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3.03.2019

John attended a medieval music concert at the Église Toussaints de Rennes, a beautiful 17th Century baroque church in the centre-ville section of Rennes. He enjoyed the older architecture and the music from the 1400's played on classical instruments.

The facade of Église Toussaints de Rennes	To the right of Église Toussaints de Rennes is the High School And Middle School Émile Zola	The natural light brightened the church interior.
The 18th Century pulpit was very ornate.	Clever 17th Century architects kept tons of stone over head for centuries with the use of arches.	Rib-vaulting supports the half barrel ceiling.
As we have seen in other churches, a list of World War I dead was displayed.	The concert was in a small chapel to the north of the main church.	On the way home John saw a Carnaval parade.
The floats were home made as were the costumes.	The daffodils decided to come out today.

6.03.2019

On the way home from shopping today we heard drums and saw a gathering of people in costume outside our buiding. Several were drumming, some were dancing. It was similar to the celebration last year - it even had that big goofy shark - but this gathering was much larger and there were many more little kids in costume. We watched them from outside for a while and then we went inside and watched from the kitchen and living room windows. I love those surprise artistic events.

We found these hop scotch patterns painted on the Mail François Mitterrand on a later trek.

Home made floats.	Drummers and dancers.	More drummers and dancers.
French hop scotch from the earth to the sky.	Mail François Mitterrand.

9.03.2019

For my (belated) birthday we went to see Captain Marvel and then to Big Ferdinand burgers for dinner.

I broke 2 pair of my reading glasses and tried to find the same strength lenses at a couple of places that sell reading glasses (a pharmacy and a discount store) but I learned that I have to go to an optomotrist or an opthamologist to get glasses stronger than 3.50. I was able to order them online.

We went to the underground shops that connect to the metro area. This was our first visit there. There are a lot of useful shops. I found a €1 store and picked up a few things there (but not reading glasses).

17.03.2019

We attended an event showcasing Breton culture dance and song. It was almost exclusively very cute little kids with traditional Breton games, dance, traditional costumes and singing. The children were lead by a teacher singing Breton songs in the Breton language. Maintaining the Breton culture is a strong priority here in Brittany.

On the way home John took some pix of typical housing in the historic quarter of Rennes, an ornate wood carving on a house in the historic quarter and one of the main transportation hubs in town, Republic Square subway and bus exchange.

Traditional Breton game for the little ones.	Little Kids' Dance.	Children in traditional costumes lead by teacher in Breton song.
Older age group.	Kids couples' dance.	Typical housing in the historic quarter of Rennes.
Ornate wood carving on a house in the historic quarter.	Rain drenched Republic Square. We were waiting for a bus.

23.03.2019

John took me to Cimetiére du Nord (Northern Cemetery) in Rennes. The rich and the famous in Rennes are buried here including the Oberture family (the park near our home) the Thabor family (the big beautiful park downtown, Odorico (the mosaic family) and many others.

In addition to the images below, here are some from Wiki Pics. Each family vault houses several coffins. For a quick peak underground (similar vaults) view these photos.

The graves were from hundreds of years old to relatively recent. The architecture of the tombs and graves is generally ornate. Some families have fragile ceramic clusters of bright flowers which are chipped or broken. I'd been doing some super glue repairs at home so I thought I might bring some superglue to fix those flowers the next time we come. But then I thought I should probably ask permission so that I wouldn't be arrested for desecrating a grave or something similar.

The Front Dome of the Cimetiére du Nord designed by the Rennes city architect in 1829.	Tombs and gravestones.	Loved these sculpted effigies.
There were many family vaults for the wealthy.	There was a minimum of space between the graves.	Drapery sculptures were common.
Family Odorico marker for the famous mosaic artists of Brittany.	Some of the older markers are in need of repair. The city has started a refurbishment project for these.	Family vault with Corinthian columns.
Family vault.	There was a variety of grave markers.	There were several small birdhouses attached to the trees.
Couldn't have had a prettier day to visit a cemetery.	Grave of a soldier who died in World War I.	Lots of beautiful sculpture.
A damaged mosaic on this family vault.	Sculpted palm frond.	Plants and flowers sculpted on the cross.
There is not an inch wasted in the cemetery.	We exit through the Front Dome.

24.03.2019

We listened to lovely choral music at Basilique Saint-Sauveur de Rennes composed by Tomás Luis de Victoria. The musicians were all amateurs but their results were beautiful. John loves that kind of stuff and fortunately so, as there is much of it to be enjoyed in Rennes.

Going to the concert we took a new route (for us) and discovered some parts of the historic quarter we hadn't seen before.

A narrow side street took us behind the Cathedral Saint-Pierre of Rennes.	The side street from the other end.	The monumental organ of Basilica Saint-Sauveur of Rennes was built in the 1650's.
The amateur choral group was fantastic!	Wonderful wooden carvings on this half-timbered restaurant. Notice that the street sign is in both French and Breton.

28.03.2019

Now that the weather is nice we will be spending more time communing with the ducks at Parc Oberthür.

The ducks enjoyed the bird seed.	Cammy enjoyed the kitty treats.	And the tulips enjoyed the sunshine.

31.03.2019



We visited the In Out Expo - a public conference / event about local transportation options in Rennees which includes a wide variety of physical transportation, Virtual Reality and programming/telecommuting.

Rennes is definitely a bicycle town. The non-bicycle public transit is very good here but I think the plethora of young people helps make biking most popular.

JUST A NOTE -- in 1 year and 6 months we will be able to apply for French permanent residency or citizenship. The "permanent" residency would be for 10 years. Citizenship is for life. With citizenship come some unwanted inheritance changes (including among spouses) which can be easily circumvented by non citizen residents. We have more research to do but we are leaning toward "permanent" residency. BTW dual citizenship is allowed in France and in the U.S.A.

The In Out Expo had a futuristic feel.	An all electric city bus was present.	As well as some old friends.
There was a learning to ride your bicycle training course for the little ones.	Ruth experimented with the virtual reality headset.	There were little robot vehicles that kids could program.
A great tech from Orange Intercom talked to us about the Breton culture.	A solar powered car.	Several displays had electric modes of self-transport.
The map of Rennes shows how visitors traveled to the expo. The green pins-lights were of those who came by bicycle.	There were Segway hoverboard lessons.	The father and son powered their racing cars by bicycle power.