2006 Letter from RENNES: The bus from the campground left us in Rennes’ main square and we walked around, looking at the "precarious and wonky-looking collection of spectacular lofty timber-frame houses" as our Cadogan guidebook says. There was more. As we walked, we came upon a city gate complete with guard towers, a moat and a gangplank that could have been pulled up in an emergency. Our booklet from the tourist office pointed out that on one street there are two large side by side buildings with roofs shaped like overturned keels. Many of these 17th century timber-framed buildings have idiosyncratic roofs. Many also have little "hats" that overhang windows. In addition, there are numerous "great" buildings, all very old. All in all, we enjoyed the architecture of Rennes.
We hadn’t come here to see anything special. It was a French city whose name was familiar to us, and we just decided to see what it was like. We checked in at the tourist office and then found an internet café to send out our last letters. We walked the streets, and then stopped to have a real French meal at a tiny, crowded restaurant. Ron said that heavy lunch was what caused Adelle to be so tired that when we returned to our RV, she had to take a nap. Maybe it was the chocolate dessert! But it was worth it!
When we sat down at the restaurant, it was sunny and warm. Before we were served, the sun disappeared behind the clouds making us cold, so we moved inside. Compared to what we had before, this is truly a pleasure. But there are other climate-related wonders to mention. For example, it is still light out at 11 p.m. The songbirds sing their hearts out right up until then!
Our biggest news, though, is the price of fuel. Here in France, many supermarkets sell gasoline at a much lower price so we are now paying "only"1 euro 25 per liter. That translates to about $6.15 a gallon instead of $6.82. All such savings are gratefully accepted. The only difficulty is that you have to be sure that there is a cashier on duty to take your credit card. There are a lot of stations that allow you to pump your own gas if you have a card – but it has to be a particular gas company card which we don’t have.
