Flight to France
Monday in Rouen
In spite of our being a collection of individuals with different ideas about how to spend any free time we found, the group did gather for a photograph before we left for the trans-Atlantic flight.
The flight was uneventful, but our arrival certainly had its share of surprises. Our travel agency’s representative met us at the airport with everything we would need for the trip—except a bus.
After a three-hour wait, we finally boarded the bus for a two-hour ride to Rouen. If some of us napped, who would tell? For many of us, however, the excitement kept us awake, and we eagerly looked for the skyline of Rouen.
After checking in to our hotel, we took to the streets for a little sight-seeing. One of the first stops for all of us was the Cathedral, with its west front so familiar from Monet’s paintings. The organ—a Cavaillé-Coll of 1874—was less familiar, but all the more exciting.
Tuesday in Rouen
We began the morning with a visit to the Church of St. Godard, just a block away from the Fine Arts Museum.
Nicolas Pien, the organiste titulaire and our host for the morning, began by demonstrating the orgue de choeur, built by Cavaillé-Coll in 1883. For the first of many times during our trip, we heard the sound of the French fonds, with the full-bodied round sound of a nineteenth-century Montre leading the way, soaring through this Gothic space.
Standing in front of the Orgue de Choeur, we could look to the tribune and the beautiful case of the Grand orgue of St. Godard. Our next move was to the gallery for a closer look.
Moving from the nave by a narrow spiral stair, we entered the tribune to see the original console by Cavaillé-Coll. For the next two weeks, we were to visit many other Cavaillé-Coll organs, but this was our only chance to play one with its original console and Barker levers intact and fully functional. Though we did visit St. Sulpice in Paris, we were limited in what we could see and do with the organ between masses, and the well-known organs in La Trinité and Ste. Sulpice have been seriously modified over the intervening years since they were completed.
We each had the opportunity to play this wonderful instrument, with M. Pien there to guide us through the workings of ventils, appels, and tirasses. We even got to get behind the facade and watch the Barker machine in action.
Our visit to the two Cavaillé-Coll organs of St. Godard was over. We took a last look at the altar and beautiful windows, and left for lunch and the bus ride to Tours.