la magie

magic~ If thought that neither Harry Potter nor French could ever be better, I was wrong.  Like galettes and cheese, these two superbly amazing inventions are best together.  I am on chapter 4 and Harry just discovered he will spend the next year at "Poudlard"...a school of witchcraft and wizardry.  And today, like Harry, I stepped into a magical world, reminiscent of a time when people believed fervently in God and faeries, Jesus and dragons, the devil and amulets.  

In this place, the poor literally ate the plates of the rich; since there were no plates, the sauce soaked bread on which the rich ate their main courses was given to the less fortunate at the end of each meal.  Knights dueled, people labored, and everyone celebrated religious holidays together.  Here I was, with Katie (KAH-tee), Katie (KAY-tee), Anna, Julia, and Claire, my new American but French-speaking friends, in Dinan.

Anna and Katies with the castle!

          In order to "profit from" (I'm in love with this French expression) our Saturday sans homework before classes start at the university, we took the bus from Rennes to Dinan, an entirely medieval city about an hour and fifteen minutes away.  The castle, right next to the office of tourism, was the first stop.  Here we discovered not only a fellow student of Rennes II (masters student of history- working the desk) but also quite the interesting exhibit on the culture of the medieval city, a rather sombre dungeon filled with sculptures of important people, an excellent view, and of course our fair share of uneven spiral staircases.  As much as it was a stereotypical castle experience, it was invaluable to the richness of our visit.

craquantes!!!

          Then it was time for our picnic; our host families had the entire spectrum covered in terms of culinary choice.  A couple of the girls just bought sandwiches at a boulangerie, while Claire's host mom had packed her everything she could ever need to make a sandwich, and my parents (since they are in Spain until next Wednesday), left me a croque monsieur kit, with which I made this traditional grilled ham and cheese sandwich in the morning to bring along.  It is just as good cold as it is warm!  For dessert, we shared a bag of "craquantes," a traditional Breton dessert made from flour, sugar, egg whites, butter, and almonds- reminiscent of caramel corn.  Dinan is in an area of Bretagne that is even prouder of its heritage (independent from France) than Rennes, and from the food to the "Breton pride" signs to the black and white flags on every other building, we could tell.


         Finally, we adventured out of the city and toward the fabled village with its beautiful abbey.  A French couple at the castle told us that this is a "must see," and all you have to do to find it is follow the river east.  We did just this and stumbled upon a rock face that one can climb, a house for sale, a couple of accordian players, and a very French-ish old woman originally from the United States.  Finally we found the charming petite medieval town.  

"a small city with character"...Bretagne

la glace!!!

We also found the abbey, where there just so happened to be a marriage.  All of the guests wore interesting hats and/or ornaments; I have yet to determine if this is a Breton tradition or if it is shared by all those who consider themselves "old French," but either way, the wedding guests were the most colorful I had ever seen.  And of course there was a fortified castle, for as my high school French teacher once told me, nearly every village in France has a castle and a church.  We finished the trek back to the city with a stop at a fantastic "glacerie" (ice cream shop), where I discovered/rediscovered the joys of nutella, salted caramel (everything is salted in Bretagne..especially the butter), and gavotte (a hardened crèpe covered in chocolate and made in Dinan) ice cream.  The ice cream of the day to taste-test was...rose.
         The weather was perfect (no rain), we successfully went and returned on the bus, and we found a lovely balance of city and country, present and past.  In Bretagne, if merely because of the lack of rain, I believe this hints at magic...or at least serendipity.  But for now, kenavo!