A day in Rouen

Check this out. Where am was I?

INSA de Rouen!

That was near where my hosts, Alvin and Zhi Yao live. We also went to the town centre.

Cathédrale de Rouen (under construction, as usual as usual (I'm even getting tired of saying "as usual"!))

the clock of Rouen (in the rue du Gros Horloge)

the other side

We also went into the courtyard of a historical monument.

the entrance

zoom in: check out the two coat-of-arms (if they are that)

on the wall

A water tower? That's Zhi Yao and Alvin in front of me, by the way.

We later met up with Zayd, who was passing through Rouen.

from left: Alvin, Zhi Yao, Xu Yu (who was visiting too, like me) and Zayd

the little square where we were sitting (I think Zhi Yao took this photo when he was checking out my camera, 'cos I don't remember taking it :P )

Then we went to the Musée de Beaux Arts where we found an exposition going on...it was free for students (and several other kinds of "community groups"...is that how you say it?), so we went in to take a look.

We had to get a ticket for 0€.

There's a picture of a different painting behind each ticket.

There was first a hall (where you don't need a ticket to enter).


The pictures in the hall:

This is the one in the first "general" photo.

Then...I found this interesting.

prière de toucher means "please touch", as opposed to "please do not touch" that we see everywhere

It's a reproduction of the painting with textures so that blind people can feel it.

The cathedral was also reproduced.

This is the town hall

a statue in front of it

a...garden?

canals! :P

passing through a park

near the same park

some special rock from Copenhagen

read for yourself

Later we stopped for tea/coffee...I snapped a couple of photos just to show the difference between how tea and coffee are served :P

Tea: you have the cups, a jug of hot water, and a plate that the "tea-leaf container" came on.

Coffee: you have...coffee. (and notice that the cups are smaller! lol)

I guess that in a way, tea is "quantity", and coffee is "quality". (for the French :P )

an impressionist piece of art on a bridge (there was an impressionist art festival going on, that was why the exposition was being held at the Beaux Arts museum)

The next day, we went to Etretat for the day...but that will be another post.

Before I end this post, check out Alvin's bookshelf:

badminton champion ^_^ (but he said that was no longer the case...)

cute baby elephant (you can guess that that was what caught my eye! :P ) and an array of "for dummies" books...he says that they really explain a subject well...I've never really tried reading any of them (I don't think I have the patience for in-depth information :P )

Till next time!