Rouen & the Norman Beer Heritage

The driver and guide will pick up clients from their hotel or residence. On the way, the guide will explain the regional heritage of Normandy, cuisine and traditions.

The guide will enlighten the paths of Jeanne d'Arc while strolling through the magnificent Gros Horloge towards its famous gothic Cathedral and describe the history of the small yet cultural Norman town. Rouen - Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe. 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. People from Rouen are known as Rouennais.

Rouen was founded by the Gaulish tribe of the Veliocasses, who controlled a large area in the lower Seine valley. They called it Ratumacos; the Romans called it Rotomagus. It was considered the second city of Gallia Lugdunensis after Lugdunum (Lyon) itself. Under the reorganization of Diocletian, Rouen was the chief city of the divided province Gallia Lugdunensis II and reached the apogee of its Roman development, with an amphitheatre and thermae of which foundations remain. In the 5th century, it became the seat of a bishopric and later a capital of Merovingian Neustria. From their first incursion into the lower valley of the Seine in 841, the Normans overran Rouen. From 912, Rouen was the capital of the Duchy of Normandy and residence of the local dukes, until William the Conqueror moved his residence to Caen. In 1150, Rouen received its founding charter which permitted self-government.

During the 12th century, Rouen was the site of a yeshiva known as La Maison Sublime. Discovered in 1976, it is now a museum. At that time, about 6,000 Jews lived in the town, comprising about 20% of the population. On 24 June 1204 King Philip II Augustus of France entered Rouen and definitively annexed Normandy to the French Kingdom. He demolished the Norman castle and replaced it with his own, the Château Bouvreuil, built on the site of the Gallo-Roman amphitheatre. A textile industry developed based on wool imported from England, for which the cities of Flanders and Brabant were constantly competitors, and finding its market in the Champagne fairs. Rouen also depended for its prosperity on the river traffic of the Seine, on which it enjoyed a monopoly that reached as far upstream as Paris.

In the 14th century urban strife threatened the city: in 1291, the mayor was assassinated and noble residences in the city were pillaged. Philip IV reimposed order and suppressed the city's charter and the lucrative monopoly on river traffic, but he was quite willing to allow the Rouennais to repurchase their old liberties in 1294. In 1306, he decided to expel the Jewish community of Rouen, then numbering some five or six thousand. In 1389, another urban revolt of the underclass occurred, the Harelle. It was suppressed with the withdrawal of Rouen's charter and river-traffic privileges once more. During the Hundred Years' War, on 19 January 1419, Rouen surrendered to Henry V of England, who annexed Normandy once again to the Plantagenet domains. But Rouen did not go quietly: Alain Blanchard hanged English prisoners from the walls, for which he was summarily executed; Canon and Vicar General of Rouen Robert de Livet became a hero for excommunicating the English king, resulting in de Livet's imprisonment for five years in England. Joan of Arc, who supported a return to French rule, was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431 in this city, where most inhabitants supported the duke of Burgundy, the French king's enemy.

The king of France, Charles VII, recaptured the town in 1449. Rouen was staunchly Catholic during the French Wars of Religion, and underwent an unsuccessful five-month siege in 1591/2 by the protestant King Henry IV of France and an English force commanded by the Earl of Essex. A brief account by an English participant has survived. During the German occupation, the Kriegsmarine had its headquarters located in a chateau on what is now the Rouen Business School. The city was heavily damaged during World War II on D-day, and its famed cathedral was almost destroyed by Allied bombs. Jeanne d’Arc -is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War, and was canonized as a Catholic saint. She was born to Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée, a peasant family, at Domrémy in northeast France. Joan claimed to have received visions of the archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The unanointed King Charles VII sent Joan to the Siege of Orléans as part of a relief army. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted only nine days later.

Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII's consecration at Reims. This long-awaited event boosted French morale and paved the way for the final French victory. On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne by the Burgundian faction, a group of French nobles allied with the English. She was later handed over to the English and put on trial by the pro-English bishop Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges. After Cauchon declared her guilty, she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, dying at about nineteen years of age. In 1456, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, debunked the charges against her, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. In the 16th century she became a symbol of the Catholic League, and in 1803 she was declared a national symbol of France by the decision of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Joan of Arc is one of the nine secondary patron saints of France, along with Saint Denis, Saint Martin of Tours, Saint Louis, Saint Michael, Saint Rémi, Saint Petronilla, Saint Radegund and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

Joan of Arc has remained a popular figure in literature, painting, sculpture, and other cultural works since the time of her death, and many famous writers, playwrights, filmmakers, artists, and composers have created, and continue to create, cultural depictions of her. Gros Horloge - The clock is installed in a Renaissance arch crossing the Rue du Gros-Horloge. The mechanism is one of the oldest in France, the movement having been made in 1389. Construction of the clock was started by Jourdain del Leche who lacked the necessary expertise to finish the task, so the work was completed by Jean de Felain, who became the first to hold the position of governor of the clock. The clock was originally constructed without a dial, with one revolution of the hour-hand representing twenty-four hours. The movement is cast in wrought iron, and at approximately twice the size of the Wells Cathedral clock, it is perhaps the largest such mechanism still extant. A facade was added in 1529 when the clock was moved to its current position. The mechanism was electrified in the 1920s and it was restored in 1997.

The Renaissance facade represents a golden sun with 24 rays on a starry blue background. The dial measures 2.5 metres in diameter. The phases of the moon are shown in the oculus of the upper part of the dial. It completes a full rotation in 29 days. The week days are shown in an opening at the base of the dial with allegorical subjects for each day of the week. The Gros Horloge has featured in paintings by J. M. W. Turner and the French impressionist Léon-Jules Lemaître. Cathedral of Rouen - A church was already present at the location in the late 4th century, and eventually a cathedral was established in Rouen as in Poitiers.It was enlarged by St. Ouen in 650, and visited by Charlemagne in 769. All the buildings perished during a Viking raid in the 9th century. The Viking leader, Rollo, founder of the Duchy of Normandy, was baptised here in 915 and buried in 932. His grandson, Richard I, further enlarged it in 950. St. Romain's tower was built in 1035. The buildings of Archbishop Robert II were consecrated in 1065. The cathedral was struck by lightning in 1110.

Construction on the current building began in the 12th century in Early Gothic style for Saint Romain's tower, front side porches and part of the nave. The cathedral was burnt in 1200. Others were built in High Gothic style for the mainworks: nave, transept, choir and first floor of the lantern tower in the 13th century; side chapels, lady chapel and side doorways in the 14th century. Some windows are still decorated with stained glass of the 13th century, famous because of a special cobalt blue colour, known as "the blue from Chartres". The north transept end commenced in 1280. The cathedral was again struck by lightning in 1284. In 1302, the old Lady chapel was taken down and the new Lady chapel was built in 1360. The spire was blown down in 1353, choir windows were enlarged in 1430, the upper storey of the north-west tower was added in 1477, gable of the north transept built in 1478. Some more parts were built in Late (Flamboyant) Gothic style, these include the last storey of Saint Romain's Tower (15th century), the Butter Tower, main porch of the front and the two storeys of the lantern tower (16th century).

Construction of the south-west tower began in 1485 and was finished in 1507. The Butter Tower was erected in the early 16th century. Butter was banned during Lent and those who did not wish to forgo this indulgence would donate monies of six deniers Tournois from each diocesan for this permission. The realization of the Butter Tower caused disturbances in the façade, which caused the reconstruction of the central portal and the west front, which began in 1509 and was finished in 1530. The original Gothic spire suffered a fire in 1514, nevertheless the project of a stone spire was denied and a wooden construction covered with gold-plated lead was begun in 1515, a parapet was added in 1580. In the late 16th century the cathedral was badly damaged during the French Wars of Religion: the Calvinists damaged much of the furniture, tombs, stained-glass windows and statuary. The cathedral was again struck by lightning in 1625 and 1642, then damaged by a hurricane in 1683, the wood-work of the choir burnt in 1727 and the bell broke in 1786.

In the late 18th century after the French Revolution, the state (government) nationalised the building and sold some of its furniture and statues to make money and the chapel fences were melted down to make guns to support the wars of the French Republic. The Renaissance spire was destroyed by lightning in 1822. A new one was rebuilt in Neo-Gothic style, but of cast iron instead of wood. The cathedral was named the tallest building (the lantern tower with the cast iron spire of the 19th century) in the world (151 m) from 1876 to 1880. In the 20th century, during World War II, the cathedral was bombed in April 1944 by the British Royal Air Force. Seven bombs fell on the building, narrowly missing a key pillar of the lantern tower, but damaging much of the south aisle and destroying two rose windows. One of the bombs did not explode.

A second bombing by the U.S. Army Air Force (before the Normandy Landings in June 1944) burned the oldest tower, called the North Tower or Saint-Romain Tower. During the fire the bells melted, leaving molten remains on the floor. In 1999, during Cyclone Lothar, a copper-clad wooden turret, which weighed 26 tons, broke and fell partly into the church and damaged the choir.

The clients will thenafter head to Enjoy a taste of Normandy beer, through its most exceptional craft in Chapelle-Saint-Ouen. Greeted by the owners, the clients will unravel the making of beer the Norman way while discovering the secrets on how to make this exclusive regional beer before they get the chance to taste it. Ferme Brasserie La Chapelle - It was in the spring of the year Mil 997 that Dominique Camus, a chemical technician better known by the nickname Léo, moved with his family to La Chapelle Saint-Ouen. A few months later, Northmæn craft beer was born! On July 1, then, blond, amber, red and brown beers were released, brewed according to a “Viking” tradition dear to the boss, and they quickly became the stars of Norman farmers' markets.

During the first years, the production is done in pairs, in an old barn, with milk tanks, where 700 liters of beer come out every day (i.e. 750 hectoliters per year). In December 1999, when production was in full swing, Léo quietly prepared a new product in his cellar: the first Norman whiskey, named Thor Boyo, which would be released in Christmas 2002. In the meantime, the young brewer bought up to 30 hectares of land to grow his own barley, and in effect becomes a farmer. Likewise, the brewery becomes a farm-brewery.Subsequently, to meet the exponential demand for beer (and soon for whiskey), a new building of 1500 m² was built in summer 2004, a few dozen meters from the small stable (200 m²). This brewery is constantly evolving, with a current area of nearly 2000 m², from which 4000 liters of beers (4500 hectoliters per year) come out daily, divided into 17 beers and 3 cervoises, thanks to an involved team. A range of 5 whiskeys has also been developed, to the delight of amateurs and connoisseurs.

A new cellar is being built to increase the production of whiskey, and a distillery is in the pipeline to free the brewery and thus allow the production of beer to be doubled, as well as to offer a 100% organic range in the short term. Our barley is malted (germinated then roasted), before being crushed by a flattener and finishing its course in a large vat of water, where the starch is extracted to obtain a sweet slurry. The bark of the grains is then separated by filtration (before being recycled in agriculture) and the slack goes to the boil where the hops are added (except the cervoises for which we will proceed to an infusion of plants). Then everything is cooled before fermentation (where the yeast is added). This stage lasts one day. The fermentation stage lasts between 2 and 3 weeks, at the end of which the beer is filtered before being pressurized, then conditioned (in barrels or in bottles). This last stage also lasts a day.

The driver and guide will bring the clients back to the hotel or residence.