In a previous article in our occasional series about towns to visit near to Paris, we first first showed you Brussels (just 80 minutes away). For our second visit, we chose Rouen, just one hour and ten minutes form Paris, with its wood-beamed houses, its numerous churches, the famous cathedral, some great museums, and quite a few surprises. A real change of scene, right this way…

In Paris we have the Seine. In Rouen they have… the Seine too! I think I’d forgotten that the river that crosses our capital city flows on towards the sea and passes through Rouen. The two places are not only close geographically, but also both have a number of impressive monuments (Victor Hugo called it the town on a hundred spires) and old buildings (Stendhal called it the Athens of the gothic genre). Parisian artists went there often, the port contributed (and still does) to the town’s importance, and at only 70 minutes from Paris, with a train at least every hour, it’s extremely to get there for a day trip.

And that’s exactly what we decided to do recently, starting off at the Gare Saint Lazare à 8h20 so we could get to our destination just in time for the opening of the fine arts museum (le musée des Beaux-Arts)…Even if Gare Saint-Lazare still has a few period features (and many of those are fast disappearing), the train station in Rouen puts it to shame, with a massively-high ceiling, paintings and a beautiful façade. Straight away, you feel like your ‘elsewhere’.Walking down into the centre takes five minutes, with plenty to see on the way…Time for our first stop, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen. Built in 1888, it was completely renovated in 1994 and has 60 exhibition rooms! It’s huge!

As you can see, the museum is very well presented, with colorful walls that show off the paintings to great effect. Some of them are quite famous…Some of the rooms are huge and filled with paintings on a similar scale…There are also a few more contemporary pieces on show…OK, that’s enough culture for now! Let’s have a walk around town. Rouen is a very old town, and proof of this is to be seen everywhere through the architecture and tiny streets. The famous Gros-Horloge clock dates from the 14th century, and the Palais de Justice (Law Courts) nearby have impressive scars dating from the bombings of World War II, during which Rouen was heavily hit.And the famous cathedral is just nearby too. It really is amazing. No wonder Monet painted it so many times.Right in the centre too is the ironwork museum, le Secq des Tournelles. Sound dull? Not at all: it’s situated in a former church and is quite an astonishing place.During our visit, we were lucky enough to see the installation by Belgian artist Arne Quinze (that he’s called “Camille”) on the Boieldieu bridge (the exhibition finished at the end of August). Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see his other exhibition called Les Jardins, based around Monet’s waterlily paintings, although the little film makes it look interesting.

And if you are there in springtime, don’t miss the botanical gardens on the Left Bank.We didn’t have time to see the  (reputed) cermaics museum, or the natural history museum (le Muséum d’histoire naturelle), housed in a 17th century convent and recently reopened after 6 months of work and ten years of being closed to the public. Good reasons to come back!

We did however continue walking aroudn town, taking loads of photos (not hard). It’s a nice place to do your shopping, bwith some interesting stores.And after all that excitement, we rested our feet at one of the many terraces, our last stop before getting back to the station for our evening train. Yum, Cider!A very full day indeed! Back to the station, just five minutes’ walk away. Culture, sites, no stress and a complete change of scene made the day something really special.

To check out our full gallery of Rouen, click the play button on the slideshow below, then click the four little arrows bottom right to go into fullscreen mode (much more comfortable).

Rouen is 70 min. from Paris via Gare Saint-Lazare, with around thirty trains per day. Last train back weekdays is usually around 9pm.

For more info about the town: www.rouentourisme.com

More info about the main museums: www.rouen-musees.com