Rennes, France
by Vincent | April 24–25
Rennes marked the start of our tour around western France and it lies in the area known as Bretagne (Brittany). We arrived without incident to our AirBNB, a super nice little apartment in the city center (I almost just wrote centre, dang).
Day 1, April 24
Rennes had really cool architecture. There are old timber houses that really add to the city’s feel, even though most have burned down since they were originally constructed (being wood and all).
Creperie Sainte-Anne
We ate at a creperie recommended to us by our host. It was right around the corner and we had some galettes (salty crepes). Crepes are a specialty of Brittany and there are unlimited creperies to choose from.
These crepes were delicious — I had one with potatoes, ham, and creme fraiche. Celeste had one with tomato sauce and chorizo (Spanish sausage); she said it tasted like a pepperoni pizza. I also had a cider, another specialty of Bretagne.
So far, we were incredibly happy to be in Rennes and this will continue throughout our stay.
Arch & Tour du Duchesne
After stopping by the office of tourism, there was a nearby tower and an “arch” which were both part of the old wall surrounding Rennes.
The arch was attached to an old tower, the Tower of Duchesne. In front of the tower was a little garden/park and we relaxed there for awhile with some other people reading.
Gardens
We decided we’d go check out the parks as we heard they were pretty good in this area. The first one we stopped at was one by the palais and it was beautiful — super well-laid-out.
Then we kept going until we reached the entrance to Parc du Thabor. We were in for a treat because take a look at this:
Wow! Hands down, Rennes and Nantes both had the best gardens in France. We discovered that Thabor is actually one of the top 4 national gardens in France and for good reason: it was simply breathtaking. It was like a garden out of a fairy tale.
There was a bird sanctuary.
There were plenty of beautiful flowers and even a giant seqouia!
And a large garden with trees apparently given names by what I can only assume is sourced from a Random Name Generator or social media.
Walked along quays
After the garden we wanted to explore the quays by the river running through town. It was pretty neat but not as interesting as a canal city.
Opera Square
We saw the opera square with a bunch of people milling about. The parliament house changes colors in the summer nights, but it was only lit up normally when we were there.
Eglise de Saint Pierre
The Saint Pierre church was amazing. It was just so… golden. It was suitably impressive.
Le Grand Muraille de Chine
For dinner, we ate some Chinese food and it was pretty good! Nothing wrong with a little Asian food every once in awhile.
Le Dejazey
I wanted to try and find a place with some live music and drinks, since we hardly ever go out at night in France. We found a place by accident called Le Dejazey and it was awesome — there was some French hipster band playing folksy/swing music and I had a Leffe Blonde while we listened to the music.
Satisfied we met our requirement of going out, we headed back home around 11pm. The nightlife is strong in Rennes, as we could hear plenty of people outside partying and having fun. In fact, there was a group of women that walked by singing, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” with French accents. We are not Party People(tm) so we didn’t join in but France is perfect for those of you who enjoy going out at night — especially if you like staying out until 3am or 4am.
Day 2, April 25
Market
The Rennes market on Saturdays is famous around France and we discovered why. It’s massive! It has both indoor and outdoor stalls along with so much street food you could easily eat there for lunch or dinner — tons of Asian food along with crepes and other local fare.
I bought some artisan cider and beer (both fantastic).
For lunch we sampled some street food — chicken brochettes (skewers), nems (eggrolls), and a chicken tikka wrap. For dessert, we also bought a special Breton cake known as “kouign-amaan”, made with butter, sugar, and layers of pastry bread. It was delicious and is now one of my favorite pastries in France.
Parc du Thabor
The park again?! Yes, it was that good we had to go again to see what we missed yesterday.
We saw a grotto and an area with fenced in chickens and ducks. It started to rain so we just found a sheltered tree and just sat under it listening to Spotify (mostly a loop of True Survivor) until the rain dissipated. It was relaxing and fun.
St. Melane church
We walked around town and came across some other churches, St. Melane and St. Sauveur.
Little park with war memorial
Near Parc du Thabor was a little war memorial park and we stopped to admire the cool sword-bearing statue.
Sainte-Anne creperie for crepes sucree
For a midday snack we wanted sweet crepes so we went back to Sainte-Anne. I got a citron (lemon) crepe with sugar and Celeste had banana and lemon.
La Tomate
For dinner we read that a local Italian place was pretty good so we sat outside and enjoyed a pizza and bruschetta. The bruschetta was faaaaantastic.
The pizza was tasty and satisfying, like a pizza should be. It had potatoes and two kinds of ham on it.
We had a super fun time in Rennes. It was our favorite city of the three we visited. Next up, Nantes!
