five day normandy trip <3

hey all!!

i went on a trip through normandy (northern france) and it had a packed schedule. it was just me and my best friend/situationship, whom i'll call V from now on. we visited Rouen, the abbey ruins of Jumièges, Le Havre, Caen, Bayeux and Amiens in just five days (monday through friday). here are some of my favourite picz with a bit of info!!

expect lots of churches and abbeys lol.

Day 1-2 the first five pics are from Rouen. Edouard Monet painted the cathedral façade over 30 times, 28 of which were from the same angle, similar to my first pic. i adored the exterior of this cathedral. the interior was a bit of a let down (in terms of cathedrals!) as it was fairly dull and lacked art. but the staircase to the library (pic 2) was again extremely beautiful. pic 3 and 5 show the grosse horloge (grand clock) building, it was super beautiful and intricate. pic 4 is an old street view. Rouen was pretty yet i didn't expect it to be such a large city. by which i mean there were also less pleasant neighbourhoods with poverty, gray concrete blocks and wide roads. but overall enjoyable! pic 6 was in the abbey ruins of Jumièges. it's my favourite wefie (selfie with multiple ppl) of the journey :)

Day 2 the first three picz are more of the Jumièges abbey ruins. they are the most aesthetically pleasing ruins i've ever visited, and i've been to rome and pompeii! the centuries old abbey was forcibly abolished by the french revolutionaries after the revolution of 1789. they then started dismantling the entire abbey, starting with the living quarters of the monks, which is today 100% gone. then they began taking stones from the enormous church which had the tallest nave ceiling in all of normandy. when france changed regime again, this slow demolition was halted by enthousiasts and now the ruins are a ridiculously romantic and mysterious place to wander and daydream. the last three picz are of the St Joseph's church in Le Havre. it was built 1951-1958 in a brutalist modernist style. it was super cool and reminded me of star wars or something. all the seats were repurposed from a demolished cinema and were really comfy. the church didn't feel very spiritual to me but it was impressive and unique. the rest of Le Havre was quite boring. it was completely rebuilt after WW2 in fairly bland modernist blocks with congested car streets inbetween. we did love the strong presence of the industrial harbour, the second largest in France!

Day 2-3 next stop was Caen where we stayed for two nights. the day inbetween those nights we went to and fro' Bayeux. pic 1 is a beautiful duo of renaissance era houses in Caen. they had the colours of red velvet cake, they were the most beautiful houses of the trip imo. picz 2-4 are from the cathedral of Bayeux which was my favourite church interior. in Bayeux we visited the tapestry of Bayeux, the highlight and main goal of our whole trip. photos weren't allowed hence no pic. but trust me when i say it was super beautiful. it's 68,38 meters long and 0,5 meter tall, weaved in one single piece of fabric, and tells the tale of William the Conqueror and Harold II the king of England. we had both seen it as a child and it was awesome to see it again, together this time. last two picz are back in Caen: the church of the Abbey of the Men, and the interior of another church, St Peter's.

Day 3-4 pic 1 is again in Caen, i asked V to take an emo pic of me in front of a ruined church. it was damaged in WW2 and its state was preserved. pic 2 was a really lovely modernist relief. it looked quite communist in style lol, i loved it! pic 3 is a candid shot of V inside the Abbey of the Men which we visited later on. pic 4 is inside of the church of the abbey, which i showed you the exterior of in the former collage. it was romanesque and dark, a really sincere and spiritual church, containing the tomb of William the Conqueror! last two picz are the cathedral in Amiens, our last stop. there was a great sunset which lit up the western façade really nicely. by the time we had walked around the city and reached the back of the cathedral, the sky was dramatic and purple, and the church was at its most gothic looking! it's the largest gothic church in France in terms of volume.

Day 5 all of these picz are from Amiens from our last evening and last day. there was a light show projected on the cathedral. after a bunch of cool 3D animations, it ended with the long lasting image of the historical colours of the portals. all the figures used to be in bright colours! this was very normal in the medieval ages. we know most european churches today to be monochrone white or gray, but it was common for them to be painted. this tradition faded out through time because it's expensive to constantly repaint everything since the colours quickly fade under the weather conditions. Amiens brings this artefact back to life every night through super focused LED lights, we were really impressed. pic 2 shows the Perret Tower lit up at night. pic 3 is a selfie in a public restroom :3 it was dark and spooky in there, perfect for a brooding selfie. pic 4 is one look at the interior of the cathedral; there were large 3D sculptures depicting biblical scenes, still painted in their original form, just a bit faded over time. second to last pic is a bust in the Museum of Picardy, a really gorgeous sculpture of an attractive man. V and i were both swooning over him and wished we could gently kiss his marble lips (and mustache lol). last pic!! Perret Tower, a 110 meters tall residential tower, mainly built 1949-1952, but with the added glass cube just from 2017. it looks like it took inspiration from 'my' Farmers' Tower in Antwerp (1929-1932), only taller, more slender and more barren-modernist! this was our final sightseeing of the trip before we drove home.

overall an 8/10 trip. we saw great art, beautiful buildings and ate well. downsides were: we disliked the restaurant culture a lot. the waiters don't come to you naturally and frequently like they do in Belgium, rather you have to almost beg for their attention before they finally come. the veeery slow service (didn't matter if it was a large restaurant or small cafe) really annoyed us. also the souvenir shops were surprisingly dull. we didn't find a cool t-shirt like we hoped, or a necklace or a bracelet. we did get food, mugs and a kitchen towel. also, i didn't realize how much was destroyed and not rebuilt after WW2. Amiens especially was 90% boring modern buildings, but even Rouen and Caen had large neighbourhoods in the historic centre that were dull and copy-paste. lastly, they're still working on their car-free zones there, cause most places in the cities were choking in cars, literally parked cars everywhere and wide roads with long waiting times to cross! those were a few things i disliked about Normandy.

i hope you enjoyed my picz and if you read everything, congratz, ur attention span is not yet fucked!!

comment questions or anything u want <3