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01.09.2018

We went to Eglise Saint-Etienne with Kathleen and Dave for our second organ recital. Dave likes organ music a lot (but not the Light My Fire or Inna Gadda da Vida kinds). The church was lovely, the music was soothing but the seats were hard.

Eglise Saint-Etienne is a small 17th Century church in the historic quarter of Rennes. This cozy church has great acoustics.





08.09.2018

Trip to Nantes

John and I made another trip to Nantes for a Democrats Abroad meeting and to see sights we missed when we were there the first time.

We started our day with the underground Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery. It's display contains a variety of information related to Nantes' participation in the western hemisphere slave trade including a display which showed the amount of slave traffic including with Nantes. The layout of the memorial was shaped and illuminated so as to suggest the interior of a slave ship. Quotes from many speeches and literature were presented in massive text displays under dim lights. Above the memorial over a hundred slave ships were represented by glass plaques set into the surface of the pedestrian area.

Machines of the Isle
After leaving the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery we crossed the bridge over the Loire River to visit the Machines of the Isle Workshop where they create the animatronics in all their stages.

The Workshop staff demonstrated functions of the animatronics: a giant inch worm, a huge spider, a massive predator bird, a very large ant, a hummingbird and more in La Galerie des Machines.

While standing on the balcony of the gallery we saw the giant animatronic elephant again, spraying water at the kids and adults on the ground.

We wandered around Nantes for a while before the DAF meeting. We saw some of the older parts of town which are pedestrian only and with interesting ruins.

Democrats Abroad Meeting
John and I met with Allison to discuss the Democrats Abroad Rennes Chapter start up. We met Stephen, another of the DA Nantes activists, and conversed with him a while after the meeting. He's interesting and very likable. Allison is working hard on a number of DA projects. She's impressive and at least a bit over worked.

The entrance to the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery was a stairway leading underground. This display showed the amount of
slave traffic starting with Nantes to the north. 		The layout of the memorial suggested the interior of a slave ship.
Quotes from many speeches
and literature were displayed. 		Over a hundred slave ships were represented by glass plaques set into the surface above the memorial. We crossed the bridge over the Loire River
to revisit the Machines of the Isle.
Giant animatronic inch worm Huge animatronic spider Large animatronic predator bird
Animatronic ant Animatronic hummingbird La Galerie des Machines
Animatronic elephant spraying folks. We were close to the elephant
while standing on the balcony. 		People could ride on the top, inside or
on the sides of the elephant.
Workshop where they create the animatronics. The older part of Nantes is pedestrian only. We found some interesting older ruins.
At a meeting for Democrats Abroad France
in Nantes.





26.09.2018

Dave and Kathleen invited us to join them on two adventures today to:
1) La Roche-aux-Fées and
2) a 500 years old church (Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption) in La Guerche-de-Bretagne to see carvings of the 7 Deadly Sins in the choir stalls.

La Roche-aux-Fées is a Neolithic passage grave, or dolmen, located in the commune of Essé, in the French department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany.

"Built in the Neolithic Age, the Roche-aux-Fées is a megalithic monument which is special not only because of its size and its architectural features, but also because of its positioning. At the winter solstice, something extraordinary happens and shows the real magic of the place: the first ray of the rising sun is in line with the megalith row. These mysterious happenings have not escaped the notice of the local people who claim to have seen fairies at work there, which is where the name of the monument comes from."

Refer to the picture of John standing at the entrance to La Roche-aux-Fées structure to provide some context for the size of the formation. John's 5'11". The largest stone in the middle on top weighs 45 tons. I kept telling John and Kathleen that no way did tiny fairies carry those huge stones - especially not in their aprons!!! (one of the plaques said the people of that time believed in the aproned fairies). The builders of those structures HAD to have been giants! Actually, we were provided information as to how the stone formations were created. The base stones were rolled on logs and then pulled upright with heavy ropes and many slaves. The top part was constructed by first creating a very large dirt mound which matched the height and width of and was adjacent to the stones. Then, using tree trunks as rollers, new 40+ ton rocks were rolled into place on top of and at right angles to the standing stones.

Many more images of La Roche-aux-Fées, including building plans, can be viewed here NOTE: perhaps the fairies drew the building plans?

There are many and varied stone formations in Brittany and we will have many more adventures to see the giant stones of Carnac and other menhirs and dolmens of the area. The erected granite stones, the most prominent ones seen in Carnac, are older than Stonehenge, 4500 BC versus 3000 BC. Dave and Kathleen have traveled extensively to a wide variety of archaeological sites (and many other types of destinations). As we continue our explorations we will definitely keep you posted about our archaeological adventures.

La Guerche-de-Bretagne
Dave and Kathleen took us to La Guerche-de-Bretagne, a little town that has 14th Century buildings with satellite TVs. We visited the Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption there. The barrel vaulted ceiling, tomb of William II of La Guerche, details of the ornate carvings (the Seven Deadly Sins) of the wooden choir stalls are included in the photos below.

The lovely church organ was built in the 1880's. The names of World War I dead from the village of La Guerche-de-Bretagne are listed on an ornate memorial which sits beneath a stained glass window.

Before we left we had lunch at the Terre & Mer Restaurant in Janze. This was another limited-menu 3-course meal deals where one selects from a few choices of appetizer, entre and desert.

John at the entrance to La Roche-aux-Fées. Side view of La Roche-aux-Fées. The largest stone weighs 45 tons. The other side view of this Neolithic
(New Stone Age) structure.
Inside the 5000 year old structure. Crossing the La Seiche River. La Guerche-de-Bretagne has 14th Century buildings with satellite TVs.
Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption in
La Guerche-de-Bretagne 		The barrel vaulted ceiling is easy to see
in the interior. 		The tomb of William II of La Guerche
A detail from the choir stalls
from the 15th Century. 		The wooden choir stalls had
very ornate carvings. 		More detail from the 15th Century choir stalls.
The organ was built in the 1880's. The World War I dead from the village of La Guerche-de-Bretagne are listed in this memorial. We had an excellent meal at the
Terre & Mer Restaurant in Janze.





27.09.2018

Another invitation we accepted from Kathleen and Dave took us to the lovely Canal d'Ille et Rance. At the end of summer the greenery is still plentiful. We had about a week of very warm weather a few weeks ago which took a toll on some Hydrangeas here. As we walked along the canal we enjoyed exploring the locks, each with it's own lock house nearby. Portions of the canal were covered by trees making for a pleasantly cool walk and beautiful scenery. There was a difference of six feet in the water levels at the locks.

Kathleen is a photographer and it's been cool watching her set up a tripod or "point and click, point and click" in every direction. She took a lot of photos of the places we visited, objects there and photos of people including pics of John and me (some are included below).

Canal d'Ille et Rance We enjoyed walking along the canal
exploring the locks. 		Portions of the canal were covered by trees.
There was a difference of six feet in the water levels at the locks. The locks were well maintained, as is
most of the infrastructure in France. 		The hot summer took a toll
on the Hydrangeas.
The tree covered portions of the canal
were very beautiful. 		Each lock had it's own lock house nearby. Kathleen, John and Ruth
Kathleen took these pics of John... ...and Ruth





30.09.2018

Of course we still visit Oberthür Park and feed the ducks. The number of ducks doubled since we were last here. Duckie visitors on their way south we suppose. That giant orange fish that's been dead for about 4 months is still there. John left a comment on the park's web site asking that someone remove the giant dead fish but to no avail. Sigh. When we feed the ducks we share our duck food mixture with little kids. We consider it our contribution toward teaching what kind of food ducks should eat (seeds, oats, rice but not bread).

Kathleen and Dave left for Nice today. (Bye Dave and Kathleen!). We won't see them for a few months. They both liked Brittany a lot, but Kathleen is concerned about how cold it will get here in the winter. They said they might be back to visit this winter and if so they will have first hand experience with Brittany's winter weather. Since they came here from Portland they might feel right at home here in the winter. Hope so. It was very nice spending time with them.