A visit to Rennes was a matter of convenience, between two days of en route visits. No particular reason to visit Rennes, except general curiosity.
I had planned two nights here in Rennes, but we arrived fairly early in the afternoon as the supposed visits en route were disappointing and we continued driving covering the distance expediently. So we had a day and a half to explore this French city.
Rennes did not make too great an impression on me, but we did find things of interest. The biggest disappointment was
our hotel, the Hotel Victoria, but the weather was good enough to spent most time outdoors.

While our SatNav tried to find our hotel (the streetnumber on which Hotel Victoria is located 'did not exist' in our TomTom - a first sign of things not right there) we passed this 'palace' and it was not far from where we stayed.
So this Saint Georges Garden became our first thing to explore and we had a glorious sunny day for it.

When we exited a small gate and continued walking we soon found a large park we'd seen on our little tourist map,
handed out at our hotel. A park like this is nice to recover from too many hours in the car on such a nice day.
Students and other young folk found a sunny place in the park to read or to share time together.

Parc du Thabor; pleasantly surprised we were to see
information posted in English! One does not see that too often.

In a corner of Thabor Park we checked out the Botanic Gardens. This image has an Italian sphere to it, I think.

A fascinating, exotic plant. But it was too soon in may to see much of the plants in bloom.

Lovely, don't you think?!

 

Just by doing a lot of walking one may strike lucky for some nice 'streetphotography'.

This must be the 'Google car'. Strange that these people don't react by looking at it; I would.

Les Halles. Covered markets such as these are often only open in the mornings, but these were open from
07:00 until 19:00 on most days (Sundays 09:30 - 12:30). We had a quick look, but had no need to buy anything.

The 'Halles centrales' are at the Boulevard de la Liberté.

 

The previous day on our initial 'walk about' I had come across a poster advertising a photography
exhibition at the Rennes University and decided to visit it. Although a long walk from town center, I
was glad I did it as otherwise I wouldn't have seen this grafitti.

This is actually 'approved' grafitty, to give Rennes some arty edge. Nice.

This is much less 'officially approved', no doubt.

Moving away from the town center the amount of grafitti seemed to increase.

Getting closer to the University.

Well, this is different! But so much nicer than a blank wall.
This location is almost next to 'Rennes I' University.

By now our feet hurt from walking but we could not make use of these 'bikes for rent', as
they were being collected. I got the impression the students made more use of the subway.
Since my phone was dead and the university was off our map, we asked students for directions but
they all advised to take the subway! We persisted in walking, but followed their advice for the return trip.

In the university grounds we had to ask again for directions and found our way to the library.

Alas, all in French, obviously not expecting foreign visitors.
The exhibition seemed to involve local photographers over the years, 'raising a glance over time'.

These photographs were used, I gather, to document daily life over the years; folklore,
but also remarkable events and the images serve as a document for the times in this region.

Fishermen at port and 'the elderly & wise' gathering, 'hanging out' as we say these days.

Documenting religious events and social changes.

Archiving memories of Rennes.

This puzzled me somewhat, the name rang a bell. Fortunately we have Wikipedia these days!
Obviously Rennes must have played a role, otherwise the local photographers would not have recorded this event.

The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France from its beginning in 1894 until it was finally resolved in 1906. The affair is often seen as a modern and universal symbol of injustice; it remains one of the most striking examples of a complex miscarriage of justice, where a major role was played by the press and public opinion. Dreyfuss was charged and convicted for communicating military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris. Head of counter espionage Georges Picquart continued his investigation and revealed Dreyfull to be innocent and naming someone else as the culprit. The military surpressed this and declared the other person innocent. Dreyfuss' fate became known among the public, mainly by famed writer Émile Zola. Having spent 5 years in jail, Dreyfuss was put yet again on trial, with trumped up charges; he was again convicted but given a pardon and set free. Eventually all the accusations against Alfred Dreyfus were demonstrated to be baseless. In 1906 Dreyfus was exonerated and reinstated as a major in the French Army. He served during the whole of World War I ending his service with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He died in 1935. The Affair from 1894 to 1906 divided France deeply and lastingly into opposing camps. For a more detailed account see Wikipedia.

 

We recovered in the University café, with coffee and crêpes. Others, regulars no doubt, did the same.

We decided to try the hyper-modern subway system. We were suitably impressed.

No driver in sight, this is a computer-controlled peoplemover.

We exited at Sainte Anne Metro and found ourselves amidst a nice historic area with plenty of eateries.

It is often hard to get a full meal before 19:00, but crêpes seem ideal for snack food, bridge that 17:00 - 19:00 gap!

Personally I tend to avoid these crowds....

... and opt for an Irish pub!
I was very happy to find this one and enjoy a solid Guinness and a good sandwich.
France can use more of these establishments!

St-Germain Church is located in a built-up area and better viewed indoors.

Saint-Germain Church is a Gothic parish church, located at Rue de Vau Saint-Germain in Rennes.
It was built between the 15th and the 17th century, and features the oldest stained glass in Rennes, as well
as antique organs. The most spectacular part of the exterior of the church is the south porch, which dates
back to the Late Renaissance (1606-1623). It is the work of Germain Gaultier, the first
architect of the Parliament of Brittany. (www.gpsmycity.com)

Next to the Saint-Germain Church a new subway station is in the works.

While the façades are impressive, my attention was soon more directed to street level.

A few takes of 'streetphotography'.

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The 'Charlie Hebdo' drama, 'the 2015 attack', is still very much felt.

Remnants of the medieval wall here in Rennes.

I found no directions to advertise these historic remnants and too much directed to restaurants and wine bars.

As usual the only information is in French, the rest of the world does not count; the proverbial French arrogance.

La Porte Mordelaise, historic gate, hidden among the many renovations.

 

Wikipedia (only in French) http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porte_mordelaise

I noticed in the grounds around the medieval wall a game being played; I suspected an early version of
'petanque', the French jeu des boules. But this is Mölkky, a Finnish game with roots in ancient Scandinavian times!

LINKS of the various pages reporting on this trip
FRANCE 2015
HONFLEUR
RENNES
LOIRE CHATEAUX
ORADOUR-SUR-GLANE