Jamie and Scott Go Francing: Day 5

Wednesday, 21 May 2008

After a slightly odd breakfast at the B&B (just bread and coffee – normal for France, but for a B&B?) we packed into Isabelle and started towards Rennes, the capital of Brittany, for the day. We made it as far as Loudeac before getting completely lost as there was a diversion. Problem was that they diverted traffic but never told traffic how to get back onto the highway!

We eventually made it after a beautiful drive of just less than two hours and found parking on the outskirts of the city. Rennes has a great metro system, so we parked and rode the metro into the centre. Getting off we saw our first beautiful view of Rennes. We were in Place Ste Anne, a square lined with cafes and restaurants. We wandered around for a bit before deciding that it was time for lunch. Putting our trust in the Green Guide, we walked across the historic centre of town to a place called Leon le Couchon (Leon the Pig, can you imagine and English restaurant called that!) http://www.leonlecochon.com/leon_le_cochon/plan_leon-le-cochon.htm .

Being the adventurous epicurean that I am, I ordered the andouillette with potatoes, while Jamie went for the safer but infinitely more boring steak. I made it a fair way through the compressed intestine sausage before the thought of what I was eating and the hideous smell of it become too much for me. Jamie thought the whole thing was rather amusing.

After lunch we wandered around, following the walking tour in the Green Guide. Rennes is a beautiful town, filled with narrow streets and half-timbered houses. The walk (more of a relaxed saunter really, with a stop for a crepe and a coffee to get rid of the andouille taste), took a good couple of hours by which time we decided that we were ready for a drink (hmmmm…starting to see a pattern here). We found a little café on Place Ste Anne where we’d started the day and relaxed with a bottle of wine/coffee for a few hours.

We decided that we didn’t want to wait around until 7:30 for the restaurants to open so we took the metro back to the car and headed home. There is a little creperie in our village so we went there (after getting lost again in Loudeac). The crepes were very tasty and the cidar just as good. Still couldn’t get rid of the taste of andouille though!

Pictures from Day 5: