Basse Copette is not far from Rouen, Normandy, for both luxury B&B and self catering accommodation if you wish to visit the Joan of Arc Festival in Rouen.

Each year during the last weekend in May the city of Rouen hosts ‘The Joan of Arc Festival’. It was in Rouen where Joan of Arc was burned, on 30 May 1431, and it was into the Seine, flowing through Rouen, where her ashes were thrown. Activities over the two days include both official ceremonies and numerous festive activities, including : debates and lectures, a medieval market with craftsmen and workshops, a medieval tavern, street performances and medieval dance. As this is the city where Joan was burned at the stake, the commemorations here obviously take on a more visible and symbolic tone in Rouen than in other cities associated with Joan of Arc. On Sunday the Joan of Arc Festival is presided by an eminent person, who gives an official speech in Joan’s memory at the Place du Vieux-Marché. A procession, made up of national and local officials accompanied by children, then makes its way to the Boieldieu Bridge for the symbolic tossing of flowers into the Seine River, at the exact location where Joan’s ashes were dispersed. In the afternoon, a mass is celebrated in St. Joan’s memory at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Rouen, where her panegyric is pronounced. Other official commemorations and the “Fanfares de Jeanne” are also held on Sunday. Continue reading →