MAPS

PAGE
A.The Site of Rouen between the Seine and
the Hills
[3]
B.Main Streets and Boulevards, showing the
Walls besieged by Henry V.
Facing[5]
C.The Gallo-Roman Walls, and the oldest
Streets in Rouen
Facing[71]
D.Rouen in the Thirteenth CenturyFacing[103]
E.The Extension of Rouen Eastwards at the
end of the Fourteenth Century
Facing[169]
F.Plan (and elevation of the Houses) of the
Vieux-Marché and the Marché-aux-Veaux
(now Place de la Pucelle) drawn
by Jacques Lelieur for his "Livre des
Fontaines" in 1525
Facing[209]

THE ARMS OF ROUEN

CHAPTER I

Introductory

Amis, c'est donc Rouen, la ville aux vieilles rues,
Aux vieilles tours, débris de races disparues,
La ville aux cent clochers carillonant dans l'air,
Le Rouen des châteaux, des hôtels, des bastilles,
Dont le front hérissé de flèches et d'aiguilles
Déchire incessamment les brumes de la mer.

THE three great rivers that flow from the heart of France to her three seas have each a character of their own. The grey and rapid current of the Rhone, swollen with the melting of the glacier-snows, rolls past the imperishable monuments of ancient Empire, and through the oliveyards and vineyards of Provence, falls into the blue waves of the southern sea. The sandy stream of Loire goes westward past the palaces of kings and the walled pleasure-gardens of Touraine, whispering of dead royalty. But the Seine pours out his black and toil-stained waters northward between rugged banks, hurrying from the capital of France to bear her cargoes through the Norman cliffs into the English Channel.