The Armada of Freedom (Rouen, 2013)

At the time we were in Rouen, the famous Rouen "Armada of Liberty" started. This event is held once every five years (approximately) and is a large celebration held over almost two weeks in the City. The star attractions are tall sailing ships from many countries of the world. There were marching bands, fairs, musical entertainment, street markets, sporting events and many other celebrations.

The ships were moored along a total of 7,000metres of dock on each side of the Seine River in Rouen. The ships looked marvellous and it was possible to go onboard. I visited two of them and was able to explore and take photos.

The event was very well organised which was just as well because it was visited by an estimated 10,000,000 people over the ten days. The normal population of Rouen is about 200,000 so this means there were five times as many people as normal.

There were ships from France, Brazil, Morocco, Mexico, Holland, Argentina, Oman, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and the UK. Holland and France had perhaps 20 boats and there were several form nearly every country. There were also a few warships and a very old but powerful firefighting boat.

Of special interest to many people were all the "Pen Duick" yachts from the first, made in 1898, to the most recent. Seven in all. The first was owned by the famous sailor, Eric Tabarly and they are still in the family of his descendants.

Here are some of the photos from the 2013 Armada at Rouen. Please wait a minute or two for the photos to appear.

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Best Regards,

Dave