SEINE VALLEY - NORMANDY The Tourist and Conference Information Centre Magazine Up and coming Rouen - international capital Normandy Lifestyle Impressionist Festival From across the globe Savour the Flavour The must-see exhibition: A world of taste 100 Impressionist masterpieces Out and About Trendy Rouen edition 2013 - 2014 2€ SEINE VALLEY - NORMANDY The Tourist and Conference Information Centre Magazine Up and coming 5 Rouen: The Place To Be 15 Tales from the river bank 21 The 2013 Armada 22 The Normandy Impressionist Festival 25 A room with a view 28 Pottery 30 Expotec 103 33 What visitors say about Rouen Lifestyle 35 Art right here and now 40 Rouen impressed 42 The Seine valley: breathing it in 47 Kindarena: More than just a sports hall Savour the Flavour 50 1001 flavours from around the world 56 La Cuisine: So French 61 Normandy charm 65 Our favourite addresses Out and About 70 Elbeuf 74 Rouen 78 Rouen international chic and design 84 Printemps goes Chinese 87 Rouen City Pass 90 Events Diary 91 Addresses 1 Foreword The CREA (Community Council for the Rouen, Elbeuf and Austreberthe area) is lucky enough to encompass a region of outstanding natural beauty. And what a landscape - full of nature’s wonderful diversity! From our dense forests to the chalky cliffs that line the river bank and, of course, at the centre of it all, linking one view to the next, the marvellous and majestic Seine, so much a part of our past and a key element in our future. This territory is steeped in history and we are fortunate to have retained so much of it. You have only to visit the medieval streets of Rouen and the city’s monuments to step back into the Rouen of yesteryear. You have only to visit the Museum of Fine Arts to gaze on the city as the Grand Masters of the Impressionist movement would have known it. Yet Rouen and the CREA are not stuck in the past. This is an area that has a bright and vibrant future. Here in Rouen we are proud of the excellent quality of life enjoyed by our citizens – the city is the largest open air commercial market place in France. Rouen rocks to the latest sounds in Hangar 106 while the CREA explores the bounds of man’s experience with centres such as ‘h2o’ or the ‘Knowledge Factory’ in Elbeuf. © A. Bertereau - Agence Mona Agence - Bertereau A. © The CREA places sport high on the podium of priority and our brand new sports hall, the Kindarena, designed by Dominique Perrault, is now open. Finally, the CREA provides the best in entertainment and our events programme has something for everyone. The CREA is also a fabulous destination for tourists and is recognized as such by the award of the prestigious ‘Villes et Pays d’Art’ label. Our tourist offices offer a rich and a varied programme of visits to local chateaux, abbeys and guided circuits through the ancient streets of medieval Rouen. Why not try one of many hiking trails or take a boat out and discover the river. The choice is yours! Here at the CREA we are proud of our region and welcome visitors with open arms, inviting them to enjoy and share our amazing area. In 2013 Rouen will be hoisted high on the international scene with two major events: the 6th Edition of the Rouen Armada or Tall Ships Meeting will welcome vessels from all over the world to the city’s quaysides while the second Impressionist Festival with exhibitions throughout Normandy will explore the theme of water. The festival’s flagship exhibition ‘Dazzling Reflections’ will be in Rouen and is an event not to be missed. This magazine will give you full details of both these exceptional events and 2013 promises to be an unforgettable year in the annals of our city’s sensational story. With my very best wishes to you all, Frédéric SANCHEZ President of the CREA 3 It was when I was standing on a bridge in Rouen that I finally understood Impressionism - I saw the barges in the early morning sunlight, it was just extraordinary… Clara Cateura, Spain. Rouen: It’s The Place To Be Rouen: It’s The Place To Be Claude Monet, Portail de la cathédrale de Rouen, temps gris, 1892. © C. Lancien - C. Loisel / Musées de la Ville de Rouen s both a river and sea port, historically Rouen words a masterpiece for each week of his visit, is no stranger to the rest of the world. The spar- making the rooftops and little streets of the Rouen kling waters of the Seine, lined with their hillsides where he lived as famous and admired as the A chalky cliffs, abbeys and orchards, have linked landscapes and images that he would paint in later the city of William the Conqueror, Corneille, Flaubert years in the Vahina and Marquises Islands or in and Marcel Duchamp with the outside world. Since Tahiti. the dawn of time, this watery thoroughfare has ensu- Further proof that Rouen is truly the capital of red that Rouen has a truly multi-national character Impressionism is to be seen in the hundreds of pain- shared by few European cities, even those that stand tings of the city and the surrounding countryside that closer to the sea shore. Rouen is international, it just hang in the most prestigious and famous galleries all comes naturally. over the world. Anyone who has ever been into the This historical openness and willingness to embrace galleries dedicated to Impressionism in any one of the the world has touched our cuisine, our architecture world’s greatest art museums in London, Los Angeles, and our economy and has left its influence on our cul- Washington or in Japan, the Netherlands or ture and continues to do so today and always for the Germany will no doubt have suddenly spotted the better! charm and picturesque qualities of the Normandy capital captured forever on canvass. Few cities can Rouen: ready for the world boast of such publicity and few have had such a col- Rouen is an important city of culture, there is no lection of talented ambassadors to sing their praises doubt about it. Just say the word ‘Impressionism’ if in image. you don’t believe us! This well-known movement is But that is the truth, Rouen and the Seine are world recognized and loved throughout the world but it famous… would be nothing without Rouen and the river Seine. Read on to discover why… Rouen, the World - the World, Rouen Monet painted Rouen Cathedral 30 times (often When it isn’t Rouen that goes out to meet the world from the room situated on the first floor of today’s the world comes to Rouen. Marylène Champalbert, Tourist Office). The cathedral series is a homage to Guide at the Rouen Seine Valley Tourist and the perfectly hewn stones of the cathedral’s facade Congress Office, explains how outside influences and to the quality of the light here in the region. For have left their traces. They may be discreet or they thousands, Monet’s images of the cathedral are those may stand out but they are there in Rouen’s architec- that they remember in spite of the beauty of the real ture and creative arts and have been since Viking thing and the richness and singularity of the buil- times. Indeed we will find them anchored in the ding’s different architectural styles. Turner, Pissarro, depths and most stereotypically French elements of Sisley and so many other internationally known our heritage. artists (including Roy Lichtenstein) have tackled the For instance ‘in the 17th century there was a very large cathedral and have painted in and around the city to Spanish community in Rouen,’ says Marylène. ‘It was a the point of obsession. Today these Rouen landmarks community with which Pierre Corneille was very fami- are as well-known and dear to impressionist fans in liar and it is a fair bet that at the very least he was able Japan and South Africa as they are to someone born to read Spanish.’ The inference is clear. ‘El Cid’, and bred in the city. Corneille’s tragi-comedy, was influenced by a Last, but not least, Gauguin left behind him lasting contemporary play written by Spanish author Guilen memories of the city in the 42 pictures that he fini- de Castro and was born out of the relationship and shed during his eleven-month stay in Rouen. In other friendship that Corneille himself had with the com- 8 Rouen: It’s The Place To Be 9 10 Rouen: It’s The Place To Be munity and their language. Ironically, at that time France under Louis XIII and Richelieu was at war with Spain. The most striking foreign influences to be found in Rouen are Italian and date from the century before Corneille discovered the story of El Cid. Georges d’Amboise was Louis XII’s prime minister and arch- bishop of Rouen, a great sponsor of the arts. It is he who single-handedly had the most influence on the ‘Italianisation’ of Rouen’s greatest monuments. ‘In 1500 Georges d’Amboise took part in the Milan campaign and then became the governor of that region. He sent a lot of artists to France, many of whom came to work in Rouen.’ You can see the results of their labours on the facade of the present-day Tourist Between the 17th and 19th century Rouen was France’s Office, in the Hotel de Bourgtheroulde (a 5* hotel), major producer of a printed the Hotel de Romé (14 rue des Carmes), in the Gros cloth called an ‘indienne’.