Bretagne

Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul, Nantes

 I had the opportunity to go from Orleans to Brittany where I visited Nantes and Rennes before going to the Atlantic coast and Brest tomorrow.

Moat & Park, The Chateau, Nantes.

The two things that strike me are that both Nantes and Rennes are relative new-comers to France.  They were added to the Kingdom way after Clovis and the Franks.  Nantes boasts its chateau and Rennes its Parliament.  The cites and region have also had a turbulent history both with religious and secular wars.  Most recently in World War II where there was extensive damage first with the Nazi invasion and suppression of the resistance and then with the allied bombing before the invasion of Normandy.  (I'll make a separate post about that later).  Rennes had the added burden of a fire that burned down almost half the city.

The Prefecture, Nantes.

The two cities are of nice size and the weather has been great.   It's holiday time here now so there are people and families everywhere.

Fr. Marcel, doing his Nostradamus impression, greets a parishioner after Mass. 

I found some beautiful churches, but unfortunately I found more churches that are being used for other purposes.  Mostly art galleries.  Nantes was exceptionally lively.  It is a larger city of the two and one of the fastest growing in France.

Some of the surviving wooden buildings from the great fire, Rennes.

I found a lovely parish in Nantes for Mass:  St. Nicolas.   I concelebrated three times there.  The priest, Fr. Marcel, was very welcoming even though he looked something like Nostradamus!

The Romanaque Cathedral of S. Pierre, Rennes.

As a New Yorker I love France because it makes me feel at home. There are no skyscrapers (though Nantes does have a building [The Tower] that ha almost 30 stories-lol), but there is a lovely mix of ethnicities from recent and long ago that make up the people of France.  Such diversity does not hurt the menu choices when it's time to eat either.

The Ancient Parliament of Brittany, Rennes.

Tomorrow I head west to Brest, the Finisterre of France before heading back to Solesmes to get my suitcase and head to Paris.

The Hotel de Ville, Rennes.