Rouen is the kind of city you do not mind stopping in. It sits on the Seine in Normandy, about an hour and a half from Paris on the motorway, and it has a lot of ground to cover for a town of its size: a great Gothic cathedral, a medieval centre of half-timbered houses, and a history that reaches from the Vikings to the Second World War. The cathedral's cast-iron spire, finished in the nineteenth century, is the tallest in France, and Claude Monet painted the west front in dozens of canvases at different hours, trying to catch the light on the stone. Stand in the square at sunset and you will understand the obsession.
This is also where Joan of Arc was tried and burned in 1431. A modern church on the old market square, the Place du Vieux-Marché, stands where she died, and a simple cross marks the spot. The Gros-Horloge, an astronomical clock set in an arch over a pedestrian street, dates from the fourteenth century and is as much a symbol of Rouen as the cathedral. The old streets around it are cobbled and mostly closed to traffic, so you will park and walk.
For a rider, Rouen is a good gate. It has fuel on every approach, and the food scene is solid. Normandy cooking leans on butter, cream, apples and the sea, so you can have duck done in the Rouen style, with a sauce made from its own blood and liver, which is rich and not for everyone, or go lighter with fish, moules or a tarte normande with a glass of cider. There are bakeries all through the centre if you need something simpler. The neighbouring towns of Bihorel and Mont-Saint-Aignan sit on the hill above the centre and have the university and more modern cafes.
The ride out toward the coast is the reason many people come. The roads follow the Seine through loops and chalk cliffs, and the Route des Abbayes, a signposted route along the river, passes the ruins of Jumièges and Saint-Wandrille, two great Benedictine abbeys. In the other direction, the plateau of the Pays de Caux runs to the sea, with fields, flint farmhouses and white cliffs at Étretat. In the city itself, watch for tram tracks, which are slippery when wet, and for the one-way systems around the river.