day eight: édition spéciale: brezhoneg*

* brezhoneg is Breton for ... well... Breton, one of the two native languages of Bretagne...

This is the Flag of Bretagne.

At the restaurant Creperie des Portes Mordelaises there was a world map on the wall, completely in brezhoneg...

The World...

North America...



Bretagne...

a la carte: le 21 juin

As Bubble Devere says.. "Champagne darling. Champagne for everyone!"

Time for an apero...

At Le Grappa, a small bar run by friends of Philippe. We (Philippe, Jacques, Didier and myself) had a drink or two and a saucisson au Canard. (5 euro, a really great deal actually!) Basically they plunk a cutting board and knife on your table and give you the saucisson and you cut it and serve yourselves. I can tell you this, it tasted blood good with my Biere Lancelot...

And then for supper, we went to Restaurant Creperie des Portes Mordelaises, with Philippe and his friends Gael and Jacques.

Mr had the andouille* (yeech) ad I had the escargots (yum) ...



For dessert, Mister had Caramel and Apple and I had the Chocolate / Grand Marnier flambée...

- - - - -

* I don't think I can impress upon you just how foul andouille both smells and tastes... Really... it makes you wonder about the whole of french cuisine...

juste pour rire: le 21 juin

Near the beginning of our walking tour, on a pedestrian street: rue Ste-Melaine, we saw this exquisite parking job... keep in mind, this is a PEDESTRIAN STREET...

After the nuptials of Philippe et Didier at the abbey church of Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine...

beauté est la bête: le 21 juin

Le Parlement de Bretagne

knock-knock: le 21 juin

Two doors to the crypt of the abbey church of Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine...




Front door to a small private residence...



A FANTASTIC Art Nouveau building. La Piscine Saint-Georges...



And a close up of the keystone over the main door...



Another small private residence...



The main entrance of Le Parlement de Bretagne...

leopard spotting: le 21 juin

You know, I fell in love with Rennes... not so much for it's history and architecture, as it's people and the style with which they chose to express themselves and their transportation.

Here we see a delivery truck...

and not an hour later, do we find this charming little scooter...

du jour: le 21 juin

Le Palais de St-Georges
(aka La Magdelaine de la Fayette)

day eight: rennes

Early morning... 8:30 or so, on the train: Nantes to Rennes. Off to visit La Reine de Rennes... M. Philippe.

A couple hours later and voila... Rennes. Once we get to Philippe's he does what any self respecting Frenchman would do... pours some Champagne...

Here's a couple pics of the view from his apt. The front:





The back:
(ain't that the biggest cherry tree ya ever did see?!)

After a short rest and Champagne (of course) we went off for a walking tour of the city.

Rennes is quite a beautiful city, with a lot of history, as you'll soon see from it's archetecture... going back, oh about 500+ years or so...

My ankle curses you... oh cobbled streets!



In the distance you can see the bell tower of the abbey church of Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine



...and a little bit closer...



Through the gates toward the Parc Thabor...










...and back again to the abbey church of Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine...




The Gendarmerie...



A miscellaneous window...



La Poste...



L'Hôtel de Ville, Place de la Mairie.



l'Opéra de Rennes...



...and to the right of the Opéra is Le Picca,...


...where the who's who of Rennes are seen...

...oh look here they are now...

Le Parlement de Bretagne (Parliament of Brittany) probably the most famous 17th century building in Rennes. It was rebuilt after a terrible fire in 1994. It now houses the Rennes Court of Appeals.

Miscellaneous other buildings in the city...

I can only assume that a relative of mine owns this place... oddly enough showing my passport and family name of Ellis did not entitle me to any freebies. Dommage.

The only remaining medieval Gate of the original fortifications of Rennes: Les Portes Mordelaises. From the exterior...

...and the interior...



This is Gael and Jacques in front of le Restaurant Creperie des Portes Mordelaises... but more of that later in 'a la carte"...