Rouen- stuff to do?

Rouen- stuff to do?

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Croutons

Original Poster:

10,787 posts

173 months

Monday 13th April 2015
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Will be there next month with my 2 year old for 4/ 5 days staying centrally, any top tips on what to see/ do?

Croutons

Original Poster:

10,787 posts

173 months

Friday 17th April 2015
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This does not bode well!

TFatC

398 posts

259 months

Sunday 19th April 2015
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Drove through yesterday and we commented on how industrialised Rouen is. Only ever driven through I am afraid, but I am sure it will have a nice area or two!

old'uns

550 posts

140 months

Sunday 19th April 2015
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TFatC said:
Drove through yesterday and we commented on how industrialised Rouen is. Only ever driven through I am afraid, but I am sure it will have a nice area or two!
like the 99.9% i do the same but the old quarter by all accounts is nice assuming you like historic buildings i suppose?
take a look on streetview around the Notre Dame cathedral, you know the one,as you cross Pont Mathilde or Pont Gustave Flaubert and you see the spires and think ' one day i'm gonna stop and take a look'.....or not

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Rouen,+France/...

shopping appears to be typical High st as the world over and from getting lost one year i seem to recall a cinema/bowling/shopping etc complex near to the river ?
quick google suggests Docks 76?

Edited by old'uns on Sunday 19th April 23:03

Croutons

Original Poster:

10,787 posts

173 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Thanks, appreciate it, will be in the "old" bit by the town hall which seems to have some nice gardens, which will keep a 2 year old amused for 40-50 seconds..!

thefrog

341 posts

226 months

Tuesday 21st April 2015
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Will you have a car, or will you be confined to town and public transport ?

If you can read french (let me know if not and I'll try to translate the bits that are relevant to a 2 yr old), here are a few links to links in the area.

http://sorties.pour-les-enfants.fr/activites-enfan...

http://www.az-loisirs.com/pages/sortir_46.html

http://www.grainedeviking.fr/

http://www.vivelesrondes.com/forum/viewtopic_69796...

Hope it helps.
Greg

Croutons

Original Poster:

10,787 posts

173 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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Excellent, thank you very much, will have wheels and my Frenglish is sufficiently passable for them to be very helpful indeed!

majordad

3,613 posts

204 months

Monday 27th April 2015
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I overnighted here on way back from Le Mans in 2014 on the Sunday night. There is a very impessive light show on the walls of the cathederal during the Summer Months and we got to see it . Well worth a look.

Croutons

Original Poster:

10,787 posts

173 months

Tuesday 30th June 2015
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Just to report- Rouen is lovely.

Makes its cash from trade on the Seine, so hospitality and tourism play second fiddle, meaning the average quality of most things is quite good as they're catering for a local residential market as much as Les Rosbif's. So food and drink was, in the main, pretty good, and we only had one tourist tax experience. It also meant they would tend to respond in French if you tried, and in small shops/ supermarkets only French was spoken, which is nice if you like that sort of thing.

Every morning they jetwash the streets in the main tourist areas (as wasteful as that may or may not be, and of course if a dog dumps immediately after who cares). They do tend to trade quite heavily on having burnt Joan of Arc, but I suppose you would. The Cathedral light show is indeed very good, and they were prepping an on-shore beach between two of the bridges on the river, presumably for July/ August. Parks etc were being manicured with typically local pride.

Inevitably some things grate (the Observatory is open to the public at 21.30 on the first Saturday of the month and that's it), and there is a "very old clock" close to the Cathedral, but little info locally, wiki being your friend. Most of the tourism is limited to this small area, and we did struggle to find a lot for a toddler to do, but that was probably a lack of local knowledge rather than there being nothing. No Ubers were tipped over while we were there, and there was only one strike limited to a few tabbarded chaps outside some public building or other.

For adults on a short break (or on the way back from Le Mans!) I would defo recommend it.

thefrog

341 posts

226 months

Wednesday 1st July 2015
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Good to hear you had a good time overall smile