A Day in Rennes

Because the weather has been so grim the last week or so and there is only a certain amount of grey gloom a person can bear (!!) we decided to spend some time in Rennes today to cheer ourselves up, and what happened - the sun came out !! Not that I am complaining as it certainly made the visit more pleasant!

As well as being home to my nearest LQS (!!),Rennes is the capital of Brittany, and Brittany is quite unique in France as it boast its own parliament. I don't know what it is with the Celtic people, but we all seem to dislike being told what to do by people outside of our territory !! Just think about it - Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man and Brittany all have some form of 'home rule'. The only exception to this is Cornwall and even they have their own flag !!!

There are lots of details and some great photos of the city if you follow the link, but just in case you are short of time, here are a few of my own

Hotel de Ville

(City Hall)

Parliament Building

A selection of the timbered buildings, many of which make up the 'restaurant' quarter of the city

Anyone for lunch ??

My favourite building in Rennes is the St Georges Municipal Swimming Pool which I found quite by chance down a side street, and fell in love with. Commissioned in 1925 it is a gem of Art Deco architecture with the most wonderful ceramics ! Every time we take 'visitors' to Rennes I parade them to St Georges and ,until today , have been given the most warm welcome and treated to the 'Freedom of the Baths' ! Today it was no go, the very day I remembered the camera , for some reason the attendant would not allow me out of the foyer !! Now, I have to ask myself was it because today it was a lady attendant and every other time it has been a man ? Are the French males more courteous than the females ??

Whatever it was I didn't get in ,which is a great pity as the pool itself is just so incredibly old fashioned, with rows of little changing cubicles down each side where you go in one door fully clothed and pop out the other in your bathers and straight into the pool - fabulous !!! So I can only show you some close ups of the ceramics, but there is a good photo of the outside on this link as well as a write up.

Aren't the colours just amazing !! There is also a very fine Opera House, but today the sun was just in the wrong place and the photos were hopeless, so maybe next time !

Well, that's a little part of our day out in Rennes ! We had a lovely lunch sitting outside in the sunshine, and it will come as no surprise to hear that more fabric found its way into the shopping bag !!!