Rennes 6/5

On to Rennes today, the town where Richard spent his high school scholastic year abroad. We first stopped in La Foret de Broceliande, home to Arthurian legends and death place of Merlin. An abbey and church are there as well. We toured the church, the Abbaye de Notre Dame de Paimpont, a barrel vaulted Romanesque Church gothic touches and a baroque alter. Then we took a walk part way around the lake there getting a chance to enjoy the forest and some sights. After, we enjoyed a nice lunch at a Brasserie.

We found and checked into our hotel located in the center of town and took off to see the excellent Musee des Beaux Arts before it closed. The museum featured famous painters during the Beaux Arts period together with some Egyptian archeological items and a hall filled with interesting items from Iran dating back to the 13th century.

We then toured Rennes walking along its old streets, through a park and onto its large civil plaza. There were plenty of kids going home from school. It’s a pleasant town. We also hopped into the Paroisse Notre Dame de Bonne Nouvelle, a Romanesque church with barrel vaulting that has gothic elements tacked onto it over the centuries similar to the one we saw earlier..

We had a nice happy hour and excellent goodby dinner for Matt and Kevin who depart tomorrow.Read more