Car Hire in Rouen, France
Rouen, the capital of Upper Normandy, is among France's most well-known and historic cities. Located on the site of Roman Rotomagus, the lowest point to the river then is capable of being bridged, it was laid out by the Viking Rollo shortly after he became Duke of Normandy in 911. Captured by the English in 1419, it was the stage in 1431 for the trial and execution of Joan of Arc, and returned to French control in 1449.
Over the centuries, Rouen has suffered repeated devastation; there are 45 major fires in the first half of the 13th century alone. It has had to be almost entirely rebuilt over the last 50 years, and now you could spend a whole day wandering all around the city without realizing that the Seine ran through its centre. War-time bombs ruined all its bridges, the area between the cathedral and the quais ,quais, and much of the industrial quarter. The riverside area hasn't been adequately restored, and what you might anticipate to be the most beautiful portion of the city is in fact something of an abomination.
Enormous sums have, however, been lavished on an upmarket restoration job to the streets a number of hundred metres north of the river, which turned the centre into the closest approximation to a medieval city that modern imaginations could come up with. The suggestion was that, for historical authenticity, the houses needs to be painted in bright, clashing colours has not been deemed appropriate, but so far as it goes, the whole of this inner core can be very seductive, along with its churches are exceptional by any standards.
Outside the renovated quarters, things are rather different. The city spreads deep into the loop of the Seine, featuring its docks and industrial infrastructure stretching endlessly off to the south, and it's increasingly expanding up into the hills to the north as well, as the river bank itself is lined with a fume-filled, multi-laned motorway. As the nearest point that large container ships can get to Paris, even in downfall this remains the fourth largest port in the country.
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