Out of all the cities we visited during our road trip through France, Rennes was by far the biggest one. Yet we spent the shortest amount of time visiting it. My initial plan had always been one night only because I was more interested in the smaller villages. But the rain that started falling while we were still in Bécherel, continued on. It barely stopped for the rest of the evening. So after a quick dinner in our Airbnb, we gave up on the idea of going out and relaxed.

Half-timbered houses of Rennes
Half-timbered houses of Rennes

It was a welcome respite and we really had no intention of running around the city under the rain. In fact, this gave us the opportunity to rest and get up early the following day. And I must admit, if you are visiting Rennes, my best advice is to get up early! At 6 AM we were already walking down the streets and the city felt surprisingly quiet. You know you made the right decision when you only meet delivery vans!

Half-timbered houses of Rennes
Half-timbered houses of Rennes

We walked around while nibbling on our pains au chocolat. Honestly, this was our breakfast every single day for 10 days. And I have zero regrets about it because pains au chocolat from French bakeries are simply divine! In the end, our visit amounted to about 7 hours. And surprisingly enough, we didn’t miss a single thing. I was mostly interested in architecture and walking about. I wanted to get a feel of the city on an early Thursday morning.

Half-timbered houses of Rennes

Rennes also boasts an impressive array of half-timbered houses. The most famous row of them is the one on Place du Champ Jacquet. I love how one of the houses has windows behind the actual facade because it’s so crooked that any other solution wasn’t feasible! These hundred-year-old houses will never cease to amaze me! On another note, we managed to squeeze in a few vinyl shops during our short visit. One of them was a real treasure trove! At O’CD, we got vinyls by Pearl Jam, Bear’s Den and Deer Tick. Finding vinyls as recent as these ones is quite rare in these French-speaking parts!

Half-timbered houses of Rennes

Right before we left Rennes, we sat down at Mezzelicious for the most delicious Lebanese food. Generally speaking, I absolutely adore falafels and could eat them every single day. The restaurant’s name simultaneously explains their food concept. Mezze, small dishes served as appetizers, make up the menu. The formulas are flexible so I went with a chicken/vegetarian one, while Grégory ordered the vegetarian formula. Our meal was a bit rushed but it was nonetheless one of the most delicious lunches ever. Also, we got to see how the interior of a half-timbered house looks like since the restaurant is inside such a house!

In a word, our short visit to Rennes was surprising. And for one reason only. It surprised us with beautiful architecture and empty streets, with delectable food and for Grégory, flavorful coffee. It was the best coffee he had anywhere during our road trip, at a coffee roaster café called Bourbon d’Arsel. Even though we prioritized romantic villages and reserved more time for them, Rennes managed to take us by surprise and delight us. Which is quite rare when it comes to big cities!

Half-timbered house in Rennes
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