Rennes, Capital of Brittany July 1-27

Rennes is the capital city of Bretagne, but the Bretonne character is complex enough that even this diverse city cannot be said to encompass all that is Brittany. Historically, there was even a language barrier between the inland Bretons and those on the north and west coasts of this western arm of France: the Celtic peoples linked to the sea spoke Breton, and the Rennois and inland inhabitants Gallo. When French became the language of the cities, the countryside still spoke Gallo or Breton, adding to the divergent cultures. Brittany nonetheless feels a cohesive region with a provincial cultural tradition within its national identity as French.

The sea on the north and south coasts exerts, of course, an enormous influence on the life of the coastal towns of Brittany, by shaping the professions and the cuisine, clothing, and family structure. The traditional finely embroidered gowns of the women of Finistère speak of fishermen’s wives with much time waiting. They say that the black dresses of the island women come from the mortally dangerous fishing conditions, which meant that they were virtually always in mourning for someone in the family.

Rennes is a modern city, with roots deep, deep into the past. The contrast seems stark to the newcomer, but to the local, living with the monuments and treasures of the past is a norm. From the presentations in the Brittany is Universal and Brittany in 1001 Images museum exhibits, it seems that Brittany sees itself as shaped by a history going back to prehistoric times, with stone age archeological remains to 4 million B.C., Neolithic cairns, and Megalithic stone henges, Bronze Age tools, and Celtic goddesses who blended seamlessly with the Roman. After enduring Roman rule and British immigration and the eventual merger with France, Brittany was the last of the duchies to come under the crown when the Duchess Anne married Charles VIII and later Louis XII ( the only Queen to two French kings.)


This 1930s mosaique exterior done by an artist named Odorico faces the Lycée Emile Zola. Zola is the writer who courageously stood up to the storm of public opinion that convicted Captain Dreyfus of treason in a trial conducted here in Rennes. Zola decried the blatant anti-Semetic smear, crying out for justice. His books were burned in the streets, but in the end, he is honored and Dreyfus was exonerated.

The categories in the 1001 images exhibit are self-descriptive: yesterday and today, earth, rock, legend, waterways, light, sound, scents, songs, dances, combats – here photos of the Black Tide as well as of war, mounts, wind, sea, isles, birds, cities, citizens. The photos of people are also telling of Breton identity, beginning with writers and poets, singers, musicians, painters, engravers, sculptors, factory workers, religious processions, and striking protesters. The exhibit ends on a global note, describing Brittany as “Open to the world, to the echoes of the cultures of the planet.”

This sense of Brittany as a close-knit community steeped in tradition is balanced by a recognition of that very openness to the wide world. The people are warm and friendly, delighted to hear even the roughest effort to speak French and effusive in their compliments for the French teachers’ rusty endeavors. Shopkeepers, waiters, regulars on the daily bus route to the university, ask about America and Americans, our ways in daily life, our work and the vastness of our continent with an eagerness to verify what they have heard.









Our courses at the University of Rennes give me an insight into the pedagogy of the French system and its reflection of the culture. We study phonetics and the methods of oral and written argument, with enriching courses in film and architecture, and a wonderful cultural study of 19th century romanticism. The international students are Spanish, Czech, Danish, Brazilian, Italian, Nigerian, Japanese, a delightful diverse group united by the common study of French.









Any temptation to simplify or to categorize the people of Brittany fails in the face of my own personal experience. My connection, my belonging to Brittany, comes from the Lessart family whose ties to the land are profound. Papa and Marylise and the Lefèbvre cousins still live close to the roots of their grandparents. But Christine went to Spain for a Master’s degree and stayed for a lifetime.

My new host family adds another dimension to my perception of the Breton people. Agnès was born to Breton parents in Morocco while her father was in the military, so she did not live in France until she came at age 18 for her university years. She traveled extensively and studied in England, where much like Christine, she married an Englishman. They moved back to Brittany eventually, but one of her daughters followed her mother’s pattern and moved to Iceland where she married and stayed. Certainly Brittany, a land steeped in ancient tradition, is open to the world!