What if you took advantage of Valentine's Day to discover another side of Rouen: that of romantic passion which can be nestled around the streets of its historic center if you know where to look.
In any case, this is the proposal of the Rouen-Normandie tourist office and Estelle, guide-lecturer, with “Rouen in love”.
The meeting is set for 6 p.m. this Wednesday, February 14 at the foot of the statue of Rollo, the Viking founder of Normandy.
We are in the gardens of the town hall, not far from a large pond in the center of which a fountain evokes a certain vision of love, not necessarily very “Me too” compatible.
“It is,” explains the guide, “the statue of a centaur who kidnaps Hercules’ wife, a story taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
It is important to understand that the theme of kidnapping often recurs in the history of art, which is often made by men and for men.
The representation of this struggle, with these faces marked by fear, combined with a certain erotic tension, constitutes a sort of artistic challenge that the sculptor attempts to take up.
»
Also read: 5 romantic spots to declare your love in Paris
There is also Armand Carel, journalist and politician after whom a street is named.
Born in Rouen in 1800, the latter is also taken from his beloved, a married woman whom he wants to protect – at the same time as his own reputation – from the revelations threatened by a distant ancestor of the celebrity press.
Challenging the owner of the newspaper to a duel, he is mortally wounded and disappears at just 36 years old.
We can also mention the blended family of the impressionist painter Monet, "a rarity at the time", but much more chaste than the "small" family of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, who was a philosophy professor in Rouen at the beginning. from the 1930s. “She lives in a one-eyed hotel, rue du Petit Mouton, where she rubs shoulders with prostitutes.
It was during this period that she met Olga, a young student with whom she began a romantic relationship.
The couple quickly transformed into a menage a trois with Sartre.
» The beginning of multiple relationships in which free love occupies a central place.
A scent of scandal surrounds another personality, a fictional one, in the person of Emma Bovary, the famous heroine of Flaubert (another Rouennais) who arranges to meet young Léon at the cathedral to leave with him on board a cab for a – very – long ride through the streets of Rouen.
“The car has taut blinds, just beyond Emma's bare hand.
For the time, it is very clear that this gloveless hand evokes the antics of the two lovers which will last around ten hours.
At the time, this passage offended public morality and good customs.
It is almost pornography to the point that the magazine which publishes the text in episodes censors this passage.
»
A few examples among the many stories that punctuate, with humor and fantasy, this original walk in the footsteps of a young guide-lecturer who likes to introduce people to Rouen's history through the prism of texts and anecdotes.
“I was once told that following one of my visits was a bit like attending a one-woman show.
For me, it's the greatest compliment anyone can give me..."
“Rouen in love” (full program on
www.visiterouen.com
) this Wednesday February 14 at 6 p.m.