In the port city of Rouen, northern France

 "One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying."

-- Joan of Arc
=====================================================================
(on the River Seine in northern France) The port city of Rouen, capital of the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandy region, is located about 78 miles (~125 km) northwest of Paris.

+ The old city, on the right bank of the Seine River and surrounded by a natural amphitheater of hills, has so many historical buildings that it has been called a ville-musée (museum-town). Despite its variety of architectural styles, Rouen's cathedral is considered one of the finest Gothic churches in France. Famous secular buildings include the late Gothic Palais de Justice and the 16th-century Hôtel de Bourgtheroulde. The Gros-Horloge, a Renaissance gateway (1527) with an ancient clock, standing next to a 14th-century belfry, is in the center of the city. The Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum includes a collection of 17th- and 18th-century French paintings and Rouen ceramics. Other museums are devoted to the 17th-century dramatic poet Pierre Corneille and to the 19th-century novelist Gustave Flaubert, who were born there.

+ Although situated abut 75 miles (~120 km) inland, Rouen is a major port, serving in part as an outport of Paris. Rouen is also a growing business and service center. Much of the city's center has been made conducive to tourism, with walking paths and retail shops.

+ The past is present in Rouen, where Gothic church spires tower over half-timbered lanes and history museums. Normandy’s riverside capital also dishes up some of the best cuisine in the region, from farm-fresh cheese to oysters hauled in from the nearby coast. With its soaring cathedral, beautifully restored medieval quarter, imposing ancient churches, excellent museums, and vibrant cultural life, Rouen is one of Normandy’s most engaging and historically rich destinations. The city has endured a turbulent history. It was devastated by fire and plague several times during the Middle Ages, and was occupied by the English during the Hundred Years War. The young French heroine Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) was tried for heresy and burned at the stake in the central square here in 1431. And during WWII, Allied bombing raids laid waste to large parts of the city, especially south of the cathedral.

+ Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy during the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties, which ruled both England and large parts of modern France from the 11th to the 15th centuries. From the 13th century onwards, the city experienced a remarkable economic boom, thanks in particular to the development of textile factories and river trade. Severely damaged by the wave of bombing in 1944, it nevertheless regained its economic dynamism in the post-war period thanks to its industrial sites and its large seaport, which today is the fifth largest in France.