Today was a no school day so we planned a full day trip into the centre of Rouen as we are currently on the outskirts in a rather industrial area. Patrick had spotted something that looked like a Bus Station on an earlier foray to get camping gas so we headed for this. It didn't look THAT far to walk all the way but as we didn't really know where we were going we took notice of the kid's vote to get the bus. On the way out of the marina we spotted a novel French anti theft device on this bike. Don't think I'll be trying the pants deterrent but something to bear in mind I guess?
After watching several buses go by while we worked out where we wanted to go, that you had to buy a ticket from a machine, that kids pay the same as adults, and finally how to work the machine, we finally jumped on a bendy bus to the Arts Centre. We then walked up to the Cathedral where there was also a tourist office. I practiced my best French asking if there was something to do for kids in Rouen today and the assistant replied in perfect English that there was the white train which was a land train that gave a 3/4 hour tour round the town. I thought at 24 Euro's this was a bit steep but Patrick surprisingly thought it was a good idea. As it didn't leave until 2pm we decided to look in the Cathedral first. The building exterior was very ornate and even the kids were impressed inside too!
After the Cathedral we went to find a boulangerie as we had packed sandwich fillings in the hope we could find a baguette to put them in. We also got some funny little pastries which I forget the name of but are really good value even in the expensive shop! Once this was eaten it was time to get on the train. It was actually quite good and gave us a bit of a history of Rouen as well as showing the kids where the good sweet shop was!
After the train ride we headed for the sweet shop and market. The kids were determined to spend their pocket money in here and I was somewhat enticed by the buy 1kg get 1kg free sign. However on closer inspection this was an extremely expensive pick and mix shop. I tried to convince the kids that they could get much better value somewhere else but they were seduced by the brightly coloured sign and multitude of bins of sweets. After a good 15 minutes of picking a small quantity of sweets we emerged into the street with kids already digging into their purchases. We'd barely cleared the doorway when AJ started yelling "I need water....water... WATER!" He pulled the sweet from his mouth saying it was HOT. I decided to try one and before putting it in my mouth noted it was the shape of a Chilli... interesting concept! I was laughing so much eating this obscure sweet that AJ suddenly saw the funny side, as did the little old man and lady having a seat nearby! I don't think AJ will pick that particular variety again!
After an eye wateringly expensive trip to Lush to get Esmé some cream for her eczema we let the kids have a ride on a beautiful mini carousel and then walked back down to the river. There was a small playground so we let the kids have a play before deciding to walk back as it really didn't look too far. On the way we saw an interesting looking exhibition/art something/not really sure what it was even after talking to the guide in English. All we could really figure out was that it was about Joan of Arc, and was in a massive cylindrical building. It looked impressive from the outside so tomorrow morning we will learn about Joan of Arc before heading off to investigate this massive blue cylinder further! 
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