The cathedral square is located in the center of the 4th century "Gallo-Roman castrum ".
Also known as Notre-Dame square, it was until the 14th century the forecourt of Notre-Dame.
At the end of the 18th century, the square took the name of "Place de la Raison" and then "Place de la République" before resuming its old name.
Around, the houses coexist with new constructions such as the finance office. The old houses, north of the square, were destroyed and were replaced by the "Mutuelle-Vie" building in 1899 . A building that will eventually be destroyed due to damage suffered during the Second World War.
On this square is the old Finance Office , remarkable for its facades and roofs, which is the subject of a classification as historic monuments . Built from 1509 to 1540 at the request of Cardinal Georges d'Amboise , it is the oldest surviving Renaissance monument in Rouen.
This sumptuous building has been occupied since 1959 by the city 's tourist office . Next to it is the "Grande Pharmacie du Centre", in an Art Deco style building with its ironwork *.
Jacques Le Lieur's Book of Fountains allows us to imagine this place around 1525.
Tourist Office, " Rouen Normandy " - 25 Cathedral square- 76,000 Rouen
The show " Sons & Lumières "( Sounds and Lights) also takes place on this square, this year until September 23, 2017.
Raymond Subes was a famous ironworker from the Art Deco period. He made the ironwork for the "Grande Pharmacie du Centre"(drugstore).
"The tourism office"
The Rouen tourist office is a magnificent building. It looks as if it was made of stone lace, but it suffers the throes of pollution and would need a cleansing that would make it flamboyant.
"This is the man's task: to conquer space and sanctify time." -Abraham Heschel / The Builders of Time-
"We need so many stories, to believe in our stories, which are truer than reality. Because reality does not stand up, it is only livable if we invent a beauty for it. Story builders, tearing our hearts out." -Anne-Marie Garat/In the Hand of the Devil (2006)-
"Reason creates progress, but belief builders lead history." -Gustave Le Bon/Aphorisms of the present (1913)-
"There are nowadays more ideological shack breakers in France than social housing builders. This explains why it is less easy to find an apartment where one can be happy than a book listing the reasons for despair." -Philippe Bouvard/Thousand and One Thoughts (2005)-
"Every time I discover the architecture of a cathedral, I remain in awe of its builders. Something, which is independent of religious fact, fascinates me, bathes me, speaks to me." -Cathedral/Chantal Dupuy-Dunier-
"The communities of builders, the collective painting workshops in the Renaissance must have experienced the same excitement that those who work on a great show experience. It must be added that the monuments remain, while the show passes and that he is therefore all the more loved by his workers that he must die one day." -Why I do theatre?... /Albert Camus-
"... carved lace."
"You have to be, just before you are generous, as you have shirts before you have lace." -Chamfort / Maximes and thoughts, characters and anecdotes-
"Woman and lace are more beautiful by candlelight." -Occitan proverb-
"Looking at the sky, Salt-flavoured tears, Weep the rainbow, Prisoner of lace." -Rachid Boutarene-
"Intellectuals reproach me to be rather indelicate, but you see: I do literature and lace, I wear it." -Julia Kerninon/Buvard-
"There is no loyalty in the war! Those who claim otherwise are chamber strategists. I find the lace war criminal. When you have responsibilities, the least you can do is reduce the number of those killed." -Michel Rigaud, known as Paul-Jean Hérault/Cal de Ter, the complete
"Pendant longtemps j'ai imaginé que toutes les pâtissières avaient les cheveux en sucre, blond vénitien ou roux, le visage recouvert de sucre-glace, les lèvres comme des cerises confites, les yeux entourés de réglisse et le cou enroulé de papier dentelle." -Jean-Pierre Coffe/Au secours le goût(1992)-
"Mixed class in high school, but for physical and sports education, girls are on their side and we are on ours. You don't mix lace with big sheet." -Philippe Claudel/Perfume-
"He who is delicate is not necessarily someone who defecates on open fabric made of intertwined threads." -Philippe Geluck/Oh you Belgian, your face! (2006)-
"The Great Pharmacy of the Center"
"The cures for the greatest diseases are not always found in the pharmacy." -Giacomo Casanova / History of my life-
"On so many people of the library we could write: "external use" as on the vials of pharmacy!" -Alphonse Daudet-
"The unceasing progress of surgery, medicine and pharmacy is agonizing: what will we die of in twenty years?" -Philippe Bouvard / Journal (1992-1996)-
"Summer is coming "
"Some spirits are trains that go so fast that you don't have time to realize that they are empty." -As long as it's daylight / Gilbert Cesbron-
"The only interest of Saint-Lazare station lies in its ability to hold trains. One of them, named Train for Lisieux on the pretext that he goes to Lisieux, has the peculiarity - as the name suggests - of going to Lisieux." -Unnecessary dictionary has the use of the elite and the well-off/ Pierre Desproges-
April 2019. When the little train from Rouen sets off, it is the announcement of the tourist season and good weather. At least in summer as it can be imagined in Normandy ... between two drizzles ...
"Meow"
"If you could cross together the man and the cat, it would improve the man, but it would degrade the cat." -Mark Twain-
The difference between a dog and a cat: The dog thinks: they feed me, they protect me, they must be gods. The cat thinks: they feed me, they protect me, I must be god." -Ira Lewis-
"To keep a good perspective of their own importance, each person should have a dog who loves him and a cat who ignores him." -Dereke Bruce-
March 2020- A week before confinement, early in the morning when the city is still asleep, I found myself at Calende's square, the path I usually take to get home. The Cozy Lunch was still closed, so I could stop to admire the cats in this coffee shop. I usually dare not stop there when it is open and full of people. This magnificent cat hardly looked at me when he deigned to open an eye. Definitely, I like the independence of this feline, it is not indifference, simply an art of living. When the confinement is finished, that we can freely live again, I will go there and recharge my batteries among them.
