After having seen Rennes the day I went to the pastoral workshop, I just had to come back and see some of the cultural aspects of this delightful city that resembles Chattanooga in some respects. I entered into a beautiful train station with plenty of restaurants and markets. On coming into town, I saw the prestigious Lycee Emile Zola, which is apparently a very good high school in Rennes. The building had articulate classical architecture. From there, I went through the Place de la Republique Jaures and Parliament Square with a classic French look.
I decided to visit the Musee des Beaux Arts, where I saw anything from 16th century paintings of Jesus' Crucifixion to Renaissance work of a worship rite to Pan to nude statues and figures to Abstract expressionism and Picasso. Mostly French art lined the walls of this interesting museum, and I actually had the time to go through most of it without feeling bored or withdrawn. One striking exhibition featured three paintings (a series) by Caillebotte, which depicted three different scenes in nature. The first was a painting of children playing outside, the second featured rowers canoeing in a river, and the third showed swimmers diving into a natural water-hole. The way the light shone in on these paintings was fascinating and beautiful. I sat for several minutes and looked at the series as telling a story, yet showing a tableau of the beauty of nature. The greens and yellows stood out within these works and it was rather pleasant to see.
I then went to look for lunch, which was not that easy to do, seeing as I did not know the city well. I ended up circling around trying to find a place and came upon a brasserie with bright green and yellow colors that looked interesting. I picked a good one too, because the place filled up quickly at lunch, a good indicator of a quality restaurant. The place has bright but warm-colored glasses. I ordered a special salad with tomatoes, avocado, cucumber salad as an entree, beef stew a la nicoise (with delicious mushrooms and nicoise olives-mmm...). The stew came in a little mini pot, which I poured onto the delightfully square plate. The potage or orange-colored mashed potatoes (no, not sweet potatoes) also came in the mini-pot. As for dessert, I ordered a creme brulee and a petit cafe (espresso) with a chocolate truffle. This lunch was only a total of 13,5 euros. I felt satisfied and ready to do some more exploring.
After lunch, I headed to the Place Charles de Gaulle and over to the Musee de la Bretagne, a place that offered exhibits on the heritage and history of the Breton people of Western France. The history extended from the anthropological beginnings of man as Cro-magnon and Neanderthal and up to the present. My 7 euro ticket covered all the areas of the museum and the Planetarium. I enjoyed seeing the industrial development in Bretagne during the 18th-19th centuries. The exhibit on the history of cinema in Bretagne was wonderful. It featured video clips of various films about war, the sea, and farm life. It gave the impression of a Hollywood movie studio with cameras and sets, lots of headphones and clips, mini-theaters, etc. I had a great time looking around here.
Another exhibit that was impressive was the Dreyfus Affair exhibit, which showed the complete story of the 19th century trial of a Jewish man, who was accused of treason and leaking secrets to the German government. It had a dark room and even a court-room theater. Unfortunately, I had to rush around and get to the planetarium for my 14:30 showing.
The planetarium was an omnimax experience with chairs that reclined and a screen on the circular ceiling. It was great. I was re-introduced to the solar system (in French and after the un-planetization of Pluto). I was reminded of the lessons I had learned about planets from boy-scout star-watching and earth science. It was satisfying, a good ending to my experience in Rennes.
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