furniture, interior
decoration, tradition and modernity. The art of giving
objects from the past a new role in the present. A delicate
exercise. “Today, collectors who buy from us want to live in
mixed interiors!” declares François Charles. In their gallery
on Place du Lieutenant-Aubert, these two craftsmen and
dealers undertake to breathe new life into old articles. To
blend styles and eras in a light-hearted and distinctive
manner, and to decorate contemporary homes with
unique objects full of history. The idea occurred to them
when contemporary furniture began to swing towards
excessively commercial tastes. “Nowadays, it’s easy to buy
beautiful old furniture. It’s more difficult to buy a
contemporary piece, which would be too expensive.” The role
of an antique dealer, the art of discovering hidden pearls,
is something this young forty-something fell for at an
early age. “I made my first purchase when I was eleven.” An
ornamenter by trade, François Charles devotes his talents
to patina work, and to the restoration of gold leaf. “But
it’s not a question of ‘polishing up’ an old item! The aim is to
conserve it ‘as is’.“ The various methods he employs, and
the successive stages involved, are all done using
traditional techniques. Pride in his work and respect for
the original article are the guiding philosophies.
As for Ludovic Lecompte, after training as a
cabinetmaker, he plied his trade in the prestigious Parisian
district of Faubourg Saint-Antoine, before meeting his
new business partner. His early work included the
restoration of an Elysée Palace chair for François
Mitterrand, of which he remains understandably proud.
In their studio on Rue Géricault, they work in higgledypiggledy fashion on superb restored objects, fine woods
from a variety of old furniture, dried over a long period,
lovingly sanded, carved, patinised, waxed, varnished, and
regilded. “Our creations are practical, but also have the
status of works of art which fit in with highly contemporary
interior design!” remarks Ludovic Lecompte. And the
range of genres which they master is almost infinite, as a
visit to their gallery will show.
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Excellence
and exceptional dexterity
Patrick Forfait, painter
and artistic glassmaker
He has worked on more than 1,000 buildings and almost
200 monuments in Normandy. In fact, every church and
abbey in the Seine Valley bears his imprint. Patrick
Forfait, a master stained-glass window painter, has helped
renew Normandy’s most prestigious windows. For the
French historic monuments office, he also created 100
m2 of contemporary stained-glass windows for the
cloister gallery, converted into a sacristy at Rouen
cathedral. He was also behind the renovation of the
seventeenth-century windows in the Lantern Tower of
Saint-Maclou church, and maintains those of Saint-Ouen
abbey on an ongoing basis. A long and impressive list.
Even as a young boy, Patrick Forfait used to cut out his
drawings. So it was a small and natural step when he
began to apply his passion to glass at the age of fifteen.
Having risen to the rank of master glassmaker, Patrick
Forfait is not just a craftsman. He is also a contemporary
artist, passionate about combining iron and glass and
about the abstract and figurative possibilities offered by
the four elements: fire, earth, air and water. As an artist,
part of the Tachist school, he skilfully adapts his mastery
of glass to the graphic requirements of his work. He
regularly exhibits his glass panels, his monumental
spherical triptychs and his totems in homage to Ndebele
art across France. Some samples of his work are even on
their way to a major exhibition… in Tokyo.
Today, at the age of 61, he continues to pass on his talent
and expertise to the apprentice craftsmen he trains in his
studio in Les Essarts.
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Patrick Loutrel,
binding artist
Morocco leather, shagreen, marbled paper, headbands,
paperknives: all these terms plunge us into the world of
bookbinding. Patrick Loutrel’s shop, on Place du
Lieutenant-Aubert, has all the requisites of a traditional
bookbinding workshop.
In his workshop, piled high with books in the course of
being bound as well as finished volumes, the delightful
smells of old paper and leather mingle together amid the
clatter of the printing press and the clipping sound of the
enormous iron scissors. Patrick Loutrel is what is known
as a great pair of hands. A tailor of books, bringing
together tradition and modernity.
A graduate of Lisieux vocational collage, this binder and
gilder has taken his place among the greats, winning
custom from booksellers, art dealers and major collectors
who have for many years been entrusting him with their
most precious tomes. Manuscripts and first editions by
Ronsard, Montaigne, Bossuet, Baudelaire, Rimbaud,
Flaubert, Proust, Queneau and Céline have all been
restored or rebound by Patrick Loutrel, before returning
to private collections or the window displays of the Hôtel
Drouot.
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Excellence
and exceptional dexterity
Augy-Carpentier
Faiencerie
French faiencerie (glazed earthenware) owes much to
Rouen and to the influence of its style, forged in the
workshops of Masseot Abaquesne in the sixteenth
century. In the Augy-Carpentier studios, the passion for
this craft crosses the generations.
Based in Rue Saint-Romain, Alain, “Jo”, his wife and
their son Julien have been working tirelessly for the last
thirteen years to restore its rightful reputation to Rouen
faience. Together, they produce original creative works,
old reproductions, as well as personalised pieces, highly
decorative and hand-painted. Subtle and detailed work.
But the faience maker also devotes his talents to interior
decor and design. A faience mantelpiece, personalised
tiling, nothing is too great a challenge for this apprentice
of the famous Nevers studios, now back in the capital of
Normandy. In his workshop, perched over his revolving
wheel, Alain Augy repeats gestures which have been made
for five centuries. The rabbit’s tail still sweeps through the
enamel powder, the sable paintbrush delicately arranges
iron oxide colours over his sketchwork.
As well as trays and plates in the “Old Rouen” style, he
excels in creative work. Indeed, he can turn his hand to
anything, as demonstrated by the reproduction of a
sixteenth-century faience writing desk exhibited at the
Musée de la Céramique. Works which illustrate style in
practice, and which themselves cross the centuries.
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S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
French in Normandy
French in Normandy, set up by Eleri and Tom Maitland, is the current
holder of the prestigious award given each year to the top French
language teaching centre. This recognition positions the Rouen area as
an international benchmark destination for foreigners wishing to learn the
language of Corneille. And Normandy owes this success to some of
Shakespeare’s fellow countrymen…
he centre run by the
Maitlands has already been
distinguished by the Quality
Label issued by the French
government, but now it holds the
title of “Star French Language School”.
This honour acknowledges the
excellent standards to be found at
this French school for foreign guests.
The trophy was awarded in
September 2008 by the international
trade publication Language Travel
Magazine, which had to choose
between five prestigious finalists in
France and Switzerland. Language
Travel Magazine is the periodical of
reference across the world for
professionals in the language tourism
industry. Every year, agents from
dozens of countries across five
continents are invited to nominate
the best language centres in their
category (by geographical area and by
language taught).
T
Jack, but when it comes to sport, they
battle it out against each other in
rival colours, according to whether
they are Welsh, Scottish, English or
Irish. They are island-dwelling people
who drive on the left and use “yards”,
“feet” and “inches” to measure
distances, they pay for goods with
“pounds”, but their political system
is inherited from a continental
European… the famous William the
Conqueror, who was a native of
Normandy. Perhaps this is why the
British love Normandy so much.
“We first came to France twenty years
ago,” explains Eleri. “As things turned
out, we lived for a while in the North
of France. Then we came and settled in
Rouen. This place has everything: it’s
close to the sea, it has amazing local
produce… The Rouen region offers a
superb quality of life, it’s a city of art,
history and culture.”
Lovers of Normandy.
The best teachers of the French
language are to be found in a
school run by … the British!
Eleri is Welsh through and through.
Make no mistake about that, for
Welsh is not English. Definitely not.
Nor did she marry an Englishman;
she married Tom, “half-Irish, halfScottish”. That’s how it is with the
British, it seems. Their kingdom is
united, their flag is called the Union
When Eleri and Tom speak of their
adopted home, they do so with
genuine pride. Which is not always
the case with natives of Normandy,
who, in keeping with their
reputation as ‘taciturn’, often prefer
not to flaunt the great assets and
qualities of their locality. But in Eleri
and Tom Maitland the Rouen region
has found the best possible
ambassadors. “We host students from
around thirty different nationalities.
People tell them that Normandy is an
authentic destination, a place where
you can find the real France, and
where you won’t hear English spoken on
every street corner, like in Nice or in
Paris. Here in Normandy, you will get
a taste of how the French really live.”
So the couple naturally accompany
their French language teaching offer
with, among other things, cooking
classes. “We have the good fortune to
find ourselves in the home of four great
cheeses: Camembert, Livarot, Pontl’Évêque and Neufchâtel. We introduce
them to genuine French cuisine, made
with authentic local produce.”
Without a doubt, for these honorary
natives of Normandy, “Rouen is the
capital of Normandy… Between Joan
of Arc and the Impressionist heritage,
this city is known all around the world
and remains a major point of reference
in French history and in art.” In
addition to its teaching activities,
which have won the centre Language
Travel Magazine’s prestigious award,
French in Normandy is certainly also
a major asset for promotion of the
Normandy region around the
world…
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Savouring
“Rouen is extremely affluent thanks to
its number of townsfolk and to its trade,
most pleasant thanks to its port, to the
murmur of its streams, to the charm of
its meadows, and to its wealth of fruits,
of fishes, of all things.”
Ordéric Vital, Historia ecclesiastica, 1140.
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S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
A happy
chef
For the last twenty-seven years, behind the elegant shopfront
of his restaurant, Marc Andrieu has been offering cuisine
inspired by the finest local produce and seafood. In the dining
room, a dozen tables are under the enchanting spell of their
hostess, Gisèle Andrieu, beaming with genuine kindness. Great
times are enjoyed under Marc Andrieu’s “little umbrellas”!
M
arc Andrieu is much like his establishment: a
sober and discreet façade, which opens up to
reveal a warm and friendly intimacy. And when
the conversation turns to authentic ingredients or
satisfied customers, his eyes light up, his speech becomes
animated. No doubt the same glimmer was to be found
in the eyes of the young boy with a great love of
restaurant food, tasted on Sunday outings with his
parents. Since then, Marc Andrieu has ploughed his
own furrow, guided by a passion for delicious local
produce. Initially trained in pastry-making (he is a huge
fan of chocolate and of Pierre Hermé!) and after six
years in Paris (with Michel Rostang among others) and
a spell in Nice (at Le Négresco), the homesick chef
returned to Rouen in 1982 (“This is where I feel at
home!” he declares with pride) where he bought the
renowned restaurant “Les Petits Parapluies”. This was a
real challenge for the Andrieus. “I was a little scared to
begin with,” admits Gisèle, “but I told myself that if we
were true to ourselves, it would all work out!” The gamble
paid off, because for more than a quarter of a century
this establishment, nestling just off the charming treelined square of Place de la Rougemare, next to the Town
Hall, has been welcoming lovers of good food to its
refined and friendly setting. On the menu, an
abundance of fine local produce, seafood and meat
dishes, with a drift in recent years towards more exotic
flavours. “I love local produce, but I also want to break
away from the norm and take inspiration from further
afield,” asserts Marc, whose pan-fried fillet of sea bass
and fennel fondue set off by a citrus sauce, or his roast
cod in a coconut pesto purée - firmly reminiscent of
southern climes - are guaranteed to hit the spot. Local
produce and sunshine: a culinary match made in
heaven!
Les Petits parapluies
46, rue Bourg L’Abbé - Place de la Rougemare Rouen
00 33 2 35 88 55 26
Open from Tuesday lunchtime to Friday evening,
Saturday evening and Sunday lunchtime.
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A passion for sharing
“It’s a great pleasure to cook
for people who are genuinely
interested in food!”
58
Marc Andrieu admits to at least two passions:
satisfying his customers and sharing his expertise.
“It’s a great pleasure to cook for people who are
genuinely interested in food!” says the chef who for
three years now has chaired the dynamic Club des
Toques in Rouen, and gives culinary workshops for
women (Cookines) and for men (Cookings) in
rotation with four other chefs. This club regroups
fifteen restaurateurs who share a common goal: To
democratise cooking through a multitude of
different initiatives and with two watchwords:
Exchange and Solidarity. “We discuss the evolution
of gastronomy, and we make dishes for events such
as the Fête du Ventre, the Telethon, or the brilliant
Christmas charity meal organised last year in the
Town Hall. That was a wonderful occasion,”
recalls the chef, who is equally enthusiastic about
his cooking classes: “It creates a real bond,” he
notes with satisfaction. As the icing on the cake,
teaching has allowed this shy character to realise
that he is able to express himself for three hours
without difficulty. True passion can work miracles!
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La Bouille comes
to the boil!
For three and a half years, Le Saint-Pierre has been surfing the crest of a
gastronomic wave, thanks to the creative vitality of its young chef
Laurent Blanchard. A beautiful dining room with a panoramic view of the
Seine, concern for fine produce, authentic flavours given an expert twist,
and Patricia Blanchard’s smile: four great reasons to get on board
immediately.
«
“I’m living my dream here every day!” declares the
chef, whose expressions retain the enthusiasm of
his childhood. This food lover met his perfect
match in Le Saint-Pierre, a restaurant which had had a
great reputation in the 1980s and ’90s, and which he
bought after no more than half an hour’s reflection in
2005, so right did it seem. Since then, the restaurant has
made great progress sitting proudly on the banks of the
Seine, like a ship with a good wind behind it, giving
Laurent Blanchard free rein at the helm to guide his vessel in his chosen direction: that of providing pleasure to
his customers, of carefully choosing his suppliers, all of
them local, and of selecting the finest produce.
Before all this, the chef ’s voyage took in a number of
ports, with a childhood spent in Brittany and the
Basque Country. His attentive grandparents sent him as
a trainee to the Grand Hôtel in Saint-Jean-de-Luz,
where he had the opportunity to rub shoulders with
members of the Ducasse team, and was awestruck by the
experience. “The atmosphere, the sudden rushes… it was
there that I understood all the work required to make a
great dish,” remembers the chef. Then Ecole Ferandi, a
year at Matignon, and the defining moment at Le Relais
d’Auteuil in Paris where the future master chef, Bruno
Locatteli, taught him how to combine flavours. Then
another decisive step, in Nantes, where he learned all the
secrets of good fish at L’Atlantide. And of course, meeting his wife Patricia in 1993, who has accompanied
him ever since in his tireless search for excellence. “Even
during the night, I’m always thinking!” he admits. He is a
chef who loves to deconstruct, to break down classic
dishes and reconstruct them to bring dazzling tastes and
astounding textures, such as his unmissable Houssaye
duck foie gras gateau with walnut wine, or his oursinade
of red mullet and parsley jus with cauliflower cream,
which explodes in the mouth with all the great flavours
of the sea.
No need for Saint Peter’s keys to enter this particular
heaven; just open the door!
Le Saint-Pierre
4 Place du Bateau
76530 La Bouille
Tel.: 00 33 2 35 68 02 01
Open for lunch and evening meals, Wednesday
to Sunday.
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Painting a portrait of
Le Saint-Pierre
“Greater complicity, an all-round
better welcome.”
62
Your first task is to select a table with a view of the
bend in the Seine. As they all have - it can be
difficult! Then hope for a bewitching mist. Don’t be
discouraged. Wait patiently. Next, contemplate the
fascinating and time-honoured ballet of the
ferryboat, an iron grasshopper in red and white,
endlessly running back and forth between the
banks of Sahurs and La Bouille. Now turn your ear
towards the enchanting, imploring call of the
foghorn. Then let yourself bask in the atmosphere
of the dining room. Then observe. Five women and
three men! Le Saint-Pierre gives women pride of
place - in the kitchen, above all. Fabienne Loerch
has been second in command to Laurent Blanchard
since the opening of the restaurant. “Women are
amazing,” insists the chef. “A different palate, a
gentler, more patient way of managing things.”
Agreed. Let’s move into the dining room. Head
waitress Nathalie Tramblin has also been assisting
Patricia Blanchard since the beginning: “Greater
complicity, an all-round better welcome.” Agreed
again. Finally, sit back and enjoy a pan-fried
langoustine, beetroot and bulbous chervil in an
emulsion of coconut milk and basil. If the
langoustine sings, it's a good sign. A sign that you’ll
be back….
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The Fete du ventre
is ten years old
he pride of the association
Rouen Conquérant and of its
new chairman, Jean-Paul
Maurice, is a joy to behold. “Apart
from the Armada, the Fête du Ventre is
the biggest event organised in Rouen by
volunteers,” declares the chairman,
who has been part of the association
for four years. 2008 was indeed a
great year, with 140 exhibitors and
130,000 visitors in attendance,
considering that the event hosted just
25 exhibitors ten years ago, when
Rouen Conquérant decided to revive
the “Fêtes du Ventre” held in the
1930s, consisting largely at the time
of eating competitions involving
oysters, sausages, etc. The public
came from all over France to feast and
have fun. Nowadays, the Fête du
Ventre is intended to foster Rouen’s
gastronomic image, the history of the
region, and to promote Normandy
produce in the historic setting of the
“belly of Rouen”, all in a festive and
informal atmosphere. And when it
comes to the authenticity of the
produce on display, Myriam Bréelle,
treasurer of the association and
responsible for selecting the exhibitors,
T
Hear ye, hear ye, good gourmets and happy
revellers! Normandy’s gastronomic Fête du
Ventre (literally, the festival of the Stomach) will
be celebrating its tenth year on Saturday
October 17 and Sunday 18, in the streets of
Rouen’s Vieux-Marché district. Let your taste
buds go wild, let your belly rejoice! On the
programme this year, even more exhibitors,
more events and new produce to discover. Feel
free to consume with immoderation.
is entirely uncompromising.“Everyone
knows that I’m extremely strict about
the Normandy origin and quality of all
the produce,” says Myriam. And there
are plenty of applicants! “I always
have to turn down lots of people,” adds
the treasurer, “and as early as the
Sunday night when the festival has just
ended, exhibitors often ask to register for
the next year to be sure of a place!”
This year, on its tenth anniversary, the
Fête du Ventre is taking things even
further: a larger surface area, a greater
number of exhibitors, even more
events, and a guinguette-style ball on
Saturday evening as the climax of a
weekend during which, as always,
straw bales and traditional Normandy
blouses and clogs will be very much
in evidence. A delicious countryside
flavour is set to once again fill the
streets of Rouen.
Rouen Conquérant
00 33 2 35 98 18 36
Douillons,
ducks and fanfares
“A terrific atmosphere”, “A
festival we all look forward to!”
Regular
exhibitors
Sophie
Douillet, a producer from “La
Mare aux Coqs” family fruit farm
in Jumièges, and Cécile Boiteau,
breeder of the famous Duclair
duck in Anneville Ambourville,
64
are full of praise for this festival
of gastronomy. “I took part in the
first one, ten years ago,”
remembers Sophie Douillet, one
of the event’s pioneers, who is
delighted by it’s spectacular
growth, “which is thanks to the
organisers, who pick only small
Normandy producers rather than
retailers,” she observes. “In the
beginning, people came out of
curiosity, but for the last four or
five years, they have come for the
love of good food and because
they know they’ll find great
produce here.” Including the
famous Douillet ‘douillons’, a
traditional Normandy pastry
made with oven-baked apples in a
semi-shortbread crust, or indeed
the famous Rouen duck which
Cécile Boiteau,
a festival
participant for the last five years,
offers either fresh or preprepared in a jar. “It is much
more like a gastronomic festival
than a market,” concludes the
producer who, to celebrate the
event’s tenth anniversary in style,
will be reviving a traditional
recipe for duck terrine, Rouen
pâté. Best served with fanfares
and trumpets.
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The Rouen Tourist Office magazine
Fine produce is akin to an obscure object of desire… the hands
reach out to touch, the eyes dilate and observe, the nostrils twitch,
smiles are exchanged. One person sells, the other buys, but both
are passionate about and covet the same thing: quality produce.
In this business of seduction, there are two ways to woo the fair
maiden: the wholesale approach, where every kind of audacity is
permitted, or retail selling, an intimate tête-à-tête which is
altogether more personal. We investigate the joys of the
marketplace.
Love among
the market stalls
WHOLESALE WITH A SMILE!
O
bviously, at Rouen’s MIN wholesale market, the
largest of its kind in north-west France, the general public are nowhere to be seen. The event is the
exclusive preserve of professionals who come here to
stock up on fruit, vegetables and fish … combining
quality with wholesale prices. As early as 3.00 am, the
market is in full swing. Surprisingly, despite the
ungodly hour, all the actors in this nocturnal scene seem
clear-eyed and alert.
None more so than Nadia Letot-Mauger, fresh and
bright, a passionate fishmonger who has been up since
1.30 am and who certainly knows her fish, their origin,
season, anatomy. “I have to laugh sometimes when certain
customers know nothing about the subject,” admits Nadia,
who has been manager of “La Pêcherie Rouennaise”
since 2006. “Asking for 15 fillets of plaice when they come
in fours…” Hmm. But Nadia loves her customers at the
market just as much as she loves her fish, and pampers
them just as she did when she was a retailer in Caen.
Even if, as she says herself, “It’s very different selling 6
kilos of sole at a time instead of a single fish!”
When it comes to fruit and vegetables, Patrick Pépin,
employed by the AZ group, knows his onions. For
twenty-eight years now, he has been taking part in this
early-morning ballet which sees dozens of carts crisscross each other, loading and unloading hundreds of
crates brimming over with finer and finer produce.
Patrick never tires of it. But what he loves most of all is
the rapport with the customers. “Everyone knows each
other. There’s a real market atmosphere,” he says with
delight.
A few stalls further along, we meet one of the market’s
oldest hands, Stéphane Allais, proprietor of “Au Gibier
de France”, who has been operating in the market since
it opened in 1969! Naturally, in the course of the last
forty years, the market has evolved, “especially since the
arrival of the big supermarkets,” explains the master
poultryman. “Before that, I used to sell retail to customers
who came here. Nowadays, they have everything delivered,whcih means I never get to see them!” Stéphane says
with regret. He also talks about the introduction twenty
years ago of the sale of individual cuts. Since then, he
has been selling tons of duck and chicken legs cut on
site.
But if there is one thing which hasn’t changed, it is his
insistence on quality produce, as attested by his
“Prosper Montagné Club” label of certification, which
states that “Good meals require great produce”. That’s
something we should all remember!
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Love among
the market stalls
Rouen’s MIN market
In 1959, the local authorities set
up the Marché d’Intérêt National
(MIN) in the centre of the city of
Rouen, in the Place du VieuxMarché. In 1969, the wholesale
market moved to Avenue du
Commandant-Bicheray (in the
Saint-Gervais district). Since
2000, an ambitious plan for
diversification and modernisation,
led by Dominique Haug, director
of the MIN, has sought to meet the
needs of a consumer pool of more
than two million residents.
Freshness, accessibility, fun and
interaction are the values which
the MIN will seek to convey to the
general public this year through a
variety of events marking its
fortieth anniversary on the
current site. The Rouen MIN: in
its forties and still looking great…
Total surface area:
20 hectares
Number of businesses
present on the site: 61
Number of local producers: 41
Number of jobs provided by
the site: 810
Turnover in 2008:
257 000 000 euros
Frequentation :
between 8,500 and 10,000
vehicles each week
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A master
at work
aster cheesemaker and
maturer of the Brotherhood
of Saint Uguzon. How’s that
for an impressive title! And hard
cheese to anyone who enters the
delightful fromagerie at 18 Rue
Rollon and ends up a victim of Léon
Déant’s wit. “Do you want your
Gruyère with or without holes?” he
jokes in a sing-song voice, knowing
better than anyone that Emmenthal
is the one with all the gaps. And he
becomes even more animated when
M
asked to tell us about his wares. It’s a
serious business being a “luxury
cheesemonger”. Hard cheeses above
all. “We taste a sample from the big
blocks, and we order them by the
year!” declares this lover of Beaufort
d’Alpage and L’Etivaz, a Swiss rarity
produced high in the mountains
between May 10 and October 10
only. Soft cheeses too receive the
same care and attention, especially
when it comes to maturing, in his
own cellars, a ripe Camembert or
any other unpasteurised cheese,
which he adapts to suit individual
tastes. A made-to-measure service for
customers
whose
individual
preferences he knows by heart, or
tourists keen to take a little piece of
Normandy back with them in their
luggage. In either case, Léon Déant
always thanks them with a friendly
exclamation of “Perfect!”, which
could very well be said of his own
talents.
Fromagerie du Vieux-Marché
18, rue Rollon, Rouen
00 33 2 35 71 11 00
Normandy
on a platter
For the “perfect” cheese platter,
and at a budget of around forty
euros, Léon Déant suggests an
assortment of six essential
varieties giving a great taste of
the local region: a camembert,
ripe-centred of course, a Pont
l’Évêque, a Livarot, a Pavé
d’Auge, as well as two creations
of his own: La Rincette, a cow’s
milk cheese matured in cream of
Calvados, and La Pucelle,
matured in apple liqueur. And to
set the whole thing off, a nice
bottled cider or a lovely
Calvados. The very essence of
the good life Normandy-style.
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Bread, pastries,
love and chocolate
ombining passion and
inspiration can take, as Denis
Jullien knows, twenty-five
years of preparation. In Mr Jullien’s
case, his passion came to fruition
with his patisserie, which specialises
in fine chocolate fare. First a tough
apprenticeship
with
Dieppe
institution M. Ratel, then a couple
of
distinguished
Parisian
C
70
establishments, “Le Normandy” in
Deauville and Mont-Saint-Michel,
where he produced large quantities
of the famous Mère Poulard galettes.
In 1995, he settled in Rouen and for
twelve years focussed on fine
breadmaking. Then, in 2007,
approaching the dreaded forties,
Denis Jullien finally realised his
dream, entering the world of luxury
pastry-making and the confection of
little cakes simply bursting with
flavour. Three vital requirements: the
finest
ingredients
(Valrhona
chocolate, Echiré butter and cream),
technical perfection, and time. As
illustrated by a bar of his crunchy
Gianduja chocolate, which Denis
Jullien advises should be eaten with
the fingers, “It’s part of the pleasure,”
a blend of crispy smoothness and
subtle hazelnut flavour. Or his
gorgeous charlotte cake with sugared
almonds and pink grapefruit cream,
whose base requires five days of
preparation and eighteen hours of
infusion with sugared almonds… A
true work of art.
Excited by all the possibilities offered
by today’s ‘molecular’ pastrymaking, this enthusiast admits
dreaming of perfection and of
inventing a new kind of texture…
He hopes to devise nothing less than
a new approach to desserts, perfectly
illustrated by the astonishing phial
of lemon packing 40g of sharp
flavour and giving quite a shock to
the tastebuds of a loyal lady
customer in search of something
new! We can’t wait to go back!
Jullien Pâtissier Chocolatier
79 ter rue Verte, Rouen
00 33 2 35 71 57 45
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Rooms
with a country view
] If the urban areas of Rouen and its suburbs offer an never-ending
source of wonder, the countryside is every bit as charming. Not so
very far from the city centre, nine guest houses and hotels offer a
haven of peace to visitors weary of city life. Fine properties, pretty
gardens, and a warm welcome: the prefect trilogy which each of
these venues puts across in its own way, and always with an
elegance and generosity which is typical of Normandy.
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Villa la Gloriette
At is as if the light has fallen in love with this late nineteenth-century red-brick
house and is casting its tender regard over its garden and gazebo (or ‘gloriette’,
hence the name), as romantic as anyone could wish. The elegant dining room is
equally delightful, curling around the white curve of a bow window which also
adds charm to the two suites on the upper floor, and juts out into the silence of
the garden. Visitors will fall helplessly for the Bovary suite, which leads onto a
terrace, the perfect place for a sunny breakfast, and which is equipped with a
bath embellished with a salmon pink curtain. The marvellous harmony to be
found here is hardly surprising: Mme Dupont, the lady of the house, is an artist
and painter, and has brought all her talents to bear here. As for her husband, a
talented gastronome, his impeccable
culinary skills are sure to delight the
gourmet guest.
Villa la Gloriette
7, rue des pleins champs
76000 Rouen
00 33 2 35 07 37 09
www.villalagloriette.com
contact@villalagloriette.com
2 suites for 2 people and 1 self contained building
for 4 people with fully equipped kitchen and private
terrace.
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Le jardin en douce
At the end of a quiet avenue in the middle of Rouen, this Anglo-Norman style house,
with its light green half-timbered walls, radiant with roses in the summer, is simply
brims over with bucolic charm, on grounds stretching gently downhill from an
orchard, and covering some 1700 m2, opposite Mont Fortin. An exterior stairway
serves two attic rooms, both equally delightful, tastefully decorated in white, brown
and pink tones, given added warmth by the natural wood and old parquet floors.
Here and there, Françoise Lafont, formerly a manager with a design agency and now
a hostess keen to share her love of interior design, has scattered a few objects picked
up from the second-hand dealers on Place Saint-Marc. And for a very special treat,
bathe under the stars, thanks to a vast skylight in the Juliette suite. Heavenly!
Le jardin en douce
3 C impasse Marcel Couchaux
76000 Rouen
00 33 2 77 76 04 51 / 00 33 6 68 53 84 30
www.lejardinendouce.com
lejardinendouce@numericable.fr
1 room for 2 people and 1 suite for 4 people.
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Un jardin en ville
Agnès Cerbelle had always dreamed
of having a B&B that would offer
guests a place of enjoyment and
relaxation. This dream came true
two years ago in her 1900 residence,
well hidden behind its great
entrance porch, and only revealing
its charms upon a sudden turn into a
mysterious alleyway. As soon as you
enter, the surprise of a superb
collection of African masks in the
hall transports you to another
realm, revealing its secrets in the
bright rooms upstairs or in the
outhouse surrounded by generous
vegetation. Decked out in chocolate
tones combined with delicate pearl,
Nattier blue or relaxing apple green,
the four rooms look out onto a large
garden shaded with splendid purple
lilac. Agnès receives her guests here
like friends; devoting every
attention to them.
Un jardin en ville
4, rue Malatiré
76000 Rouen
00 33 2 35 89 99 52
http://unjardinenville.fr
chambres@unjardinenville.fr
2 rooms for 2 people, 1 outbuilding with
2 rooms for 4 people and its own fully
equipped kitchen.
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Les Jonquets
Les Jonquets
1074 rue des Jonquets
76160 Saint Jacques sur Darnétal
00 33 2 35 23 56 79
www.jonquets.com
odile@jonquets.com
1 room for 2 people, with disabled access, 1 suite
for 4 people, dining room and fully equipped
kitchen area.
76
A former farm covering two
hectares, a pond complete with
ducks, a score of horses to complete
the scene, and here you have an
authentic piece of countryside just
10 minutes from Rouen. Odile and
Denis Briquet, the lucky owners of
the site, have for the last decade
been offering a resolutely rural
retreat in an entirely renovated
barn. With a charming dining room,
a kitchen area and a most pleasant
fireplace, the building offers a
bedroom on the ground floor with
terrace suitable for disabled
visitors, then on the upper floor,
accessible by way of an external
staircase, a family suite which can
accommodate up to four people.
Keen on horse riding, Odile and
Denis will be equally happy to
accommodate
our
equestrian
friends.
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Vignacourt
Just a short hop from Rouen, there is a definite Riviera feel behind the tall
gates of this fine Directoire-style residence, with its 9,000 m2 grounds, at the
rear of which nestles an elegantly restored barn, complete with two fine palm
trees, and housing three bedrooms of contrasting style, but each equally
luxurious. A tennis court and heated swimming pool, with parasols and a
beach-style shower, will carry you off to the delicious horizons which Alix
d’Argentré, the hostess of this enchanting venue, has dreamt up in decidedly
Mediterranean style.
A fine breakfast prepared with local produce is offered in the bright dining
room of the main house. A change of scenery is guaranteed here, somewhere
between Normandy and the Côte d’Azur!
Vignacourt
2871, route de Neufchâtel
76230 Isneauville
00 33 6 22 27 77 20
www.vignacourt.com
alix@vignacourt.com
3 rooms each suitable for 2 people.
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Manoir de
Captot
An eighteenth-century manor house,
extensive
grounds,
Roumare
national forest park nearby, and all
just 10 minutes from Rouen… What
could be more perfect? An
unforgettable night in the silence of
the magnificent pink toile de Jouy
room overlooking the grounds,
followed by a delicious breakfast
served in the great dining room by
Michelle Desrez, the delightful
hostess who is thoroughly attentive
yet always unobtrusive. And let’s not
forget the elegant horse track leading
into the heart of the forest of
hundred-year-old beech and oak
trees, providing the perfect
opportunity for a 45-minute stroll to
the neighbouring village. Another
pleasure available: a discreet
whisper in the ears of the two horses
roaming freely around the grounds.
Just like our enthusiastic host:
“Positively majestic”!
Manoir de Captot
42, route de Sahurs
76380 Canteleu
00 33 2 35 36 00 04 / 00 33 6 63 51 34 57
captot.com
captot76@yahoo.fr
3 rooms each suitable for 2 people.
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Chambres avec vue
The rooms here have all the grace of time regained, the charm of stolen moments.
Everywhere, in wonderful abundance, are books, paintings, photos or objects full of the
soul of the world. On all three floors of this 1900 townhouse located just a few steps from
Rouen railway station, Dominique Gosny offers her guests a cocoon of comfort, a whiff
of nostalgia, and not a television in sight! Three bedrooms, sober yet warm, offer a
wonderful view over the city’s rooftops and majestic spire, and over a charming little
enclosed garden resplendent with flowers. In summer, the dining room terrace is the
venue for delicious breakfasts, sure to please every guest. In short, a venue much like
the personality of the owner herself, warm-hearted and unobtrusive…
Chambres avec vue
22, rue Hénault
76130 Mont Saint Aignan
00 33 2 35 70 26 95
chambreavecvue.online.fr
chambreavecvue@online.fr
2 rooms for 2 people, 1 room for 4 people.
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Mercure Rouen
Champ de Mars
3 star hotel
Even if this particular Champ de
Mars, unlike its Parisian namesake,
does not burst into bloom in
springtime, it does offer an
attractive setting for the 139 rooms
of the Mercure hotel, located by the
edge of the Seine, in the south-east
of Rouen, and run by Monsieur
Jean-Louis
Hossin.
Recently
renovated, the rooms offer a
minimalist setting, making use of
pleasant chestnut shades for a
relaxing feel. Room 617 deserves a
special mention, with its large bay
windows offering a generous view of
the large esplanade fountain. There
is a tranquil yet welcoming
ambiance at the reception, the bar
and in the “Le Honfleur” restaurant
which notably offers “late-risers” on
Saturday and Sunday mornings a
generous buffet from 7.00 am to
midday. The perfect preparation for
an enjoyable visit to Clos SaintMarc market, just around the
corner, where a traditional
atmosphere is guaranteed!
Mercure – Rouen – Champ de Mars
12, avenue Aristide Briand
76000 Rouen
00 33 2 35 52 42 32
www.mercure.com
h1273@accor.com
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Le Bellevue 2 Star hotel
This charming hotel in La Bouille located between the cliffs and the edge of the Seine
fully lives up to its name, which means “beautiful view” in French. Over three floors,
this white nineteenth-century building and its 20 bright rooms indeed offer a
splendid view of the river, its banks and its wheeling gulls, as well as a delightful
glimpse of the pretty village and its chalky hillsides. Absolute calm reigns all around,
something at which Christophe Batho, manager of Le Bellevue since late 2007, still
marvels every day. Connoisseurs will love the traditional cuisine offered in a
beautiful Normandy-style dining room, decorated in blues, greens and warm wood
tones, or in the two separate salons on the upper floor, whose bay windows provide
all the spectacle of the Seine. In summertime a meal on the terrace provides the
crowning touch to a relaxing stay within a stone’s throw of the tranquil river.
Le Bellevue
13 Quai Hector Malot
76530 La Bouille
00 33 2 35 18 05 05
www.hotel-le-bellevue.com - bellevuehotel@wanadoo.fr
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Lunch
across the city...
Noon is approaching, and Rouen is preparing for its famous
gastronomic symphony. No fewer than two hundred restaurants will
orchestrate the joyous clatter of an army of knives and forks impatient
to bring pleasure to famished palates. Let’s pay a quick visit to four of
them, each with its own tempo, but all places of perfect harmony.
Their chefs will certainly hit the right culinary notes every time… best
enjoyed with a companion!
Minute et Mijoté
A duo on everyone’s lips.
This
brand
new
establishment is a place full
of surprises. Its pleasant
bistro decor, which would
lead one to expect more
casual fare, is filled as if by
magic by the most
charming aromas and
delicate textures. All the
signs of a great place! But
how do they do it? The
explanation is simple. The
two men behind it are
manager Pierre Davoine
and chef Frédéric François,
who both spent fifteen
years at the helm of Le
Restaurant Du Roy in
Yvetot and L’Auberge de la
Varenne in Saint-MartinOsmonville. In late 2007,
weary of the airs and graces
of upmarket establishments,
the two friends opted for
the slower pace of a citycentre bistro. But talent will
out: while the manager was
delighted to have swapped
his bowtie for a less formal
outfit, his service is no less
impeccable and accommodating, in perfect
keeping with the spirit of
the venue, which has the
feel of a bistro but with
added intimacy. Beautifully
done! As for the talent of
the chef, it is evident in
everything he does, as is his
use of simple produce
elegantly transformed, such
as his famous shoulder of
lamb with cabbage, or his
sea bass and cod pie with a
perfectly prepared tapenade.
The icing on the cake, a
daily set menu, and an
overall bill of fare which is
updated every month. A
short distance from Place
du Vieux Marché, this is a
place you are guaranteed to
adore.
Minute et Mijoté
58, rue de Fontenelle
00 33 2 32 08 40 00
30 place in the ground-floor
dining room
20 places in the first-floor
salon
20 places on the terrace
Open Monday to Saturday for
lunch and evening meals
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Lunch
across the city...
16/9
Every cloud…
Among
the
many
possibilities of Rouen
lunches, 16/9 sparkles with
a surprising and contemporary light. Behind its
large glass shopfront,
white-draped chairs, black
tables and crimson lights
in the shape of clouds have
fpr three years been
offering an amazing
geometric and chromatic
backdrop which sits
proudly next to the
charming and thoroughly
modern Place du 14-avril44, right beside Rouen
parliament. After a wealth
of brasserie experience,
Rodolphe Launay-Duval,
proprietor of the premises,
dreamed of a restaurant
which would tear up the
rule
book
of
the
Normandy scene, pitching
it between somewhere
modern and friendly. And
here it is. Once the heavy
charcoal grey entrance
curtain has been lifted,
everything is a delight to
the eye. The energetic and
original harmony of the
strong colours is married
with materials both rough
and more refined, and the
whole thing is bathed in a
jazzy/lounge soundtrack
conducive to a quick
aperitif or digestif in an
opportune salon. The food
follows the same kind of
template, enhanced with a
hint of the south, and is
concocted by the chef
Bruno Poret, adept at
reworking
traditional
dishes: pain perdu with
tomato and mozzarella,
thick-cut fillets of fish
straight from the market
and grilled to perfection,
fresh tagliatelle, or sliced
beef tartare, which is
perfection itself. For
dessert, a carpaccio of
pineapple and red fruit
sorbet will leave the most
demanding
tastebuds
thoroughly satisfied. An
all-round success.
16/9
30 rue Socrate
00 33 2 35 70 63 33
70 places
80 places on the terrace
Open Monday to Saturday for lunch and evening meals
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3-DEVORER 2009 GB:Mise en page 1 04/06/09 16:32 Page30
La Marmite
Feminine cuisine,
guaranteed to seduce
La Marmite
3 rue Florence
00 33 2 35 71 75 55
25 places
Open from Tuesday evening to Sunday
lunchtime. Booking recommended.
Unlike many of her
colleagues,
Frédérique
Antoine did not fall into
the cooking pot as a child!
Rather, it was cupid’s
arrow which led this chef,
now a member of the
distinguished Club des
Toques Rouennaises, to
the stoves of this discreet
establishment, adjacent to
the Place du VieuxMarché, where for twenty
years she has been offering
light, creative dishes,
served in style by her
husband Jean-Luc. But
Madame Antoine, a
women of passion, admits
to other loves, such as fine
fish, like the wonderful
fillet of sea bass she
delicately caresses with a
caramelised ginger sauce,
or the superb little scallops
she drapes in coconut
cream. Such combinations
are the delight of the little
blond-wood dining room,
cleverly decorated in a
bright yellow which seems
to add space while
allowing the murmur of
voices to remain intimate.
A further source of
pleasure, more rustic but
no less exquisite, are the
celebrated
Andouille
parcels with apples and
cider cream. All the
pleasures of Normandy on
a single plate! And to set it
all off, an excellent wine
list adds to the joys of the
superb feast to be
experienced here. A nice
pot to fall into…
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Lunch
across the city...
Le Rouennais
The ceremony of the duckling
Enter Le Rouennais, and
you immediately find
yourself among the soft
and reassuring murmur of
satisfied appetites. Then, as
in a gourmet’s dream, you
thrill to the inviting
aromas of a bird roasting
on
the
spit.
The
anticipation
grows…
Next, like two ardent
priestesses, sisters Betty
and Françoise Coudray respectively married to
brothers Pierre and Gérard
Coudray, Master Canardiers
and masters of the house lead you into one of the
three hushed dining rooms
of this spacious establishment located opposite
Corneille’s
birthplace.
And, as they have down
for twenty years, clap three
times. Let the show begin!
After twenty minutes
spent at the hellfires of a
roasting spit manned by
chef and master duckman
David Brochet, a Rouenstyle wild duck finally
arrives on stage. Before
being carved, the carcass is
pressed and coated in a
rich sauce enriched with
the blood from the duck
and flambéed in cognac
and port, under the
enthralled gaze of the
guests. Great excitement
all round. Photos, loud
applause. A cruel and
beautiful spectacle, like life
itself. And for those who
prefer fish, no need to
panic. A tasty thick-cut
salmon steak in a sesame
crust with bourguignon
sauce will be no less
delicious.
Le Rouennais
5, rue de la Pie
00 33 2 35 07 55 44
90 dining room places
30 terrace places
Open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and
evening meals and Sunday lunchtime
(also open Monday for groups)
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Exploring
>
“I don’t live in Rouen. I don’t work
there and I really have no link with the
place. But for me it’s the city. I’m going
to go there secretly, and stroll through the
streets and squares, from Saint-Maclou
to Vieux Marché, to revel in the joys of
its present and the all-pervading charms
of its past.”
Rouen, Philippe Delerm.
88
S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
Let’s take a walk
in the woods…
Rouen might be thought of as a rocky outcrop which has always
dreamed of reaching for the stars, with its audacious spire, its hundred
towers and steeples, and the tops of its great trees rising up all around
the city like a magic circle of some 9,500 hectares of greenery. Quick!
While the wolf is away, let’s take a little walk through the heart of the
region’s beautiful woodlands and admire their lofty dreams.
ow lovely to walk in the forest… What
curmudgeon, what spoilsport could resist the
simple pleasure of a stroll in the woods? Whatever
the season, here you can really breath, your heart is
soothed, your soul replenished. It is a swift and vital
escape from the city and all its modernity. Whether
alone or in company, a walker in the woods absorbs a
little of the energy and wisdom of his surroundings.
So what a privilege it is for Rouen and its neighbours, a
region of great urbanisation, to have some 9,500
hectares of forest, or almost a third of its surface area,
across its rural landmass. Every year, almost three
million visitors make use of the three national forest
parks: Forêt Verte, Roumare and Londe-Rouvray. And
many more visit the smaller public woods such as
L’Archevêque, Le Roule, Le Chêne, Le Madrillet, etc.
Geographically situated at a climatic crossroads, the
locality’s forest heritage also provides great ecological
diversity. Everything you could ask for, even big and
enchanting animals, such as the wild boar and fallow
and roe deer of Roumare animal reserve, which delight
some four hundred thousand visitors every year with
their lively capers.
H
A forestry charter.
The people of Rouen are therefore fans of their forests,
and want everyone to know about them. They see them
as ideal places for relaxation, leisure and education,
hence their passion. Rouen’s local authorities have
responded in kind, with concern above all for the
beloved animals. In 2000: when Roumare forest park,
open since 1963, was threatened with closure due to lack
of funding and its users mobilised to demand that it be
maintained, the local authorities in Rouen decided to
cover payment of the greater part of its operating costs.
In 2004: in partnership with the National Forests Office
and the Roumare Forest association, the local authorities
undertook a vast programme of restoration and
extension of the park. In 2005: they launched a more
extensive forestry policy, covering all forest assets, and
introduced a charter seeking to improve public access
(new pedestrian paths, signposting, development of
cycle access, highlighting of ecological heritage, etc.) and
an enhanced awareness of the forest.
An enchanted house.
The community authority then decided to build three
‘Maisons de la Forêt’ or forestry centres. Places of forestrelated discovery and information which are open to
all. The first one opened in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray
(March 2008), to be followed by Darnétal and NotreDame-de-Bondeville. The result: more delightful even
than the house of Goldilocks and the three bears! Open
the door and the spirit of the forest is there to embrace
you. Tree trunks, branches, leaves, bird song. Outside of
course, but from indoors too, thanks to the large and
welcoming bay windows. An enchanted house. As if you
were part of the forest yourself… And the hosts of this
woodland could not be more helpful. Attentive and
passionate about their subject, the team led by its leader
and coordinator, Mathieu Doni, is just as talented at
presenting interesting themed exhibitions as answering
>
89
the queries of passing walkers who may pop in to ask
about a variety of bird they have just heard singing or
why some trees have been cut down. “This is a place of
environmental education,” is how Mathieu Doni sums it
up. It is also a love song to the forest.
An exceptional forest heritage
>
“Trees of the forest, you know my soul! ….
Contemplation fills my heart with love….
When I find myself among you, the trees of these great woods,
Among all that surrounds me and conceals me too,
In your solitude, where I return to myself,
As if a great figure is listening to me, and loves me!”
An extract from “To the Trees”, from the collection ‘Contemplations’,
by Victor Hugo
20
90
Forests represent a third of the surface area of the
Rouen region, made up of three main national
parks.
To the north lies the Forêt Verte, covering 1,398
hectares, which has been state-owned since the
Revolution. In a superb location, it contains
magnificent glades of beech and 13 hectares of
conifers dotted among the broad-leaved varieties.
A very popular place for visitors, this forest offers
both cycle and equestrian paths.
To the south of Rouen, Londe-Rouvray forest
covers 5,053 hectares, and includes broad-leafed
trees, brushwood and conifers. Numerous cycle
paths, equestrian and pedestrian routes make the
forest easy to explore, and significant tree
restoration work has recently been undertaken in
the northern section.
To the west are the 3,991 hectares of Roumare
forest, largely made up of areas of conifer and old
brushwood. Contrary to the Forêt Verte, oak
plays a greater role here than beech. There are a
number of facilities: footpaths, long-distance
hiking trails, an animal reserve, and paths for
cyclists, equestrians and pedestrians, as well
Épinay lake.
To the east of Rouen are the 55-hectare communal
woods of Le Roule, home to a wide variety of tree
species. A discovery trail highlighting its
biodiversity has been constructed and guided
tours are offered by the Upper Normandy Natural
Sites Commission.
Three centres at the service
of the forest and its visitors
Educate, take action, and share. These are the
three objectives which the local authorities in
Rouen have set for the three Forestry Centres for
meetings and activities related to the forests and
woods.
The Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray centre, located in
the heart of the urban forest of Le Madrillet,
opened its doors on March 29, 2008.
The Darnétal Forestry Centre, in the woods of Le
Roule, is due to open in 2009.
And in the Forêt Verte, in the communes of NotreDame-de-Bondeville and Mont-Saint-Aignan, the
centre is scheduled to be complete in 2010.
These Forestry Centres offer a wide range of
activities: workshops, themed evenings, events,
lectures, exhibitions…many of which are free of
charge.
A further delight of these venues: their
astonishingly beautiful architecture, designed to
meet all the requirements of High Environmental
Quality construction. Integration into their
surroundings, recuperation and use of rain water,
wood-fired boilers, user comfort: eco-friendly
visitors will appreciate all these elements included
as standard. Not forgetting the opportunity to
touch as much wood as anyone could want… What
luck!
91
For Cardere, education is the key
Ecological trainee at Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray
Forest Centre during the school holidays: an
enticing prospect for young people aged between 8
and 12 years old who are keen on nature and its
preservation. This eco-course, lasting four half-days
and covering key environmental themes (waste,
energy, biodiversity, water) is one of the many
initiatives offered by the Cardere association,
founded in 1993 with the aim of developing
environmental education and working in
partnership to raise awareness among the ecocitizens of today and tomorrow. “Educating them,
of course, but above all influencing their actual
activities, showing them how to behave in a way
which is respectful of nature,” stresses Grégory
Everaert, a trained geographer, employee of the
association, and organiser of the training course.
And it is clear that the dozen children present at the
course have taken plenty of lessons home with them:
“I showed my mum a better way to sort out waste,”
Quentin says proudly. “And I’m going to explain to
all my friends that it’s cruel to kill little woodland
insects by putting them in boxes just for fun!”
promises Zoé. Astrid, for her part, has learned the
simple but important lesson that “biodiversity
means nature!" The work of Cardere in the Forest
Centre is without doubt a great investment in all our
futures.
Association CARDERE (Centre de l’Agglomération
Rouennaise pour le Développement de l’Education
Relative à l’Environnement )
55, rue Louis Ricard – Rouen
Tel.: 00 33 2 35 07 44 54
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94
S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
Rouen, Seine valley,
1944-2009 :
Remembering heroes
This year, Normandy celebrates the
65th anniversary of the Allied
landings, an opportunity for the
Rouen region, severely affected by
the Second World War, to reflect on
its memorial sites. We set off on a
walk of remembrance. Lest we
forget.
ince Victor Hugo, Rouen has been known as the
“city of a hundred clocktowers”, but the
description of it as the “martyr city” is just as
appropriate. Four years of German occupation had a
profound and devastating effect on the collective memory
of the people of Rouen and the fabric of their town.
Thousands of dead and injured, entire districts wiped
from the map, and huge damage to architectural heritage
and infrastructure. Such was the terrible legacy of the
waves of bombardment, mostly from Allied aircraft
seeking to thwart the German advance: a tragic irony of
Rouen history.
Today, visitors cannot fail to marvel at the graceful
appearance of Rouen’s streets, all the more moving when
one considers their fragility and the price paid by those
who sought to defend them. In Rouen, the past is very
much with us. And always should be…
This duty of remembrance is naturally encouraged by
Guy Pessiot, deputy mayor of Rouen responsible in
particular for tourism and heritage, president of Rouen
Seine Valley Normandy tourist office and a member of
the Rouen academy of arts and sciences. He is also the
author of more than a dozen books on the history of the
Rouen area. Why is remembrance important? Guy Pessiot
answers this fundamental question with the famous words
of the American philosopher George Santayana: “Those
who forget the past are condemned to relive it,” adding that:
“Memory is therefore vital. Today, sixty-five years after the
Liberation, the experience itself is becoming blurred.
Historical monuments remain as a direct connection to this
memory. It is important to identify locations in a
geographical space which bear witness to this painful past.
Anniversaries represent an opportunity to remember. Because
S
>
95
Photo Petit Normand
if we are not made aware, unfortunately we forget!” argues
Guy Pessiot. “The war changed Rouen and its surrounding
area for ever,” he continues. “Exploring those things which
almost disappeared, and those which were altered, is one way
of looking at the urban landscape. The route we follow gives
meaning and substance to the locations we visit.” This
approach is just as important for local residents as for
tourists. After all, as the local history enthusiast concludes:
“Knowing one’s past means becoming part of the social fabric,
and therefore respecting one’s place of residence.”
With this in mind, what could be better than to set off to
discover these war memorial sites. Commemorative
plaques, ruins and cemeteries, as well as street names and
scarred monuments, many still visible: these glimpses of
a painful past are precious for a true understanding of the
area, a challenging yet genuinely rewarding experience.
Two gardeners cultivating memories
at Saint-Sever cemetery.
White headstones in the early morning mist, a
suitcase placed on the ground, and an Englishman
looking for a dead friend or companion… A vision
which has haunted Daniel Crevel, head gardener
for the last thirty years of the British section in
Saint-Sever military cemetery in Petit-Quevilly,
and which he refers to with emotion. His ‘garden’
is made up of some five hectares of land covered
with 8,682 headstones in memory of the members
of the Commonwealth Forces who died in the
course of two world wars. His job involves
overseeing a team of six gardeners, all employed,
as he is, by the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, responsible for the upkeep of the
three hectares of lawns, one hectare surrounding
the graves, and for maintaining the many trees and
shrubs, in order to meet the standards of
appearance which the Commission has maintained
since its creation in 1917, as an illustration that the
sacrifice of those laid to rest in such cemeteries has
not been forgotten.
While the site is fascinating and austerely
beautiful, it is easy to lose oneself in the grounds,
even if the Commission now provides online
information concerning the location of deceased
soldiers. “Some people will search for an hour
before asking us to help them find the right
headstone,” says Christophe Bigot, a gardener at
Saint-Sever since 1995. “Others ask us to take
their photos in front of them. Someone even
wanted to be buried here!” At the rear of the
cemetery, a large commemorative building houses
a book which each visitor is invited to sign in
witness of their visit. In it, we discover that three
hundred and twenty-eight English, Canadian,
Australian and New-Zealand soldiers, all killed
during the Second World War, rest in peace here.
96
S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
“Those who forget the past
are condemned to relive it,”
So many bombs, so many tears…
June 9, 1940: German troops enter Rouen. The
French army has blown up bridges to hinder
access to the left bank, but has been unable to
prevent occupation of the city. Fighting breaks
out. Fire spreads from south of the cathedral to
the Seine. The Germans refuse to allow the fire
brigade to intervene. Only the following day, when
the cathedral is threatened, are firemen
authorised to proceed. The result is that fifteen
hectares in the heart of Rouen are annihilated and
five thousand people left homeless.
For the next four years, Rouen residents suffer the
Nazi terror: arrests, torture, executions,
deportations, severe shortages. And Allied
bombings too. The Rouen area, situated at the
crossroads of sea, river and rail routes, represents
a strategic location for the occupying forces, and
its infrastructure must therefore be destroyed.
The night of April 19, 1944 was particularly
horrific. For almost an hour, British bomber
planes pounded the region. In the morning, the
centre of Sotteville had disappeared and more
than ten fires had reduced three quarters of Rouen
to ashes, leaving nine hundred dead and twenty
thousand affected. A month and a half later,
between May 30 and June 4, came the famous and
bloody Semaine Rouge (Red Week) which
witnessed four hundred bombs, one thousand five
hundred fatalities, and forty thousand people
affected by the destruction. The Cathedral was
damaged, as were Saint-Maclou and the Palais de
Justice, and a large part of the left bank was
destroyed.
On August 30, 1944, the Canadians liberated
Rouen. The city was a wasteland of ruins, and it
would take twenty years for it to be completely
rebuilt.
A Franco-English reunion after
sixty-five years
“Christina, Alfred’s daughter.” Gustave
Tocqueville, 82 years old, a former
fishmonger in his family’s well-known and
generation-spanning shop on Rue du GrosHorloge, had often heard the name. In
August 1944 he was 17, living in MontSaint-Aignan, and had a good command of
English. His parents were on friendly
terms with an English soldier, Alfred
Woodley, the 37-year-old driver for a
surgeon at the city hospital. Alfred was
invited to eat with the family every day for
four months, and Gustave would act as
interpreter. Close bonds were formed,
maintained by continuous correspondence
between the two families until the death of
Alfred and his wife. In February 2009,
while visiting Rouen, Christina had an
emotional meeting with Gustave, whose
name she too had often heard… A perfect
example of the power of friendship
between different nations.
97
98
Creature
comforts
in Roumare
Children growing up in the Rouen
area have lots going for them. Not
only do they have access to a city
of art and history with a remarkable
heritage, but they also get to enjoy
exceptional forests too, full of
wonderful creatures in their natural
environment. We pay a visit to
Roumare animal park.
“It’s sooo cute!” It is, of course, the winning blink of a little
fawn, right up by the protective fence, which elicits such
a delighted reaction, full of childlike glee, from the
onlookers. And the story of this animal reserve, set up
forty-three years ago by the French National Forest
Office, is an equally charming tale. One day in 1963,
walkers found a fawn which appeared to be abandoned
and took it to a forester, who bottle-fed it up and called
it Fanny. When he retired in 1966, he could no longer
look after the doe. The Forest Office then decided to
place Fanny in an enclosure, and the animal park was
born. Gradually, it came to house more and more
animals, and visitor numbers grew and grew in response.
Today, the park, to which admission is free and which is
funded by Rouen’s local authorities, covers some 26
hectares. It has twelve wild boar, fourteen stags and does,
twenty-one fallow deer and ten roe. “Look Mum, there’s
one over there!” “Did you see it Dad?” “Oh, look dear, they’re
kissing!” Everyone, large and small, marvels at the heartwarming spectacle of these contented and protected
animals, each species in its own enclosure. Bordered by
three tarmacadam paths accessible to persons of reduced
mobility as well as to mountain bikes, rollerblades, etc.,
the park is also the perfect place for a relaxing and
educational walk lasting around an hour. Viewing points,
interactive panels, tables and benches, everything has
been provided for a family outing in a natural
environment, even donkey rides!
Animal Park
Roumare Public Forest. Free entry all year round.
Canteleu, Val-de-la-Haye
99
Start your engines!
If your child does not like
walking, cycling or horse-riding,
tell him where to go… to
Normandie Karting! Any child as long as they are at least eleven
years old and at least 1.45 metres
tall - will love this mechanical
sport which combines thrills,
100
skills and self-discipline. Ten
minute sessions take place in a
200 cm3 kart, and involve
acceleration, braking, and
dipping the head like a champion
to assist trajectory, on a covered
400-metre circuit, and all this
just ten minutes from Rouen.
Wow! “This is Normandy’s
longest track,” says Olivier
Hucher, manager of the site and
karting
vice-champion
of
Normandy in 1992, and it is, of
course, approved by the French
federation of automobile sports.
In terms of performance, an
electronic stopwatch records
speed, number of laps, and
duration. And best of all,
budding pilots will leave with
dreams of victory in their heads
and scorecards in their pockets.
Normandie Karting
Avenue de Quenneport
Val de la Haye
00 33 2 35 34 98 16
www.normandie-karting.fr
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN THE ROUEN WONDERLAND
On one side of the
looking-glass…
Alice has grown up and travelled widely. Behind
her happy smile, the young woman remained
eternally nostalgic for her Wonderland, and
dreamed of returning there one day. But every
new place she visited brought new
disappointment. Until one madly
happy day in Rouen, where the
eternal dream became reality.
Rouen is, after all, still a place
of dreams…
This time, Alice did not have to follow a mysterious white rabbit
to find her wonderland. The adventuress simply allowed herself
to be seduced by the enchanting lights seen from a cruise along the
Seine. And when day dawned once again, it all came back to her.
A whole life of dreams lived in one day, and all her friends rediscovered!
The only explanation is the magic worked by that strange astronomical clock…
7.00 am: A RUDE AWAKENING
The Industrial and Port Area
GRAND COURONNE
9.00 am: LONG LIVE BIKES!
Espace Conseil mobilité énergie
7, bis rue Jeanne d’Arc ROUEN
00 33 2 35 52 93 52
10.00 am: THE KEY TO WONDERLAND!
Musée de la Ferronnerie (Ironwork Museum)
Rue Jacques-Villon ROUEN
00 33 2 35 88 42 92
102
10h45: DRINK ME!
Caves Jeanne-d’Arc
31, rue Jeanne d’Arc ROUEN
00 33 2 35 71 28 92
10.15 am: THESE FRIENDS ARE NOT WOODEN...
Faïences Saint-Romain
56, rue Saint Romain ROUEN
00 33 2 35 07 12 30
11.00 pm: FLOWERS DEEP IN THOUGHT
Fleurs en Seine
13 rue de Bas SAHURS
00 33 2 35 23 56 33
10.30 pm: A PICTUREBOOK AT LAST
Librairie Bertran
110, rue Molière ROUEN 00 33 2 35 70 79 96
11.30 am: ALICE AND THE TIGERS
Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle (Natural
History Museum)
198 rue Beauvoisine ROUEN
00 33 2 35 71 41 50
103
12.30 pm: ALICE CELEBRATES HER
UNBIRTHDAY
Le Dominion
12, rue Belvédère MONT-SAINT-AIGNAN
00 33 2 35 71 61 06
12.00 noon: THE LOBSTER QUADRILLE
La Marée Dieppoise
100, route de Paris LE MESNIL-ESNARD
00 33 2 35 80 04 37
14.30 pm: GOLF CLUBS DISGUISED AS PINK
FLAMINGOS...
Golf de Rouen Mont Saint Aignan
Rue Francis Poulenc MONT SAINT AIGNAN
00 33 2 35 76 38 65
104
15h15: ALICE AND THE TWINS, THE PERFECT TRIO!
Woupi
3, rue Paul Lombard prolongée LE GRAND QUEVILLY
00 33 2 35 62 90 50
,
16.00 pm: A GUIDED TOUR, AND THEN IT S TIME FOR TEA
But where is the famous Mad Hatter condemned to drink tea for
eternity?
Manoir de Villers
30, route de Sahurs SAINT-PIERRE-DE-MANNEVILLE
00 33 2 35 32 07 02
17.00 pm: ALICE LETS OFF STEAM
Zein Hammam
Quai de Boisguilbert Hangar 1 ROUEN
00 33 2 35 88 07 07
,
18.00 pm: ALICE S SECRET...
Clair de Lune
32, rue Ganterie ROUEN
00 33 2 35 07 01 07
17.30 pm: ALICE AND THE MAGIC POTIONS
Parfumerie Douglas
68, rue Gros Horloge ROUEN
00 33 2 32 76 79 95
18.30 pm: DRESSING LIKE A PRINCESS
Printemps
4, rue Gros Horloge ROUEN
00 33 2 32 76 32 32
105
The other side of the
looking-glass...
At night in Rouen, the paths are not all grey, and the
cats all smile! With feline curiosity, the young woman
plunges delightedly into the mysterious and tempting
shadows of the wee small hours. Just watch out for tomcats on the prowl…
19.00
:
stree Tortuous
ts an
d
torto
is
cobb e shell
les...
20.30 pm: ALICE AT HER ZENITH
Zénith de l’Agglo de Rouen
44, avenue des Canadiens GRAND QUEVILLY
00 33 2 32 91 92 92
19.30 pm: ALICE LEAVES HER RESERVE
BEHIND
La Réserve
57, place du Vieux Marché ROUEN
00 33 2 35 70 25 22
22.30 pm: ALICE REUNITED WITH THE
MAD HATTER! HE CLEARLY LIKES HIS
STRAW BOATER!
La Vicomté
70, rue de la Vicomté ROUEN
00 33 2 35 71 24 11
,
2.00: ALICE S DANCING DREAM
Le Kiosque
43 c, Bld de Verdun ROUEN
00 33 2 35 88 54 50
106
THE PERFECT FACE, THE PERFECT TIME.
ALICE HAS FINALLY FOUND HER NEW
WONDERLAND…
2009/2010 Diary of events
S E I N E VA L L E Y - N O R M A N DY
Rouen has always been a city where theatre and spectacle play a major role in the
entertainment on offer.
The city has first class opera, music, dance and theatre while the Zénith concert hall puts on a
programme of the very best in French and International artists.
MAY 2009
- Rouen 24 hours
monocoque speedboat
race on the river (1er to
3/05)
- 22nd Edition of Circus
Arts – Grand-Quevilly
(12 to 28/05)
- Exhibition: “Picturesque
Normandy” Fine Arts
Museum (16/05 to 16/08)
- National event: the
Night of Museums
(16/05)
- Seeds and Gardens
festival
(30 - 31/05)
JUNY 2009
- National event: Rendezvous au jardin, “Let’s
meet at the garden” (0507/06)
- Rouen Spring: Joan of
Arc festival (06-07/06)
- National Music day
(21/06)
- ArchéoJazz festival
Blainville Crevon
- Rouen Book Fair
Halle aux Toiles
(24 - 26/06)
- Viva Cité, 20th edition
of the international
street arts festival
Sotteville-Lès-Rouen,
bois de la Garenne
(du 26 - 28/06)
- National Event: Cinema
Day
- “Impressionist nights”:
Summer Sound and light
show in Rouen:
projection on the
Cathedral and the Fine
Arts Museum (at night,
26/06-20/09)
JULY 2009
- « Rouen on Sea »
summer festival on the
South Bank lower quay,
Rouen
- French National
Holiday and fireworks
- « Les terrasses du
Jeudi » (outdoor
Concerts on Thursdays
2nd, 9th, 16th, 23 and
30th of July)
OCTOBER 2009
- Autumn in Normandy
Cultural Festival
Theatre, dance, music
(20/10-20/11)
- 10th anniversary of the
Norman Fine Food
Gourmet Festival – Rue
Rollon, Rouen (17-18/10)
- Rouen Annual Fun Fair
‘Fête St Romain’ – South
Bank quaysides (mid
October-mid November)
NOVEMBER 2009
- Exhibition “Geneviève
Asse” Fine Arts Museum,
Rouen (26/11/0928/02/2010)
AUGUST 2009
DECEMBER 2009
- « Les Musicales de
Normandie » Classical
Music Festival, Concerts
in religious buildings,
Rouen
- Children’s Book Festival
South Bank lower quay,
Rouen (04-06/12)
- Rouen Givrée (frosty
Rouen): christmas
festivities (27/11/200903/01/2010)
SEPTEMBER 2009
- International Organ
Music Festival Abbey
Church of St Ouen
- Rouen autumn bric à
brac and flea market
Rouen Exhibition Centre
(11-13/09)
- National Event: National
Heritage Days (19 - 20/09)
- Books on the Quayside,
Rouen
- Comics Festival,
Darnétal Darnétal
(25 - 27/09)
Rouen Skating Rink
- 71th edition of Local
Artists’ Fair Halle aux
Toiles, Rouen
MARCH 2010
- Normandy Creative
Workshop
Halle aux Toiles
- National event: the
Spring of Poets
- Trans-European
Cultural Festival
Francophonie
- Rouen International Fair
Rouen Exhibition Centre
- 23rd Edition of the
Rouen Nordic Film
Festival
APRIL 2010
- Rouen Sping
(free entrance in
Museums, “J’entends des
Voix” choir festival, Joan
of Arc festivities)
(April/June)
- Salon du patrimoine
et du Livre Ancien
Abbey Church of St Ouen
JANUARY 2010
- European ice hokey
- Cinema from the South
Festival: African Film
Festival
- Winter Bric à Brac and
flea market:
Rouen Exhibition Centre
JUNY 2010
- 1st international festival
“Normandie
Impressionniste”
from June, 4th to
September 2010
FEBRUARY 2010
- French national
synchronised skating cup
107
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