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01.10.2018

At the end of last month we bought a dryer (our first after 3 years living in France). Drying clothes on the hanging racks in the winter time here (with cold winters) involves blocking the heat from the radiators and thus needing to turn up the central heat (thus less energy savings than one might think). With the racks it takes a long time for the clothers to dry. The racks also take up space and/or block paths and the dried clothes are stiff and scratchy even with softener in the wash.

So, wanting low operating costs, we bought a heat pump dryer which is also a condenser dryer. The heat pump reuses waste heat and the condenser collects all moisture into a long plastic container which we empty after each load. Together that means the dryer can sit anywhere and doesn't need to be vented to the outside. The dryer also has nested filters.

Our dryer sings to us a lot. When it's finished it sings a longish and cute little tune that sounds so happy. Well, it doesn't really sing. It plays bells. It's a bit like a ring tone - better than midi but not as real music sounding as mp3 music. We love our new dryer.

The new dryer fit perfectly in our small kitchen space.	It sits directly across from the washing machine for easy use.

07.10.2018

Sunday in Rennes
As part of the Sunday in Rennes activities John attended the choral concert of British composers at the Basilique Saint Sauveur in the historic quarter of Rennes. From the bus stop there was a pleasant walk through the Place de la Mairie in the cool afternoon.

He did some research about the church before going there. The basilica was originally built in the 11th Century. Like so many French churches it was rebuilt later due to damage. It is the 17th Century reconstruction that we see today. He spent time before the concert examining the interior of the church. He is always impressed with the rib vaulting of the ceiling which has held up tons of stone for centuries. Great medieval engineers!

This particular church has a story of a miracle in 1357, which is: during a siege by the British one night the bells of the church started ringing and the candles were lit by themselves. When the priests came to investigate they saw that the statue of Mary was pointing to a slab on the floor. After digging it up they found a tunnel that the British had mined under the city walls to allow British soldiers to invade Rennes. The Breton soldiers chased the British out and closed the tunnel.

The choral concert was wonderful! Although the composers were British, much of the music was in Latin. The range of compositions ran from the 1500's to present day. The highlight was Handel's Messiah. The quality was quite good for an amateur production.

The Sundays in Rennes events are always full of surprises.

We passed the carousel near the Opera House in the Place de la Mairie.	The city hall looked majestic as always.	Saint-Sauveur Basilica of Rennes was an 11th Century church that was rebuilt in the 17th Century.
Because Saint-Sauveur is a basilica it has a coat of arms that is displayed over the front entrance.	Folks quietly waiting for the choral concert to begin.	Ornate pulpit where the priest gives the sermon.
This stained glass window replaced one that was destroyed in World War II.	The choir gathers to begin the concert.	Small portion of the rib vaulting of Saint-Sauveur Basilica.
Most churches we have visited in France have lists of names of members who have died.

18.10.2018

Today John went to the Préfecture to renew his carte de séjour (residency card). We have to renew our temporary residency each year for the first five years that we live in France. It's hard to believe that we've been here for three years already! Ruth's appointment in on 8 November.

The process was so much easier than last year in Nice. There we had long waits in line. At least one to two hours. In Rennes, John made appointments online. With all of his documents in order (and translated into French) the appointment went very quickly. The appointments were running about half an hour late. Twenty minutes were allotted for each appointment, but John's just took ten minutes. We will receive notice in the mail when our new residency cards are ready and then we'll return to the Préfecture to pick them up after paying the 269 euro fee.

The Préfecture of Ille-et-Vilaine.	Ille-et-Vilaine is the department we live in.

24.10.2018

We recently also bought a new microwave because our second low end Carrefour microwave started having electrical problems. I always bought low end microwaves in the states and I don't recall having problems with them. 3 years ago we bought a low end microwave from Carrefour and the front glass panel shattered after 3 months. They replaced the microwave but one of the LED segments on the new microwave wouldn't light. Now 2 years later the microwave malfunctioned sparking a lot and making noise so we bought a different microwave. It's bigger, more powerful and has more features so I'm happy. It's a Samsung. The new microwave isn't as cool as our new dryer but it is a step up in our kitchen cooking appliances.

Our new microwave is bigger than our old one.

30.10.2018

Today we visited the duckies at Parc Oberthür and there were even MORE duckies than the last time we were there. It seems that no duckies have headed south yet. There were at least 80 ducks and about half of those took turns climbing on the deck for the seeds and grains. The last few times we visited the duckies we didn't take photos but we really should have photographed the ducks and babies today.

Three moms each with a baby less than a year came to see the duckies. John and I spread the duck food all along the deck and a couple of moms helped their kid stand in the midsts of the hungry duckies. Those were very cute happenings. Actually, all the duckies look to be very well fed, not hungry. Nonetheless we think our seeds and grains are rounding out their diets.

Rennes is filled with little kids. The average age here is low because more than a quarter of the population is college kids and because there are a lot of young families. In our apartment complex and in the neighborhood we see many little kids everyday. Makes me smile.

One of the "mohawk" ducks.	Our mix of oatmeal, rice and bird seed for the ducks.

31.10.2018

We had dinner at one of the restaurants downtown and decided to hang out in the area near the Opera House to check out young people in costumes and businesses decked out for the holiday. "Bouh!" signs were everywhere. Toy shops, patisseries and bars were dressed up for the holiday. The little kids were cute but the costumes generally were not cute. That's part of the current Halloween culture here - only scary costumes for everyone. In France, instead of saying trick or treat, the little kids say "Des bonbons ou un sort!" which translates to "Candy or a spell!"

Most of the available public Halloween activities in Rennes were for little kids in the daytime and young adults at night with a few non-alcohol teen activities. Not much for us old folk. John and I considered going to a Halloween event at the largest castle in Europe, Château de Fougères, but things didn't work out.

We also considered going to Paris for Halloween to see the catacombs and a couple of cemetaries with famous people buried in them. Père Lachaise Cemetery has Molliere, Jim Morrison, Collette, Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, Chopin and many other famous and not so famous people. Instead we're going to see all that and do some Christmas lights, markets and displays sightseeing in December.

We are looking into going to London for Halloween some year because they celebrate the spooky holiday big time. Ireland, where Halloween (samhain) started 3,000 years ago has several historical/traditional public activities for Halloween. As best I can ascertain some of those activities resemble Day of the Dead celebrations. We don't know yet which big city we will visit for Halloween next year but, of course, when we go there it won't be just for Halloween.

When we were walking home Halloween night John mentioned the new Freddy Mercury movie starring Rami Malek and we started singing some of the songs including Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust and We Are the Champions which quickly became We Are the Mushrooms.

And for my American friends - - please don't forget to vote and to help others to vote. It is very important.

We started the evening with hamburgers at Roadside.	French kids going trick or treating at Brioche Dorée, a pastry shop.	Tasty muffins at Brioche Dorée
More trick or treaters out in the restaurant area of the historic quarter.	There are many Brioche Dorées in the tourist section.	We enjoyed finding the Halloween window displays.
I love these old buildings.	Goodies at a chocolatier shop.	A chocolate spider with web.
The Opera House on Halloween night.	A silent protest against animal cruelty at Place de la République.