"Never doubt the courage of the French, they are the ones who discovered that the snails were eatable"
- Doug Larson (1902-1981) -
The Pucelle's square, the Bourghteroulde hotel... another place steeped in history.
During construction work on an underground car park in 1994 , a Gallo-Roman fountain from the 3rd century was discovered. Disassembled, it took place on the ground floor of the headquarters of the famous electricity company in "Manche-Mer du Nord-Normandie" at n ° 9 in the square.
A fountain was built around 1530. Damaged by Calvinists in 1562, it was destroyed in 1754. A new fountain was built in 1754 and 1755 by Alexandre Dubois with a statue of Joan of Arc by the sculptor Paul-Ambroise Slodtz . It will be destroyed in 194 1 .
The Bourgtheroulde hotel is a former mansion of Renaissance style dating largely from the sixteenth century.
Guillaume II le Roux, lord of Bourgtheroulde and member of the Exchequer , decided at the end of the 15th century to have a stone hotel built worthy of his rank in the Louis XII style, transition between flamboyant Gothic and the style of the First French Renaissance.
His son, William III, continued the beautification work and completed the work of his father. In the inner courtyard, on the left, the Aumale gallery presents a sculpted Renaissance decor of rare quality. William III had the famous interview of the Camp du Drap d'Or between François I and Henry VIII of England represented there .
At the level of the roof, a second series of bas-reliefs illustrates the allegorical poem of the triumphs of Petrarch .
More recently, this former private mansion was occupied until the end of 2006 by a bank and was then renovated into a luxury hotel, which opened in April 2010.
It has been classified as a historic monument since January 11 , 1924.
To learn more about the changes undergone over the centuries by the building, the blog of " Rouen history " is very interesting.
Bourghteroulde hotel nowadays
15, Pucelle's square 76000 Rouen "Pucelle": the translation is " virgin" in English. It refers here to Joan of Arc a.k.a " The Virgin of Rouen"
"He celebrated Mass as if in an empty room where a striped disc rotates, as a butler asking if we had a nice meal ." -Pierre Michon/Tiny Lives (1984)-
"Ah! if I were rich, if I had kept my fortune, if I had not given it to them, they would be there, they would wet my cheeks of their kisses! I would stay in a hotel, I would have beautiful rooms, servants, fire to me; and they would be in tears, with their husbands, their children. I'd have it all. But nothing." -Honored by Balzac/Father Goriot (1835)-
"Tipping is given to underpaid employees: postmen, waiters and hotel boys, taxi drivers, and (abroad) politicians." -Auguste Detoeuf/O. Proposal L. Barenton, confectioner (1951)-
"There are hearts that are a bit mundane, open to all, and reminiscent of hotel pianos. It's hardly if you take the time to sit down and play a little tune - at your fingertips." -Paul-Jean Toulet/The Notebook of Monsieur du Paur, public man-
"An empty house can be as lonely as a full hotel," he says at last. The evil is that it is less impersonal." -Daphne du Maurier/Rebecca (1938)-
"For a long time I could not afford to be beautiful and fresh; now that I have them, I'm making up for it. You'd see me right now on the balcony of my pretty hotel, like Heidi in her mountain." -Hannelore Cayre/La Daronne-
"We're in trouble with our wife, and with a mistress it's even worse," Iachvine mused as she left the hotel. -Leo Tolstoy/Anna Karenina (1873-1877)-
"Being born and living in a small hotel in New York probably seems extraordinary. As is often the case, the situation is funny until we have really thought about it." -Maureen Johnson/Scarlett Suite (2010)-
Absolutely magical, magnificent, the hotel amply deserves the title of historic monument. The style, the details are a marvel.
During a visit, I had the opportunity to see the interior & I was disappointed.
It is luxurious, certainly, but so modern, too "flashy" from my point of view. They did not keep the charm of yesteryear & completely transformed the interior in a very modern style with colors that I find overwhelming in this large lobby. Too formatted for a historic building. An interior that can be found in all hotels of this type of hotel chain around the world.
I find it unfortunate that they have not recreated the ambiance of the past up to date, which would have personalized this interior with impressive dimensions ... but, I imagine that everything is a matter of taste ...
By cons, no doubt, the service is at the "top" & goes hand in hand with the luxury that makes it famous.
"At night, boredom harms." -Claude Frisoni / Frisoni is who thinks badly-
"The night carries advice." -Menandre-
"Go to bed late harms." -Raymond Devos-
"At night, all drunks are gray." -Professor Choron-
Sublime details
"Beauty and flesh are lasting, and even inexhaustible, things. The face can fade, the shape remains through life; a certain original deposit is always present, an indelible first image, even in decrepitude." -Jacques Chardonne/ What I wanted to tell you today (1969)-
"Beauty seduces the flesh to obtain permission to pass to the soul." -Simone Weil/ Gravity and Grace (1940-1942)-
"Tears add to beauty, they make it more touching." -Philippe-Auguste de Sainte-Foy / My hobbies, or miscellaneous thoughts (1755)-
"Beauty is everywhere, and goodness is only close to beauty." -Virginia Woolf/The Selected Essays-
"Beauty is only relative, but as we are more accustomed to it than to deformity, we can conclude that this is the only reason why we admire it so much." -Samuel Johnson / The Lazy (1760)-
"Beauty is born from love." -Paul Brulat / Meryem (1900)-
"Beauty sometimes wins from being looked at from afar." -George Gordon Byron/ Beppo (1818)-
"It's little to believe in you, goodness, supreme beauty, I seek you everywhere, I yearn for you, I love you." -Alphonse de Lamartine /Prayer, Meditation XIX (1820)-
The "Pucelle's square" is not limited to the Bourgtheroulde hotel, even if it is what catches the eye in the first place when you arrive from the "Vieux Marché" square.
The atmosphere of the place with its Norman constructions, its shops is very pleasant & makes it a very lively place where it is good to stop.
Being there again in the historic center of Rouen, from Pucelle's square we reach the Gros-Horloge street through the "Vicomte" street. What happiness for me! ...I do not get enough...
"The capricious beauty tyrannizes hearts." -Pierre-Claude-Victor Boiste /The Universal Dictionary (1843)-
"A great beauty, a lot of wit and judgment, are rarely found together: most pretty women lose to let themselves know what they gain from letting themselves be seen." -Jean Baptiste Blanchard / The maxims of the honest man (1772)-
Brewery of the two kings -15, Pucelle's square-
The Viscount -70, Viscount's street-
Bar, Restaurant, Billard, Concerts, DJ-Sets, Seminar Room, Exhibitions...
Visount's street
These "little" things that I love.
15, Pucelle's street
"If women care for their beauty, it is because we love them only because of it." -Alfred Bougeard/ Straws and beams (1877)-
The Viscount -70, Viscount's street-
The Viscount -70, Viscount's street-
The Viscount
"Beauty, this fragile gift that heaven gives to humans does last, alas! only one moment and fades forever. The rose that embellishes the most beautiful heads fades and fades. Every day removes some attractions to the most perfect beauty." -Seneca /Hippolyte (approx. 60 A.D.) -
Bourghteroulde hotel
April 8, 2019. I finally dare to enter the courtyard of this historic place. Until then, I did not dare because after all it is a hotel and I am not a customer. And I never will be. My curiosity was finally stronger than my fears.
Bourgtheroulde hotel 15, Pucelle's square 76000 Rouen T: +33 (0)2 35 14 50 50 F: +33 (0)2 35 14 50 60 info@hotelsparouen.com
Is it true that you are the son of a demon and a virgin? "Yes why?" - You've taken more from the virgin !..." -Quote of fictional character, Kaamelott , Arthur and Merlin-
"A virgin has saved France, as A virgin male saved all men." -Charles de Leusse/Le Sablier (2004)-
"Soaked in heart mail, she identified herself with the abandoned single mother, the virgin filled with blackheads." -The scooter (1951)/ René Fallet-
"She became a virgin in Orleans." - Raymond Devos-
"A twelve-year-old child, a very young girl, confusing the voice of the heart and the voice of heaven, conceives the strange, improbable, absurd, if you will, to execute the thing that men can no longer do, to save their country." -Jules MICHELET (1798-1874)/ Joan of Arc-
"But where are the snows of yesteryear? [...] And Jeanne the good Lorraine / That English burned in Rouen? » -François VILLON/ The Great Testament, Ballad of the Ladies of The Old Times (1462)-
"How do you expect me to do with a man who thinks he is both Joan of Arc and Napoleon!" -Franklin Delano ROOSEVELT (1882-1945)-
"We are lost, we have burned a saint." -Secretary of the King of England, after the execution of Jeanne, Rouen, 30 May 1431-
"When the nobility beats the pavement"
Street that leads from Pucelle's square to Gros Horloge street.
The impression that houses could touch each other ...
Colors and cobblestones make its charm.
"... and let the pigeons look down on us ..."
