Episode 8: L’Avare and Rouen

L’Avare

On our first day walking around in Paris, we had stopped for a breather in a square. There before us was a beautiful building, the Comedie Francaise.  Had Shefali not recommended a Moliere play, that would’ve been the extent of our contact with the theatre. Moliere wrote in the 1600’s and there is a running program of his plays on offer here. We bought tickets!

Wikipedia’s introduction to Moliere:

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃batist pɔklɛ̃]; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière(UK: /ˈmɒliɛər, ˈmoʊl-/, US: /moʊlˈjɛər, ˌmoʊliˈɛər/,^[1][2][3] French: [mɔljɛʁ]), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world literature. His extant works include comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed at the Comédie-Française more often than those of any other playwright today.^[4] His influence is such that the French language is often referred to as the "language of Molière".

I tried to copy the link but it hasn’t worked, hence the introduction extract. You might want to delve further!

My seat was awful! It was a tiny fold up thing at the end of the isle that accommodated one bum cheek and a part of the associated thigh. After a while I decided to stand at the back, but there was a very comfortable seat available and I settled nicely into that.  

Therese was opposite me as you can see, sitting with a school group. Terrifically, we were given a pair of amazing fine glasses allowing us to watch the performance with subtitles. Perfect!

After the show, just outside Comedie Francaise, we were finally able to have a close up of fashion week action. We joined the throng lining the red carpet and waited for the mystery models to arrive. Lea enlightened us, naming a Korean model expected to arrive “soon”. Her name was…pffft… . We decided that Lea was model enough for us. We were impressed by her makeup, outfit and stature. She has been following the action all over Paris, but we peeled off and headed for home. Big day planned for tomorrow!

Rouen:

.

People praying

We chose to visit Rouen in Normandy on Monday because most galleries and museums are closed in Paris on Mondays.  

We were so looking forward to visiting the city famous for Joan of Arc who forms an integral part of Rouen's landscape. This is where she was burnt at stake by the British in 1431 after being quickly tried for heresy.

Der! But closed on Mondays, as was the other Joan of Arc museum and most other museums too…

She reflected our feelings on Monday museum 

The magnificent Cathedral of Our Lady of Rouen (Notre-Dame) was open!

As depicted by Claude Monet in 1892:

Construction commenced around 1033 and was completed in 1506.  Bombed badly during WW2, and since has been in restoration mode 

FFS!!!

The war was not kind to the cathedral. In 1940, a fire damaged a part of the cathedral’s structural framework. In 1944, the monument would undergo even more significant damages. Allied bombings hit the cathedral, destroying its nave and rendering more fragile an already weakened edifice that struggled to hold up its spire whose columns were ruined. Reinforcement work was quickly undertaken to prevent the spire from crumbling onto the rest of the cathedral. However, fires would cause the bell towers to fall and the nave to be completely destroyed. The fighting ended on August 30, 1944, when the German army retreated. The Rouen Cathedral was severely damaged by bombs.(ref pariscityvision.com). The display within the cathedral:

A pit stop

It would’ve been great to have had more time for the Musée des Beaux-Arts but that was not to be. We had a train to catch and we too were tired: 

I quickly moved through and found the Caravaggio:

…before a lift accidentally took me to the basement. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be there:

A purchase made in Rouen!