"Politicians only know misery through statistics. We don't cry over numbers."
- Abbé Pierre (1912-2007) -
Originally known as "Faubourg d'Emendreville", it takes the name of "Faubourg Saint-Sever" when the relics of Saint Sever , bishop of Avranches are brought to the Saint-Cassian Oratory at the end of the 10th century. It, later, became Saint-Sever church .
It was in this district that most of the earthenware factories which made the reputation of Rouen were found .
John Holker founded there in 1752 the Royal Manufacture of velvet and cotton sheets and, in 1767, the first French factory of sulfuric acid .
In 1802, the first consul Napoleon Bonaparte visited the cotton factory of the Sévène brothers .
In the 19th century, the industry in full development on the left bank of the river led to a rapid development of urbanization: a cattle market was inaugurated on the "Place des Emmurées"; Pelissier barracks was the houses of an infantry regiment , the station is the Company Orléans- terminus of the Rouen-Orleans line - was built "Place Saint-Sever" (now "Place Carnot" in 1894), opposite the bridge Boieldieu . The station was destroyed in 1944 and the Administrative City now occupies its location.
In the aftermath of the Second World War , the district on the banks of the Seine was rebuilt with plans to bring together all the major administrations.
" Victory Monument "
-Place Carnot-
Directed by Maxime Real del Sarte in 1926 -
On November 11, 1940, when all gatherings were prohibited, students from the Join Lambert Institution laid flowers in front of the monument, the first tangible signs of resistance against the occupier. Damaged by the bombing of August 8, 1944, the column will be at the rendezvous of the people of Rouen and the General de Gaulle.
-column of 9m50- view from the "Cours Clémenceau"
From Champlain avenue.
"The Winged Woman" -Monument to Victory-
"Victory over oneself is the greatest victory." -Platon-
Joan of Arc surrounded by a widow and an orphan. At the foot two soldiers standing guard.
Between the past and modernity.
The "Waters" of Cours Clémenceau
With the nickname "The Normandy Chamber Pot", Rouen also deserves the title of hygrometry town. For its generous humidity, of course, but also for its historic park of 25 fountains and 11 ponds.
The fountain of the "Cours Clemenceau" takes advantage of the sun's rays.
"Latin: is only useful for reading the inscriptions of public fountains." -Gustave Flaubert / Dictionary of preconceived ideas-
"It is wrong to say that love is a feeling; it is a material, a substance, a fresh water flowing to the fountains of the soul." -Christian Charrière / The Master of Soul-
"Seeking advice is going to the fountain of knowledge." -Hazrat Ali-
"Who loves others more than himself dies of thirst at the fountain." -French proverb-
Who dared to say that it never gets sunny in Normandy ?!
I have a "tick" or a "knock" - everyone can be the judge - I need to know the name of the streets in which I am, I try to imagine the origin of its name & generally I am wrong.
In the case of the "Emmurées" (Walled in)street and place, I imagined women walled alive, slowly dying ... torture like the Middle Ages was keen on.
After research, I learned that it was a Dominican monastery called "Emmurées" dating from the Middle Ages. History knows how to stop my imagination ....
The Regional Pole of Knowledge
-115, Europe boulevard-
The Domain of Saint-Yon -90, Saint-Julien street- it is the back of the Regional Knowledge Centre at 115 Boulevard of Europe
"To know is to know that we know." -Alain / Ideas and ages-
"Study, not to know more, but to know better." -Seneca-
Former primary normal school -The building adjoins the Chapel of Saint-Yon
"We are reluctant to know, because knowing means to change." -Ruth Dreifuss-
"To love knowledge is human, to know how to love is divine." -Joseph Roux-
It was while waiting for the bus that I saw this beautiful building, in Saint-Julien street. Knowing the Regional Pole of Knowledge, on Europe boulevard, I did not imagine that the two buildings were in fact one. I was "cheated" by the glass walls on the boulevard, this modernity had prevented me from seeing that the current architects had preserved the style of the ancient architecture.
Proof that I had to pay more attention to what I was watching.
However, I continue to prefer the facade on Saint-Julien street.
" When the modern meets the old "
To go on the Left Bank is to rub shoulders with the old & the modern, the Middle Ages & the 70s, post-war reconstructions & current architecture, different cultures & French culture.
Everything mixes perfectly, the smells of spices from the Maghreb, on "Emmurées"'s square on market days & garage sales.
Everything is in its place, in the mix of genres & sharing. Human.
Not perfect but nice.
Nothing pleases me more than going to the market of the Walled in & being addressed naturally, never with disrespect but always with respect for the other.
The atmosphere is so different from the Right Bank.
I am lucky to live in the middle of the two banks, to be able to "navigate" from one to the other.
Saint-Sever street
Amiral Cécille's street
"Abandoned" -Brisout of Barneville street-
Police Station -Brisout of Barneville street-
"The Little House" -Saint-Clément square-
Elbeuf's street
The Saint-Clément district
On this square rise the Saint-Clément church , due to the architect Eugène Barthélémy, and, since 1887, the "Jean-Baptiste de La Salle" fountain due to the architect Édouard Deperthes, with the bronze statue of Jean- Baptiste de La Salle, work by Alexandre Falguière (1875).
The Saint-Clément district has the appearance of a small village in the city, with its traders, its schools, its varied housing and as its inhabitants like to say: "There is not much to do around here but, it is good to live in there"
The "Jean-Baptiste de la Salle" fountain
"Jean-Baptiste de la Salle"fountain -Saint-Clément square-
"Let no one say, Fountain, I will not drink your water." -Miguel De Cervantes (1547 - 1616)-
"The first charity of a village is its fountain." -Gaston Happiness (1913 - 1980)-
"Obsessions are fountains of youth. They frighten death." -Louise Weiss / Last Voluptuousness-
"Old age is ruthless." -Jean de La Fontaine-
"Never say fountain... You have to say, "Boss, a muscadet!" -Pierre Perret-
"The fountain of hope never dries up in the hearts of men." -Daphne du Maurier / The doll-
"Cistern contains, fountain overflows." -William Blake / The Marriage of Heaven and Hell-
"The pain is always less strong than the complaint." -Jean de La Fontaine / La Matron d'Ephes-
" ... on the benches ... "
"Education is not just about childhood and teenage years. Teaching is not limited to school. All life, our environment is our education, and an educator both severe and dangerous. » -Paul Valery-
"The school of life has no holidays." -French proverbs-
"Whoever opens a school gate, closes a prison." -Victor Hugo-
"Schoolmasters are gardeners of human intelligence." -Victor Hugo-
"Theatre is a school of tears and laughter, a free forum where ancient or equivocal morals can be defended and the eternal laws of the heart and the feelings of man can be freed, by living examples." -Federico Garcia Lorca-
"It was decided that we would talk, from the small classes, about civic education, honesty, courage, rejection of racism and love of the Republic. It is a pity that the school is attended only by children. » -André Frossard-
" ... when we get to town ... "
Saint-Clément square
"Life is worthless, but we only have that one." -Szczepan Yamenski-
"Life is relative. Death is absolute." -Gilberto Ara-jo de Alcântara-
"By giving you life, we offer you death." -Jemiai medhi-
"The purpose of art, the purpose of a life, can only be to increase the amount of freedom and responsibility that is in every man and in the world." -Albert Camus/ The Bet of Our Generation (1957)-
"Life is a rift between birth and death, life is an in-between." -Michel H A Patin-
"Remember where you come from, and you will hear the anthem of your life"" -Sonia Lahsaini-
"The journey of a life is appreciated against the odds because we appreciate life when it ends" -Sonia Lahsaini-
"At the end of a life, once the prohibitions of youth are exceeded, one should be able to afford a few years of spring." -Marguerite Duras-
A suivre ...