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10.06.2018

I finally found some Meet-up groups that could be helpful to our goal of meeting new people in Rennes. There's even an English speaking atheist meet-up group in Brittany which I might attend. For those who know French much better than we do there are a couple of groups for conversing in a second language (for the French and for the English speakers). We also found some which are for meeting other English speakers. I'm monitoring those. I am studying French every day but I'm slow and still taking baby steps.

Summer brought bright golden yellow flowers to our courtyard.

14.06.2018

John discovered the website for local Communist activities. We saw some flags for a demonstration downtown and were trying to figure out what that was about. It's not all strikes - there are many human rights marches and other activities. We'll keep an eye out and maybe attend some events, but it appears to all be in French so we'll likely do a short term Tammy and Tommy Tourist (our secret identities) routine when we go.

16.06.2018

I'm still working with Allison on starting the local Democrats Abroad for Rennes. We'll have our next meeting on August 2. John and I are pretty excited about it.

John and I recently bought discount railroad passes that provide a significant discount on our fares for a year. At the end of this month we are going to Saint Malo by rail and the discounts for that one trip were more than we paid for one discount pass. The transportation strikes are still ongoing so, in planning our trip, we had to dodge the strike outages.

17.06.2018

For Father's Day I took John to one of the archaeological sites at Parc des Tanneurs in Rennes that was temporarily opened to the public for Archaeology Days. We stood and listened to a 20 minute presentation in French (of which we understood very little) and then John wandered around the dig and took several photos. John was in heaven! I stayed under a bunch of big trees and watched little kids doing little kid archaeology stuff in some open tents. They were cute, that was fun.

A very enthusiastic archaeologist gave a briefing on the excavations in Rennes.	Several work stations were set up for kids to practice excavation techniques.	Parc des Tanneurs provided lots of room for various work stations.
This work station taught skeleton uncovering techniques.	Lego archaeologists!	Strange pairing of a two thousand year old Celtic village exacavation and new construction across the street.
Celtic brickwork dated to the time when Caesar defeated the Gauls.	The remains of a building wall.	The L'Ille River canal flowed near the Parc des Tanneurs.

22.06.2018

We went back to Parc Oberthür a couple of times to check on our baby duckies. They are growing fast. When we visit them we feed the ducks our duck food mixture of bird seed, rice and oatmeal. I always share our duck food with one or more kids so they can feed the ducks nutritious food (instead of bread). Today we met a young child who could barely hold the food. Her name is Romi (I'm not sure about the spelling). Her mom said they will be moving here soon -- into the same apartments we live in. She's French and demurred that she could speak "a little" English but she spoke very well. A very few words were missing from her vocabulary but that was all. We exchanged email addresses. It's nice to have a new person in our lives -- and she speaks English too!

Momma Duck and ducklings climbed rocky stairs to eat our duck food mix.	Large fish grabbing yummies on the surface of the pond.	The baby ducklings are getting bigger.
I have some oatmeal stuck on my bill. Can you help, s'il vous plaît?

23.06.2018

We went to the Saturday market again today. The fruit and meat there is so much better than in the grocery stores. There are many cooked dishes too and so far about half of them are truly wonderful. (The other half may be truly wonderful to someone else - just not for me.) Every Saturday that we are available will be a Saturday market day for us. Next week we will be in San Malo so we'll miss out then. But we will make up for that the next week.

Today is Croatia's Day of Antifascist Struggle. To celebrate we went to a circus this afternoon. It was primarily acrobatics resembling Cirque du Soleil (but not as practiced). It was a nice afternoon endeavor.

An interesting tidbit for you -- all French citizens are now organ donors unless they opt out.

Creperie in the historic quarter of Rennes near the Lices Market.

29.06.2018 - 30.06.2018

So it seems we've become travel writers. There is so much to see and do in France. Even near our home there are amazing venues and activities. Here is an article with details about 14 Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in Brittany.

John and I just got back from visiting Saint Malo. Everyone has been telling us to visit there. John was all jazzed about the expansive archeology and history, the museums and their aquarium. All that is cool to me too but not as exciting to me as it is to John. While doing the things John likes we came across many beautiful and interesting views. John brought to my attention a lovely rectangular swimming pool with a diving board that was part of the ocean. Dinard, the town across the local channel has a similar huge round one. People were swimming laps and playing shuttlecock in the water. I was surprised that people go into the water because I know it is cold there. We didn't take a dip.

We walked along the top of the ramparts (fully intact city walls) which ran almost all the way around the city. As we walked we saw to one side the English Channel, to the other the city. The city is now primarily shops, restaurants and hotels. The sidewalk cafes are colorful. The buildings housing restaurants and hotels are ornate and elegant. It's an impressive sight. We walked up and down so many stairs we were well worn out by the time we got home.

We also went to the local history museum, the Grand Aquarium and the Saint-Malo Cathedral. We wanted to visit Fort National, but will have to wait until next time when low tide dovetails with our schedule.

If you were engaged during your history classes you may recall that Jacques Cartier claimed Canada for France. John went on and on about Cartier. He really is a history nut.

The food in Saint Malo was excellent. We tried four places while we were there and they were all good. I had tried the galette previously (in Rennes) and I didn't like it at all. I tried it in Saint Malo and it was heavenly. The galette in Breton is different from the galette in the rest of France. In Breton it is similar to a savory crepe but made with buckwheat flour. In the rest of France galettes are flat round crusty cakes. One type is the King cake. In Nice they put gold foil crowns on top of them.

Saint Malo is circled by a lot of water and it is beautiful. Turquoise waters and sandy beaches are everywhere. The English channel, the Atlantic and the local harbor surround the city. Lovely.

John took some amazing photos (below) which tell the tale of our visit to Saint Malo. We recommend that you visit there someday if you haven't already.

Every time we travel John buys post cards for the grand kids. He also checks out the books, toys and games for gift ideas for them. Here is a shout-out/hello to Jagger, Harper, Boston and Paisley from both of us in Brittany, France!

Little sightseeing train waits outside the city walls of St. Malo.	Our first view of Château De La Duchesse Anne and the city walls.	Great little carousel near a city wall tower.
The carousel had a hot air balloon...	... an elephant, a submarine ....	... and a biplane.
Two coat of arms over the Saint Vincent gate. My dad would have like that "Semper Fidelis" was on Saint Malo coat of arms.	Our hotel at the Place Chateaubriand.	We found a huge rusted anchor on a side street.
17th-century Fort National. This was our first view of the English Channel. Sandy beaches!	The view from our hotel of the Château De La Duchesse Anne which houses the city musuem.	The entrance to the Grand Aquarium. We never say no to an aquarium!
Little baby moonjellies	Wrasse with anemones.	Anemone garden
Giant crab	Pipefish	Beautiful anemones
Glass hugging starfish	First time I've seen flying fish up close.	The living fossil horseshoe crab.
Cool looking laboratory	Puffy little starfish	Lobster dance
Moray eel looks like it wants to take a bite out of the camera.	Women's and Men's WCs at the aquarium.	The lemon shark seemed to be one big muscle.
The sea turtle liked playing with the bubbles.	This grouper was almost 5 feet long.	I hadn't seen a unicorn fish before.
This looked like a tough little fish.	Beautiful lionfish	Little seahorse
Patterned moray eel	Sea snakes sticking their heads out of the sand.	Rather tubby looking moray eel
Piranha	Axolotls have distinctive fern-like gill structures	Koi at lunchtime
Nighttime view from our hotel window.	Street art in Saint-Malo	Many medieval buildings remain within the city walls of Saint-Malo.
Local heroes are de Chateaubriand who founded Romanticism in French literature...	... and Jacques Cartier, Breton explorer who claimed Canada for France.	Courtyard of the town hall which houses the city museum.
Old warning bell within the city museum. Saint-Malo was threatened by pirates and the English.	Part of a ship's figurehead from the 1700's.	Ship's carpentry tools from the 1700's.
Lighthouse lens	Navigation tools	Carved clay smoking pipes from the 1800's.
A litter to carry nobles around Saint-Malo	The four floors of the museum were connected by steep stairs.	These clay amphorae contained wine and olive oil.
The tower at the top of the Château De La Duchesse Anne provided a great view of the Saint-Malo harbor.	A nice view of the carousel.	A view of our hotel.
A view to the north facing the English Channel.	Fort National in the background, built in the 1600's and used in WWII by the Germans to detain hostages.	Arrow slits built into the tower.
This passageway around the tower provided views from all sides.	Buttresses supporting the walls. Medieval engineering at its best!	Walking along the ramparts of the city walls.
Towers were strong points along the city ramparts.	Circling the city from atop the city walls we were able to see where the many shops and restaurants were.	Fort National at high tide to the left.
On the ramparts during rough seas.	Rooftop gardens with gnomes.	Breakwater protecting the harbor.
The breakwater helped sculpt a nice sandy beach.	Ferries run across the English Channel several times a day from Saint-Malo.	Seagulls getting friendly with Jacques Cartier.
Cannon and salt water swimming pool for safe swimming on the beach.	We saw many kayakers at the beach.	Great looking beach outside the city walls.
It's amazing to me that these medieval city walls are in such good condition.	Facade of 900 year old Gothic Cathédrale Saint-Vincent de Saint-Malo	Bell tower of Saint-Vincent de Saint-Malo
I liked these gargoyle rain spouts.	Remains of a cloister walkway.	Characteristics of a Gothic church: solid and dark except for the light from the stained glass.
Rib-vaulted ceilings gave additional strength to support the high walls.	12th-century sarcophagus containing the relics of Jean de Châtillon, the first bishop of Saint-Malo.	Beautiful stained glass was the only light source.
Tomb of explorer Jacques Cartier.	Place where Bishop of Saint-Malo blessed Jacques Cartier to start his expedition to Canada in 1535.	Pipe organ lit by light of rose stained glass window.
Rose window.