History and Inspiration derived therefrom Rouen, France. A place of immense history, which is imbued in its every stone and brick. It has the historic spot where St Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake in 1431, now commemorated by a lovely modernistic cathedral and a towering cross, in the Place de Vieux Marche (Old Market Place) a lively square surrounded by cafes and restaurants. Up the street is the Donjon where Joan was imprisoned for a year before her execution, and tortured. Not too far is the gigantic and spectacular Rouen cathedral,
whose spires reach to the sky and which has seen the times of the original Normans, not to mention survived two world wars. A stone’s throw away the statue of another of its eminent citizen’s, Gustave Flaubert (more about him in a moment). And just a 30 minute drive away is the village of Giverny where the most famous of the Impressionist masters Claude Monet, painted his great works of art in a delightful garden with the world’s loveliest lily pond.
But it is Flaubert’s home that makes the most interesting, if not the most beautiful, visit – his son Achille was a physician and so the museum is dedicated to medical history ( with one room preserved in the
memory of the father –writer). It has unique and interesting exhibits, including an 18th century, amputation kit, a set of breast pumps and enema cans from a century ago, mummified fetuses and a half dissected cadaver and an interesting collection of skulls, including the one of the renaissance painter Raphael, an interesting science called phrenology. Interestingly it has a hospital bed from a century ago, which was occupied by six patients at a time! Healthcare in France has come a long way!
The Flaubert museum brought back memories from 14 years ago, when I relocated from the US to India shortly before beginning my Teleradiology adventure. At that time, my wife and I (and our 2 year old daughter ) broke journey en route from the US to India and did a driving tour and camping trip through Germany. Our first stop was at Wurzburg, in Bavaria, home of … you guessed it… none other than Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen. Visiting his laboratory, and seeing the very first xray tube ever, was quite an experience for me, and allowed me to pay homage to the man who started it all ( and put the radiology into Teleradiology!!)
Even today, our library at Teleradiology Solutions has on its wall, photographs of Roentgen, Doppler, Hounsfield and Lauterbur, in a tribute to the four musketeers of radiology!