Brittany
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Brittany - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in Brittany - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
A late-18th-century building in Classical style that took 57 years to construct, the Cathédrale St-Pierre looms above Rue de la Monnaie at the west end of the Vieille Ville (Old Town), bordered by the Rance River. Stop in to admire its richly decorated interior and outstanding 16th-century Flemish altarpiece.
Designed by superstar architect Christian de Portzamparc, this museum occupies a vast three-part space that it shares with the Rennes municipal library and Espaces des Sciences. Portzamparc's layout harmonizes nicely with the organization of the museum's extensive ethnographic and archaeological collection, which depicts the everyday life of Bretons from prehistoric times to the present. There's also a space devoted to the famous Dreyfus Affair; Alfred Dreyfus, an army captain who was wrongly accused of espionage and whose case was championed by Émile Zola, was tried a second time in Rennes in 1899.
Containing works by Georges de La Tour, Jean-Baptiste Chardin, Camille Corot, Paul Gauguin, and Maurice Utrillo, to name a few, this museum is particularly strong on French 17th-century paintings and drawings, and has an interesting collection of works by modern French artists.
Make sure you stroll through this lovely park, east of the Palais des Musées. It's a large, formal French garden with regimented rows of trees, shrubs, and flowers, plus a notable view of the church of Notre-Dame-en-St-Melaine.
Originally the palatial home of the Breton Parliament and now of the Rennes law courts, the Parlement de Bretagne was designed in 1618 by Salomon de Brosse, architect of the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. It was the most important building in Rennes to escape the 1720 flames; however, in 1994, following a massive demonstration by Breton fishermen demanding state subsidies, another disastrous fire broke out that left it a charred shell. Fortunately, much of the artwork—though damaged—was saved by firefighters, who arrived at the scene after the building was already engulfed in flames. It was a case of the alarm that cried "fire" once too often; a faulty bell, which rang regularly for no reason, had led the man on duty to ignore the signal. It has been completely restored. Call the tourist office ( 02–99–67–11–11) to book a 90-minute guided tour.
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