A Briton in Brittany 8
As promised , episode 8 sees a bit of a break from writing and the introduction of the all-singing, all-dancing PHOTO TOUR OF RENNES! Ooooh, I hear thee say.
Kicking things off, this is the view from the south end of the track at Stade Commandante Bouguin. 400m outdoor concrete track, so 50m shorter per lap than Herne Hill. Slightly steeper than HH.
Extremely high-tech bathroom facilities. Major proponent of the 'concrete will do for everything' school of architectural design. Not that anyone is ever there to use it. Except me.
The view down a quintessential Rennais street. Bit of cobbled action (these ones relatively new and barely discernable under-wheel. Obligatory graffiti artwork on the left. Whitevan would appear to be just as popular in France as UK.
Another quintessential Rennais street. This time one just off Place Saint-Anne. Orange-y looking place on the right is a brazilian restaurant. Red place on the left is a chinese/vietnamese. Further on there's a creperie. Who says multiculturalism isn't working?
Side view of the imposing monotony that is the the Law and Social Sciences Dept building of l'Université de Rennes l. 6 floors of drab concrete depression. My 'office'.
Place Hoche in the centre. Nice fountain. Lots of benches. On the right is a lovely building from the insert suitably impressive sounding name period of modern architecture. On the left is the Rue de la Visitation shopping centre, containing such classic French brands like Topman and H&M.
Final slightly twee pic of some of the older timber-framed pubs/cafés on the side of Place Saint-Anne. Omnipresent bearded tramp added for artistic effect. It doesn't look like it but I've just seen him trying to catch a pigeon.
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Another pic from the North end of the track, this time looking West. As you can see, the North side stays pretty dry when the sun comes out, but due to the shadows at the South side it can still remain a bit damp.
My boudoir/castle/lair. Essential keep calm poster, union flag, etc etc. Note the www.hasbean.com coffee on top of the fridge and beloved Rancilio espresso machine to the right of it. The eagle-eyed amongst you may also spot Englebert, my girlfriend's pet elephant/aardvark/hybrid soft toy, on the bed and my 'lucky' small white Dalek on the bedside cabinet
A view from a sidestreet of Saint-Anne, the big cathedral-churchy structure in the centre of Rennes.
Night-time pic looking along the side of Place Saint-Michel in the centre of the city. Tasteful Xmas decorations up now. To the left is La Lupa, a very nice/affordable (aren't they somehow interrelated?) Italian.
Front door of La Lupa. Very nice mushroom ravioli. Or so I'm told. cough. Staff are quite friendly, too, and the atmosphere is nice.
Not sure what this is called. But it's leaving the centre, and about 500m from the law school. About 3 secs after I took this pic, the lights on it went out. Not really sure why.
