Lessons in Rouen

There are three names that will always be linked to this city in northwest France where we are staying for a brief visit.

The first is Joan of Arc, who, at nineteen, was burned at the stake for heresy in Rouen in 1431.

The second is the author Gustave Flaubert, who was born in Rouen in 1821 and grew up there.

The third is Claude Monet, who executed multiple paintings of the facade of the city’s famous cathedral at different times of day in different light.

All three revolutionaries, each in their own way.

Artist’s rendition of Joan. Note illustrious cathedral in background.

Joan—well, she’s one of the patron saints of France. Now that she’s dead. It was France that killed her almost 600 years ago. Do you know that one of the reasons she was convicted of heresy was because of “the wearing of men’s clothes?” A grave sin. In 1920, they made her a saint. I have a feeling she would have traded that honor for a few more of her just-nineteen years of life.

Flaubert, who lived most of his adult life near Rouen, was also put on trial. Or, rather, his book, Madame Bovary, was, on charges of immorality. (That happened in Paris, so we can’t blame Rouen.) He and his book were acquitted. After the trial, sick of the world, he vowed to go home and never write again. Luckily for us, he did write again. Now, of course, he’s a literary saint.

Gustave Flaubert

Monet’s art was, at first, rejected by the establishment. Speaking to that, I have just seen an exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris called, “Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism,” in which Monet plays a significant part. As the museum puts it,

“On April 15, 1874, the first impressionist exhibition opened in Paris. ‘Hungry for independence’, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissarro and Cézanne finally decided to free themselves from the rules by holding their own exhibition, outside official channels: impressionism was born.”

Claude Monet

One fascinating aspect of this exhibit is that they have an entire room dedicated to the paintings that were selected by academics for the official exhibition in Paris that year. I didn’t recognize a single name. The paintings look like a Saturday yard sale.

These three people, closely associated with Rouen where we are staying, remind me, once again, that what you need to persevere in life is, above all, courage.

And, I suppose, its first cousin, conviction.

I know I don’t have Joan’s courage. Not even close. I don’t have Flaubert’s talent or his unwavering discipline and devotion. Monet? Well, not only can’t I paint, I can’t even draw a decent stick figure. Even if I could, I wouldn’t come close to his art.

Never mind. I can take inspiration from their example. I can be inspired by how they lived.

This is one reason why I travel. To be inspired.