Tempus fugit! The Great Clock

April, 2010 Rouen, France
Sitting in an outdoor cafe, sipping "un cafe" and people watching .

Wandering through Vieux Rouen (Old Rouen), a warren of tiny streets lined with hundreds of half-timbered medieval houses, you will find the Le Gros Horloge (the Big Clock). The symbol of Rouen, the clock is located on a beautiful stone archway crossing the rue du Gros-Horloge.

In 1409 a clock face was installed on the archway over a gate in the ancient Roman walls.

The current archway and clock faces (one on each side of the archway) were rebuilt between 1527-1529. On the two Renaissance clock faces:

• a single hand indicates the hour: time didn't need to be more exact!
  
• under the number VI, an image representing the day of the week (Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Sun) appears on a chariot at noon
• above the clock face, a globe indicates the phase of the moon