Rouen

I'm afraid this will be a short post.  I went to Rouen on Saturday to see the Impressionist Exhibit at the Beaux-Arts Museum.  The amazing thing was, I managed to park only half a block from the museum, without even knowing it.  I followed signs for parking and ended up underground.  When i got out in the air, the museum was right there.  While there were no pictures allowed to be taken at the exhibit, it wouldn't have mattered anyway since i left my camera at home.

And that was a real shame because Rouen is absolutely stunning.  And it's not just the cathedral area, though that is beautiful.  A large part of Rouen is very old and mostly pedestrian.  The place is filled with the kind of half-timbered buildings that make it look like the 1500s.  And it has many shops where you find things you don't find elsewhere.  It even has art stores where they sell original works.  I went into a couple but could not find anything I was willing to pay the high prices for.  Still hopeful for this week and St. Ceneri.

On my way back I had a bit of a travel incident.  When I first got the car in Paris I asked if I could use my AmEx card for tolls on the highways.  "Sure.  Why not?" said the fellow at Enterprise.  And in fact, I did use the card on my trip from Paris to St. Fraimbault.  On the way to Rouen, I got into the "wrong" toll lane and just paid cash.  But on the way back I got into the credit card lane and discovered that it did not take American Express.  So I had to back up--with a car behind me--and go to the manned toll booth.  And, of course, I had put my card in the automatic machine, so I had no card and the fellow behind me had to deal with the card already in the machine.  Luckily, the woman at the booth understood my dilemma and I got past the booth in only about ten minutes.  The roads are also very expensive, about $20 for 70 miles.

When I got home, I found out that the toll booths are maned by a number of companies who have different cards that they accept.  But there appears to be no way--or at least I haven't found it--to determine what cards the booths take until you are looking right at the machine.  So I guess from now on it's cash.

France is much more of a "you're on your own" kind of country, I think.  Roads are very narrow and you're expected to find a way to navigate them.  The parking spaces are ridiculously narrow and I have trouble getting in and out of them, and I am driving a small car.  The signs for the museum begin a block from the building--things like that.

But when you have gotten the navigation down--and the money sorted out, etc. you really have accomplished something.