I'm sitting in the hostel common area sipping a mug of steaming tea, trying to sort out my thoughts. Its been a whirlwind of a week. In a crazy twist, I am not heading towards the Alps anymore. I was initially very hesitant to change my course, but I couldn’t resist the clashing sword, eloquent speeches, and mystery that comes with the thought of King Arthur and other fables. This is the route I have been travelling for the past few days:


View Larger Map

But first, Rennes. Rennes is the capitol city of Brittany, France. The history of the city goes back to the years BC! It was influential in the Roman times--Julius Ceasar himself had to come to Condate (what Rennes was called then) to be a diplomat. The Roman influence is everywhere. It is as if I've stepped back in time with how preserved some of the ancient markers are. This is a picture of the Galo-Roman wall built in the 3rd century.



Being in a big city, I couldn't help but immerse myself in the more lively bits of Rennes. The Opera of Rennes (below) is one of the smallest French opera houses, but it by far the most popular. The season for the opera house is November, so I couldn't see a live performance, but I did get to tour the house and sit up in the top, top seats and pretend I was in a swirling ball gown watching the actors gliding around the stage...



Picture of Rennes
thanks to :fr:Breizh Joan and Ookaboo!

It made me laugh, but in asking around, I found that Rennes is famous for being the most intoxicated region of France! And the Rue de la soif (below), is the infamous street lined with bars that creates much of the ruckus in Rennes on a nightly basis. On the weekends it looks a lot like Times Square on New Years Eve! In English, rue de la soif means "street of thirst"!



Picture of Rennes
thanks to Selby from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

There was so much more to see, but I didn't have much time. The allure of the medieval was calling and so I headed down the road to Paimpont, France. Here I found the Paimpont Forest, believed to be the Brocéliande forest in a book (Roman d Rou) written in 1160 by Wace. This forest is a place of untold mystery; mysterious happenings, unpredictable weather, and mystical ties to the legend of Arthur (it is believed the Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable originated here). This is supposedly the home of the Fountain of Youth and Merlin's tomb.



Picture of Paimpont forest
thanks to Goofijve60180 from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!
Merlin's tomb

I just couldn't get my fill of the medieval times so I headed to Dinan, a small town known for its upkeep of its medieval roots. It is set on the River Rance, with easy access to the port (Fresh Seafooooood!!!). I did take a day motor boat ride out to the port and back. It is definitely a different view from the water. The town is surrounded by a thick stone wall.



Picture of Dinan
thanks to GrahamBould from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

The streets are cobbled and steep, the buildings repaired and well-kept, the houses with more wood accenting than I've noticed so far:



Picture of Dinan
thanks to MGA73bot2 from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

Every other summer, Dinan hosts the Fête des Remparts (a medieval reinactment festival). Unfortunately, I came in the off year. But I was able to get lively renditions from the locals. Street entertainers are on every corner, harps and other old musical instruments make an appearance--there's even a jousting event at the end of the festival. Knights ride around in horses and damsels theatrically find themselves in some amount of dire distress that they need rescuing from!

The Thursday market was just as if it was out of a movie. Bustling, busy, with people milling every which way with stray chickens darting between the stands. It seemed that as much of the food for sale was alive as was dead and prepared :)

Though Dinan is a historic, medieval town it still manages to be big enough to have its own 13-15th century castle and a basilica (below)!



Picture of Dinan
thanks to Tango7174 from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

Now, here I am, awaiting tomorrow and a whole new world of things to do and see...

Pontorson-->Vitre

This leg of my journey might very well be the longest. I am anxious to see Rennes and all it has to offer! I have heard so many wonderful things from my friend Gabrielle. Here’s the GoogleMaps link to where I went:


View Larger Map

I stopped in several small towns along the way to Rennes. These little places gave me a big piece of everyday life. The manors and fields seemed to be out of Hollywood. This is a public manor that they let me poke around in and explore:


This photo of Manoir de la branche is courtesy of TripAdvisor


This photo of Manoir de la branche is courtesy of TripAdvisor

The weather hasn't changed much since leaving the coast. The winds have definitely died down, but the temperatures have stayed steady in the low to mid 50's. It is similar to the weather back home, even the humidity here is comparable to Boise! That surprised me with all the coastal lands here.

My next stop was Sens-de-Bretagne, which translated means "Direction of Brittany". This little commune of barely 2000 people have a richly historic story, and they aren't afraid to brag about it. I got there on a Monday, just in time for the weekly market set up the Charles V. When I visited a coastal town last fall, they had a weekly Sunday market. The food, clothing and crafts were amazing! Homemade sasauges, more fromage (cheese) than you could imagine, homemade dinner creations, the freshest seafood, fragnant soaps, and every type of scarf you could dream up. This market was no less fantastic.

I also got to go to an accordion concert! This town is full of music and people that want to share their music. This was quite the excitement of the day.

In a surprising twist, I fell in love with a town called Saint-Aubin-d'Aubigne. I decided to stay in a year-round campground with a POND! There are two trails set up around this town, a shorter and a longer one, that allow you to see the town on foot and explore the major historical and architectural achievements! This is my type of exploring and I decided to take a chance on this.

The long hike (the one I chose to do) had its inagural "walk" on September 20, 2009. Here is an exerpt from the brochure I recieved,

"From Saint Aubin, the group found Mr. Ternay commented that the visit of the park of Saint Aubin d'Aubigne. Quelques bonnes foulées après (!), l'arrivée à Saint Médard vers midi a été l'occasion de rentrer dans l' église de Saint-Médard et d'y découvrir des trésors et l'Histoire des lieux. After some good strides (!), Arriving at about noon St. Medard was the opportunity to return to the church of St. Medard and discover the treasures and history of the place. Vers 13h, la convivialité du groupe s'est accentué lors de la pause pique-nique au bord de l' étang d'Aubigné . To 13h, the friendliness of the group became more pronounced during lunch picnic on the banks of the pond Aubigne. La reprise des sentiers a permis de trouver quelques vieilles pierres enfouies et bien cachées, celles du château féodal d'Aubigné. The recovery of the trails have identified a few old stones buried and well hidden, those of the feudal castle of Aubigny. Encore sous le charme des anciennes demeures de ce village, un petit chemin a mené les radonneurs dans les jardins du château de la Magnanne . Still under the charm of old houses in this village, a small path led the radonneurs in the gardens of the castle Magnanni. Enfin, le retour dans la campagne encore verdoyante de ce mois de septembre a été l'occasion de prendre un bon bol d'air ! Finally, returning to the campaign still green for the month of September was the opportunity to take a breath of fresh air!"

Camping was delightful. There was sparse wooden structures that I used as a tent. My bedroll was not nearly fluffy enough for my taste, but I figured I could do anything for one night. The night was surprisingly warm. There were some locals camping out nearby and they invited me to dinner. The pond has a rich supply of fish and they showed me how to de-bone and grill it on their little grill-that-could. We shared two bottles of Saint-Aubin wine, the grape varieties that come out of this area are Chardonnay and Pinot Grigot. I'm not sure what to think of the Chardonnay, but the Pinot was delightful. Tomorrow morning I will pack up and head to Rennes. I will leave you with this expression that I learned from my new friends,

"L'amour est essentiel dans la vie!"