Objets d'art

Walking around Dinan I happened upon these cute scenes. It reminded me of the days when I collected things. I spent a lot of money collecting. Then the life I knew ended (my marriage ended), I moved out of state, moved back in state, moved here, moved there..... I had to take care of these collected things... it made me realise what a burden it was. Since then I stopped collecting things, I collect memories instead. These days I collect things that are more usable rather than precious. I was at the Santa Monica flea market this morning. I spent 0.50 cents on an illustrated cookbook, not for the recipes but more for the cute illustrations. I'm a sucker for illustrated books. Even when we travel, we go into bookstores to buy illustrated books of the place we're visiting. Now my collection of such books is burgeoning. I'm working on my own illustrations also..... when I have the time and energy.

Dinan

Another picture perfect old French village. I went exploring on my own and it was fun. I used to travel on my own and when in foreign places for a few days without an English conversation, I resorted to reading aloud, just so I can hear English being spoken. What do you do when you haven't had a conversation in your language for a few days or an extended period of time? I arrived in Dinan on the train, I had to change trains. The old part of town is really quiet because it wasn't tourist season yet, otherwise it'll be bombarded by tourists. While it is not on the ocean edge, it does have a river which flows into the Atlantic and boats do come into Dinan to berth. I went into this beautiful gothic church to pray and there was this huge magnolia tree outside that was in full bloom. It was very pleasant.

Breton salad and a crepe

After the huge and rich lunch at a restaurant in Mont St Michel, we only had room for a light supper. Besides Sophie had a stomach ailment. She blamed it on the lobster. It was a very rich lunch, all that cream, butter and eggs, typical of Normandy and Breton cooking. Here we are at dinner at a restaurant in Rennes and this is Breton cooking. Of course one must have a crepe and this one is with apples (of course), with liqueur and the waitress is going to light the flame. It was a lot of fun. Last year we were in Lille and Strasbourg and this year in Rennes.

Rennes

We stayed in an old house belonging to a former University professor who now rents out rooms in their house to strangers. It was quite comfortable, breakfast was included in the communal dining room. We got to meet the other residents, most were French people from other areas who are on business or attending to classes at the University in town. It is a short walk from the train station. Rennes is quiet and not as charming as some French towns. We didn't spend much time in Rennes, we were in Mont St Michel on one day and the next day I toured Dinan on my own.Rennes is the capital of Brittany or Bretagne in French.

Last look

It rained on and off. Regardless, it was still a beautiful day. We've been there, 'been there, done that'. We've been to Mont St Michel, finally. We loaded into the bus that will take us back to the Gare Routierre in Rennes, right next to the train station. We were staying in Rennes. Back to Rennes and to dinner in Rennes.

Lunch at Poulard

I don't know how many eggs go into one omelet. Here is a few bowls of egg mixture going at the same time. There was this huge bowl of brown eggs and also this massive bowl of local butter. Here are this 2 guys cooking the omelet. We sat down and had a spot of lunch of omelet with lobster, delicious bread, and potatoes cooked in local cream topped with truffles. Normandy is the land of cream and butter and it goes into all their cooking. It was delicious but Sophie claimed the lobster made her sick. She became sick for the 2 days we had left in France and on till we got home. I am very sensitive to bad seafood but I was OK. So I don't really know what made her sick. So the next day I had to explore the countryside by myself. I did quite well on my own. It's good to know that I could still travel on my own. This was extremely rich food that we're not accustomed to.