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The most recent entries are at the top of this page. Earlier entries follow in reverse chronological order.

31.01.2018

When John and I go swimming in mid-afternoon dozens of animals (deer and mountain goats) meander near the fence as if to say Hi. It is a sweet welcome. The animals are usually gone before we head home.

Today we arrived to the pool just before the wave machine started. That's always fun. Later we sat in the jacuzzi then the sauna. It was nice chatting in English with a couple of people there.

Not far from the swimming pool complex is an indoor ice skating rink that has sports classes, ice games, skating, electric ice carts and more. We'll be doing some of those activities very soon. It's name is Le Blizz.

There are very many activities on ice. Lots of classes too. Eisstock is an ice sport (picture below), close to petanque on ice and curling. The Le Blizz web page encourages people to "Swap your skates for crampons, and try this little known sport! Small games or tournaments supervised by a facilitator. "

Plastic or wooden carts or chairs shaped like animals are "toboggans" used for the little ones ages 3-5 to help them keep their balance. Cute, huh?

Electric ice carts	Eisstock	Hockey ball
Dad and daughter skating at Le Blizz	Rennes has many young people with young families.	Little kids hockey

30.01.2018

Swimming
John and I did a few laps across the width of the play area and then I asked the lifeguards if they could turn on the wave machine and they did - happily. So John and I swam around against the waves and got plenty of exercise and had a lot of fun. I'm trying to convince John that we should get noodles and sword fight in the pool but he thinks it wouldn't be allowed because it would be a wrong example for the kids. I say let's sword fight the kids!

Vet
We took Danny to the vet to get him checked out and have his meds adjusted. He has asthma. He's been on 3 meds (one of them steroids) for several years and starting about 6 months ago his wheezing gradually got worse. The doc gave him a short acting and a long acting shot of prednisone and prescribed an inhaler with albuterol and prednisone. We'll take him back in a month or two depending on how the new adjustment of his meds works out.

Like most vets this one treats a wide range of animals and there were dogs, cats and birds when we went there. Danny was very interested in the birds. Danny is a very sweet kitty - all the vets say so. He gets that from his dad (John).

We went shopping at one of the large new malls (Alma) in Rennes. It's bright and airy and creative in its design. Even the little kids' merry go round is uniquely artistic with animals and insects for kids to ride. At one entrance there is a fountain and pond beneath a mirror that runs the length of the escalator above it. It's a cool effect. Many ceiling lights are huge ovals trimmed in blue or green. Serene.

The mall also has many restaurants, shops, activities, events and modern architecture throughout. Nice hangout.

Allow me to to state one more time that it is SOOOOOOOOO nice to have clean streets, beautiful green environs and excellent mass transit in my home town. Everyone picks up after their dogs, the rain keeps the plants healthy and fresh year round and the buses come every ten minutes on weekdays. Very nice.

An escargot in an indoor carousel at the Alma mall in southern Rennes.	Larger pic of the indoor carousel.	The escalator was mirrored on the underside.
The mall has interesting lighting.	The exterior of the Alma mall is very modern.	Another view of the mirrored escalator.
Our new veterinarian's building	Our new veterinarian from a pic on his website.	They take care of a wide variety of animals.

25.01.2018

All is well here. We both like Rennes a lot. The greenery and animals are a joy for both of us.

Today we went to my favorite Mexican restaurant, El Popoca, in the downtown area. I love that place. On the way there and on the way home John took pics of some of the novel places of business including a honey shop, a magic shop and a cobbler's shop.

On the way to the historic center we passed by a very weird looking tree whose branches seem to have been heavily burdened for a while and then suddenly had its load lightened significantly. The branches angle down, dip and then spring up toward the sky. At dusk it looks spooky and dangerous. -- kinda like an ent (Lord of the Rings) or the apple trees that swatted Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ. We have a daytime photo of the tree. I'll get a night time one soon.

Kitties windows
We set up the kitties tower in a configuration that perfectly fits our "picture window" in the living room. We're on the ground floor now so the kitties get to see people and dogs walking by, birds hopping on the ground and flying away, cars going by, grass and tree leaves swaying and more. Danny sits in his bed on the floor and Tommy is usually on one of the perches of the tower. They pay attention to the activities outside and seem contented with the distractions. Lately, though, some little kids have been coming by specifically to see the kitties. One boy had small tree branches which he swatted against the window and scared the begeezus outta Danny. Tommy sleeps through stuff like that. Some of the kids who come by are regulars now who seem to think we're a pet store with cats in our display window. John and I originally planned that the people and animals outside would be on display for our cats, but now our cats are also on display for the people and animals outside. I guess that's a win-win.

Activities in Rennes
Rennes has a bunch of Mardi Gras stuff over a few days including parades, giant puppets and music (similar to Nice) and many of the towns in the surrounding region have many festivals from mid February through May. Rennes has many spring festivals too, in addition to its big Mardi Gras party.

In the days and weeks after the Rennes Mardi Gras we're going to some of the spring festivals in surrounding towns. I love a party!

We'll go to the Rennes Mardi Gras on Feb 13 and the next day we are going to Paris to celebrate Valentine's Day with a boat cruise, dinner, visiting the Orange museum and the top of a nearby tower and Montmartre.

This is our Valentine's Day in Paris itinerary with links to related information.
Tour-Montparnasse
Montmartre
Lunch cruise on Seine
Orangerie Museum

Just FYI, Rennes has many of the resources an ex-pat needs such as English speaking medical services Link 1 Link 2 and English language movies. In Rennes it seems that all local movie theaters have 1-6 English language films

Puppets Lyon
In December 2016 we went to a museum in Lyon and saw miniatures used in some films including the animated movie "Ma Vie de Courgette" ("My Life as a Zucchini"). We are watching the movie now. There is a dubbed English version but we are watching the French version with English subtitles. It was nominated for a variety of awards including last year's Academy Awards. It's a collaboration movie but mostly French.

Current events
Not long ago the son of Marion and Doc (two of our friends in Nice) was visiting Hawaii when that missle strike emergency alert was sent out.
It's awful that they and their son had to go through that terror caused by the nuclear alert. I'm glad it was a false alarm but the threat is real. That Trump would agitate Kim and risk the lives of so many. Republicans enable him. There has to be a better system for what we call governance in America.
"The U.S. is the designated recipient ‐ and that's because we are public enemy No. 1 to North Korea," Dan Leaf, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and Pacific Command deputy commander The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency has been holding "are you ready" drills. As a chain of islands, Hawaii is subject to all kinds of threats ‐ hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis ‐ but officials have made clear that none is more urgent now than the threat of an attack by North Korea, given how little time there would be between an alert and the detonation of a bomb.

Local Current Events
Emmanuel Macron is tightening immigration rules Emmanuel Macron plans to tighten the rules on immigration and asylum. Unemployment is still near 10% here (which is why it is difficult getting a work visa here). This doesn't effect us or others who qualify for many other Visas but it severely impacts refugees.

Swimming
John started swimming and we're going to do a swimming pool tourism route soon. There are 7 major pools in Rennes. Each public pool has different interesting features.

The pool we will be using the most is in Parc des Gayeulles, the largest park in Rennes. which has a large lovely garden close to the pool building. Also close to the pool near the entrance to the park are adorable, friendly "wild" animals including deer, mountain goats and swans. The swimming pool has a wave machine and a tight circle slide in the middle of one of its "play" pools (most of these facilities have several separate pools).

The Art Deco Saint-Georges Swimming Pool has Odorico mosaics and murals, a giant moon hanging over the pool (temporary exhibit). The building has an appealing architecture with a lot of tile designs and many arches and alcoves. It has been designated as the 8th best pool in the world by Architectural Digest.

We're both on a swimming pool tear right now., but there is so much to enjoy about Rennes. We will have plenty to share with those of you who come to visit!

BTW, did you know that Brittany is considered a Celtic nation? There is a non-French language commonly spoken here -- Breton.

The Celtic nations are territories in western Europe where Celtic languages or cultural traits have survived. The term "nation" is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common identity and culture and are identified with a traditional territory. The is a strong Anglo influence in Rennes - American and UK but fewer people here speak English than in Nice.

Multi-use office building with shale and brick shell common in Rennes.	Tommy handled the stress of moving by cuddling with his scratching toy.	Trying to design a new configuration for the kitty tree.
The boys like their new kitty tree setup with their widescreen Kitty TV window.	Foggy morning in Rennes.	The view on Rue d'Orléans on a Sunday morning.
Rennes City Hall built in the 1740's.	Detail from the Rennes City Hall.	Across the square from the City Hall is the Rennes Opera House.
One of Rennes many chocolate shops.	A common sight in Rennes. A cobblestone entrance into an interior residence courtyard.	Another view of our apartment building.

Gayeulles swimming pool where we get our exercise.	Fawn that is part of the deer herd near the Gayeulles swimming pool.

This swan flew in to get some food near the deer herd.	The mosaic floor of the Republique Post Office done by the Odorico family in the 1920's.	The bald cypress with aerial roots two feet high at Parc Oberthür.
An eagle sized nest at Parc Oberthür.	Peaceful Parc Oberthür on a foggy morning.	This cobbler statue was set up outside a shoe repair shop in downtown Rennes.
This honey store opened in 1921. Notice the bee sign in the upper right.	We found a very small magic shop in downtown Rennes.	Spooky looking tree with curvy branches