rennes – Darden Travels

The City of Rennes – 2026

September 16, 2026 by ginnyinshanghai

Rennes is a medieval old town in Northwestern France, dating back 2000+ years when it was a small Gallican village. It has a long history due to the location at the confluence of two rivers (Ille & Vilaine). During the Roman era, the strategic position of the town contributed to its importance.

In 1534 this area became more fully connected with France and became the Province of Brittany. During WWII Rennes initially suffered heavy (German) damage and then again in 1943 & 1944 by the U.S. and Royal Air Force. In the 1980s Rennes became one of the main centers of Telecommunications and the high-tech industry.

We stayed in the old town center and everything was within easy walking distance.

Typically, we pick up yogurt and fruit for a light breakfast in our place. Everyone gets up on their own time, selects a beverage of choice and wait for the others to be ready to start the day. After all, we are on vacation. 🙂 Those two needed a bit more food one morning. Nearby there was a small market open several hours on a Sunday – when many things were closed.

They had fresh produce………..

……..along with seafood.

Eric found some oysters and wine for the two of them. I wasn’t feeling it and kept exploring.

The first church we came across this morning was Cathedral Saint-Pierre de Rennes. This was one of the (very) few times we didn’t enter a church. The current site has been used since the 3rd century and was likely built in place of an older sanctuary. That building was completely replaced by a Gothic church in the 12th century. In 1490 the tower and western facade of the Gothic church collapsed. Reconstruction took 163 years and led to a classical style. The nave and choir had not been restored and in 1754 in the middle of religious services, a large stone came off the vault of the choir. Construction started and stopped until the now neoclassical cathedral with a classical facade was completed in 1846.

A short distance away was Porte Mordelaise.

It’s location dates to the 3rd century with the architecture dating mainly from the 15th century. The future dukes had to take an oath in front of this entrance and it is sometimes called the royal door.

Over the years, the Mordelaises gate lost some of their statue due to its landlocked position in the historic center of the city. Thus, they have become less well known to tourists, even though it is the only fortified door that remains in the city.

The weather has been beautiful and we headed towards the Thabor Gardens, which is fronted by a church: Paroisse Notre Dame de Bonne Nouvelle.

The building is considered unfinished due to a 1905 law that separates church and the state, which stopped public funding. It replaced an old church of the same name located in the same square. It remains a Catholic place of worship.

Just so you know that is Adrienne in the bottom right of my photo below.

We had the place to ourselves.

The gardens were behind the church and had a lovely tree canopy.

I could write all the info below………..or just take a screen shot. 🙂

Naturally there were some statues.

But oh my – the flowers. Believe it or not, I curated at least half of the photos I took.

I came across this ‘traditional’ topiary during my wandering. This is for you Eric.

Before leaving the city to continue Eric’s birthday trip, we ate at Breizh Cafe. Eric had read about it before leaving home and made a reservation. The cafe embodies the connection between Brittany and Japan. After training in Dinan, the owner/husband followed his wife to Japan and in 1996 opened his first cafe in Tokyo blending Breton expertise, buckwheat and cider.

The Breizh Cafe Farm is dedicated to buckwheat and cider apples and an international training school for their Crepe Workshop. Their creed is to be respectful of Breton heritage and committed to sustainability forming an ecosystem where tradition, excellence and knowledge-sharing promote Brittany. An upcoming weekend they were having an event at their farm. Would have loved to attend, but we would be traveling out of the area when it occured.

Adrienne stayed with her red wine, while I enjoyed a local beer and Eric drank their cider.

We started with oysters (you’re going to continue hearing about them!).

However, the main reason this restaurant was selected was due to Galettes – a specialty of this region. Buckwheat flour makes the galette savory.

Eric and I split the traditional galette while Adrienne ordered their daily special with mushrooms. You can see the chef prepare the galettes.

They came out hot and yummy.

Naturally we had to try their dessert crepes. They are made with wheat flour, eggs and whole milk, plus your chosen filling.

Naturally we had to try three different types.

It was a great way to end our last evening in Rennes. Back to the train station to pick up our rental car. Next stop is Dinan, via Cancale.

Ginny

Rennes Food Tour – France 2026

September 15, 2026 by ginnyinshanghai

The food tour started at 11:30am but we needed a light breakfast. Rennes has one of the largest markets in France, after Paris. That was our destination – Marche de Lices. Once we headed in that direction, it was easy to find, even if we didn’t use any map. Just follow the locals pulling their shopping carts (there were three ahead of us).

There were both inside and outside stalls. We went inside first to see their products and make a few purchases for later.

I probably enjoyed the outside stalls more since it was fresh produce.

These fruits looked great!

Peaches!

Next I found the veggies.

I’m ready for Fall.

Eric’s highlight was the seafood stalls. Yes, we started our day with a few oysters.

We only purchased oysters, but much, much more was available.

We missed the market area with the flowers. We passed individuals with pre-made bundles but alas, it was not to be. Walked past these sunflowers secured to a bike and couldn’t resist a quick photo.

It was time to head for our food tour’s meeting point: Basilica Saint Sauveur de Rennes. It is a minor basilica of the Catholic Church, located in the heart of the historic city center. The foundation was built in the 11th century before expanding several times and rebuilt in the 18th century.

There are four stories of miracles attributed to this basilica with the first in the 1350s. I had just enough time to walk in and grab a few photos.

We try to find a local food tour early in our trips. It helps us get the lay of the land, meet people and also get recommendations. This one in Rennes was fairly new, only available the last several months. Mateo was our guide.

Our first stop………….Madame Claude. Eric and Adrienne are in the photo below along with the other two that joined our tour. They have been touring Europe for the last 6 weeks (2 retired schoolteachers from Ireland). They are pulling a camper and rode their bikes into the heart of the city for the tour.

Galettes are a specialty of the region. Much like a crepe, but savory. Buckwheat flour gives it a nutty flavor and the dark color. Mateo felt this was one of the best in the city. All products going into it was grown within 10 km – very local ingredients – I like that! The meat was local pork, local cheese and the buckwheat was grown in the area also.

Yes, yes I needed some coffee first thing this morning. 🙂 After a short walk, we were at the second stop: bouchon.

I only like pate in Europe – must be the ingredients. The pate had pork, poultry and pieces of local apples. The pickled onions and cornichons were also tasty. Red onions were a local crop this area was known for. We had plenty to share between the 5 of us.

I will give the guide some points for our next stop. He wanted to showcase the mixture of cultures and the resulting food scene.

Not my favorite stop by a long shot, but I did try it and picked out the ingredients that I liked. Underneath was a bed of rice that had soaked in the flavors. The spices were Indienne which I don’t traditionally enjoy. Again, I tried it.

This wasn’t only about eating but also hearing a bit about the city. Eric was asking lots of questions from our guide, Mateo.

These statues were numerous and prevalent around the old town on the older buildings, warding off the ‘black plague’ from the Middle Ages.

Mateo also shared this was part of ongoing construction to open up the waterway. In the past, the city had covered over this space and created parking. It was slowly being removed for the waterways to be seen and other parking created. Nice.

Okay, let’s get back to the food. The next stop was a sandwich place. He was talking about their local beef and the ‘smash burger’ we were about to have………………then a vegetarian burger appeared. Oops, he forgot. The burger available for the tour was seasonal. It had local cheese, lettuce and red onions, along with the local eggplant. It was still good.

It was time for sweet endings.

This was the place we had kouign-amann – a Breton specialty where it originated around 1860.

The photo above doesn’t do it justice. This was absolutely delicious! I had tasted it in other European shops, but this was hands-down the best. My research indicates the recipe should be 40% bread dough, 30% butter and 30% sugar. The shop sold other sweet treats and gave us some samples of their cakes.

But wait! We had one final stop. We were given the choice of pastry puff or ice cream.

I was stuffed and able to get a sack to bring mine home. Thank goodness! We were given the option of selecting two flavors and all were mighty tasty. This was the spot it came out that we were in France celebrating Eric’s birthday. Mateo found a tealight and the group sang Happy Birthday.

As we were walking back to the original meeting point, Mateo talked about the half-timbered buildings that were part of the city’s history.

This block had a slight modification that had been added for stabilization. The white (skinny) building to the left of the four houses was a facade built to support and hold up the others. It was not truly a house or apartment but built to look like one. Ingenious.

One last photo of the group before we went out different ways.

It was a great (and tasty) introduction to the city of Rennes with a knowledgeable tour guide.

Ginny

Another birthday trip – France 2026

September 14, 2026 by ginnyinshanghai

Another one of my travel partners was hitting a milestone birth year and wanted to go somewhere special. Since we’re foodies………….France was the chosen destination, specifically the northern coastline of France where OYSTERS are farmed. Yes, Eric wanted to celebrate by eating lots and lots of these bivalves.

The journey began mid-week and was definitely ‘trains, planes & automobiles’ but not in that order. Had to get to the airport so the trip started with ride-share.

Whereas we met Adrienne before boarding the first of two flights before going overseas and landing in CDG, Paris mid-afternoon. We were worried about storms in Orlando. In fact, as we were boarding the crew mentioned a storm was building near the airport and highly encouraged us to quickly board so we could get out of there fast – we did.

Our connection was in JFK/New York. Our luck with connections in the south has been hit or miss. A few afternoon/evening storms have delayed us and kept us in US missing a day in Europe. Not everyone loves JFK but my last connection through there was painless. Only hitch……………we landed in terminal 1 (at the v.e.r.y end) and had to get to terminal 5. We had plenty of time for the connection, but it was a hike! Soon enough we got our next flight and a few hours of sleep.

One advantage to flying through New York – this flight is a bit shorter.

After landing, we needed food. We have a history of eating at the Sheraton inside the airport and that day was no different. Even though it looks like we are eating outside………..it is their brasserie restaurant that protrudes into the airport skyway.

I just needed a coke but those two started with a regional red wine.

We each were looking for something different for nutrition: Adrianne – sushi, myself – fries and Eric – charcuterie board.

We have checked off two modes of transportation and now we waited for the third one – train.

Let’s just say, I woke up. Those two crashed during our 2+ hour ride to Rennes.

The train departed early evening and we had a bit of light initially and I got this photo as we passed a wind farm.

No issues on our ride, but we heard the next morning there was a train derailment in Northern France the same evening.

Our last transportation was an automobile – taxi to our AirBNB in the Old Town of Rennes. Arrival was 9:30pm and our AirBNB host met us at 10 pm to show us around and handover the keys.

We were bushed, but hungry. He made a call and got us dinner reservations within walking distance. Great!!!! Eric started us with oysters before our main courses arrived.