More Sights of Rennes, France

     I asked a French guy how to pronounce Rennes. He rolled the "R" heavily, and the "s" is silent. Sounds like "Wwwwrrrrrrrrren".  This little city has won my heart, and that's a huge compliment coming from someone who has no desire to see Paris.

     See all the fireplace flues? It's no wonder almost all the buildings have been masonry construction (more fireproof) for the last six or so centuries.

     This mason is crafting a wall with rocks and mortar. He's chipping away a stone with a hammer to make it fit.

 The doorways range from very elaborate . . . .

 

to semi-elaborate . . . .

to sublime . . .

and to simple but elegant.

And one can drive under buildings with a little car.

. . . and sometimes with a big car.

This drive-through has a lot of French ambience.

This is the Doge Ram ProMaster's daddy and momma, the Iveco.

Lots of European auto companies make these popular large vans.

Rennes is improving their subway system near a very old cathedral.

This outdoor food stall had me salivating.

I think these are open-faced panini on crusty thick bread slices, ready to be pressed to order. Center ones look like prosciutto, and the others look like cheese and pepperoni.

 And served with a bowl of soup, maybe potato and bacon soup??

All the bakeries look amazingly scrumptious with that French thing they sell so well, AMBIENCE.

This capital city has its share of official looking buildings. This is Saint Georges Palace.

This is the Place de la République.

This is the courthouse.

This is the Commerce Building. See the Sprinter?

The Visitors' Center is an old building, too. The ceiling looks at least 300 years old.

This is the entrance to the Visitors' Center.

 Lots of cathedrals and churches!

And inside St. Pierre's is a beautiful rotunda .. . .

and a beautiful pipe organ.

I'm hoping to hear Christmas music at one of these churches this weekend.

This is the Municipal Swimming Pool built in 1924.

     I swam there today with about 60 other swimmers, round-robin style -- very crowded, very limited lap swimming hours for too many lap swimmers. Males and females share the same showers (with bathing suits on), then walk to little 2x4 feet dressing stalls (on left and right side of pool) to change back into street attire. Two of those little stalls have a toilet for men or women. Unlike the USA, they certainly have solved the transgender bathroom issue  :)

     I am in awe of the old homes that still function today, probably as office buildings. I'm glad someone is taking care of them.

     I've noticed Christmas lights strung across all the streets, so hopefully tomorrow night, I'll stay awake and have Christmassy night photos to show you all.

Rennes, Capital of the Brittany Region of France

     Three years ago I spent a couple months in the center of France, the Centre Val-de-Loire Region, and loved its castles, cathedrals, and countryside villages. I vowed to return someday to the explore the Brittany region which is in the northwestern part of France near the English Channel. What's unique about this area is its Celtic heritage. Air Canada steeply discounted its USA to Paris route, so voila, I'm in France for the Holidays!

     The capital of the Brittany region is Rennes. I'm staying at a hostel located very near center city (click here for map).  The hostel is far right in below photo, facing a canal.

     My first day here, I decided to do a walking tour of Rennes, and brought along my mask, snorkel and bathing suit; Plan B if Plan A got boring. There's an indoor pool in Rennes.

But Plan A never got boring . . .

     A Canal with several locks was made for the Vilaine River which is navigable to the Atlantic. The canal project began in Rennes in 1540. The above photo looks east, below photo looks west.

The entire canal to the Atlantic wasn't finished until the 1800s.

I love the old walls in this city.

Who crafted these beautiful walls?

And who crafted these round stone buildings?

     This old round building was fortunately left standing, it's the backside view of the Mordelles Gates, entry way to the city during the Middle Ages, built in 1440. 

I loved walking down little winding cobblestone streets.

Boutiques, bars, restaurants everywhere.

I notice the French like dark clothes and many wear boots.

This store sells only boots!

I could stroll these cobblestone streets every day!

A few neighborhoods of the city are lined with 15th Century Tudor Style buildings.

My former house in Harrisburg (1913 construction) was Tudor Style, too.

I smelled chocolate, perfumes, and breads while walking down these streets. Maybe I'll rent one of those bikes soon.

All dark attire and boots, with a colorful scarf of course; very French!

Restaurants have vinyl and canvas protection for outdoor diners.

Le Restaurant Caractere has a lot of ambience. I think the French invented ambience.

Another cobblestone street wins my exploratory heart!

I couldn't stop myself!

     This carousel is very old, the wood is cracked and the paint is crackled. Loads of ambience! Who wouldn't want to ride this pink pig? and the White Swan?

I walked through Thabor Parc on my way back to the hostel.

A wonderful park with informal and formal areas; below is a clump of bamboo.

This Blue Atlas Cedar is the 23rd largest Atlas Cedar in the world.

 Lots of steps with ambience . . .

Instead of removing an old tree, they transformed it into a jungle gym for kids. See the round building in the upper left? That's a bird menagerie.

Parakeets eating fruits.

Roosting together with ruffled feathers on this coolish day.

This magpie was visiting nearby.

 A nice little water falls in the park to conclude a five hour walk . . .