Once upon a time, there were forests... and trees... now there are climbing courses for adventurers who like to be acrobats.

From April to November, you can in the afternoon climb trees in a park in Rennes (when it is not school holidays, it is open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday). Depending of the weather, of course ... Heavy rain and - du vent à décorner les boeufs - (wind that will dehorn cattle, as we say in French !) are usually day-offs!



Children can try with 2 (my girl was 3 ½ years and a friend 5 years ... they did the course for 2-4 years). Very quickly, kids are independent and climb alone. They can't fall as they are secured by a rope and an equipment including harness and carabiners ... They learn easily and do not get dizzy, those young climbers.

Several other outdoor courses are possible: for 5-8 years, one for 9-13 and then for over 14 years. The rates are on their website ...

Forêt adrénaline is a specialist... they're not only professionnals of tree-climbing, they are also designers of park adventure: they have already opened several parks in the area: one in Carnac in the 2000s ... one at Betton, 10 kms from Rennes.



Don't panic if you are "stuck" on your monkey bridge or if you're frightened by the zip line above the lake. Supervisors, professionals, will help you through.



Adrenalin Forest also offers corporate seminars, "unusual acrobatic exercices" (to test what you're able to do, you and your boss!). Or you can also check thanks to those flights between the trunks'crowns the team spirit of your company. ... You can also celebrate original birthday parties ... or whatever you like ...



In short, they are professionnals in recreational entertainment.

The park entrance is near the campsite Gayeulles... You can't miss it :there are lots of things hanging in the woods ...

One more thing ... Forests'lovers don't have to worry, those professionals are tree/true friends: they do everything to avoid damaging them (don't forget trees are their way of earning a living), or to hamper their growth (the trunks you climb on!). They try to limit their impact on nature and environment. That 's what they say!

Read this article in French : Grimper aux arbres à Rennes : le parcours aventure de Forêt adrénaline

Destination: vacation, leisure and sports ...

Walking, cycling or horse tourism... Brittany is a nice place to tour... Tro Breizh (tour of Brittany in Breton language) is a beautiful tour of a few hundred miles ... you can do on foot, on bicycle and on horse-back ... in one go (and then some days are not enough, you need several weeks ...) or more stages (and then take the opportunity to visit some nice places), with your family or solo, in couple. .. stoping by a crêperie or a nice restaurant, a B&B or a pleasant cottage, a camping on the coast....

Since 1994, Les Chemins du Tro Breiz (The Paths of Tro Breizh) organizes walks around Small Britain. They invite you to tour for a week... every year. As there are around 700 kilometers, you'll achieve it in 7 years. It is our paths to Santiago !



Historically, the Tro Breizh connects the dioceses of the seven founding saints of Brittany. This medieval pilgrimage was a walk around Small Britain to pray the saints who evangelized the region.

The legend says that those Saints were septuplets and therefore brothers (they should have been killed at birth by their mother Domnonia ... because she believed twins were the children of sin). But fortunatly, the seven brothers (Seizh Breur) have been protected by God. For their safety, they were sent to Brittany. Once there, they evangelized Britain and created 7 bishoprics : Corentin in Quimper, Patern in Vannes, Saint Pol Aurélien at Saint Pol de Léon, Samson in Dol-de-Bretagne, Tugdual at Treguier, Brieuc and Malo in their respective cities Saint Brieuc and Saint Malo.
The pilgrims of the time did the pilgrimage in about a month (over 600 km).

All Breton Christians had to do it once ... or they had to do it once dead ... and then, even for a good Catholic, it was very long ... The legend recalls that the believer who had not performed it alive had to do it advancing a length of coffin a night ... It took quite a while.

Let's go back to our tour : Dol is one of the stages of the Tro Breizh. Saint Samson is the patron saint of the city and one of the founding saints of Brittany. He has its granite sculpture at Carnoët in the Holy Valley. Sculpted by Jacques Dumas, he is represented with a mermaid.



Jacques Dumas explains the legend of Saint Samson : his mother rescued once a mermaid who then gave to this women a son (she was too old to have one).

Samson was born in Wales (as you know now) and emigrated ...
He is a peacemaker between animals and with men too... He commands the birds that destroy crops, he hunts the serpent which occupies the cave where he wishes to move ... He also works in humans problems and rules the political conflicts between the Franks and the Britons. He created the diocese of Dol. He died in about 565 Dol. His feast day is July 28.



In West Britain, at the other end of the Tro Breizh, you'll meet Saint Pol Aurélien (David Puech is the artist). This saint is the source of many miracles in the area .... Thanks to him the island of Batz was released from the dragon ....He also comes from Wales, arrived at Ouessant and finally settled in Saint Pol de Leon, where he left his name.

Enjoy your tour... walking, cycling or riding horses...

Read this article in French : Tour de Bretagne à pied, à cheval ou à vélo : idée de vacances sportives en Bretagne

On the French side of my blog, I wrote a post about what it meant to be Breton in Brittany... But it is not really interesting for non French people...
So, I'll do it on my English side more worldwide : What does it mean to you being French? Lots of clichés, for sure... Same things about French manners ! How French man or lady act in society ?
Wide question !
Are you intested in learning more about the real way of life of a French or of a Breton... If you travel by car, you must cross Brittany, our small Britain. And you want to understand more about this wonderful place for sure...
By the way, as you probably know, Bretagne in French is either Britain or Brittany. Britain is for us the Great one (Grande Bretagne, Great Britain) and Brittany (Bretagne) is the French one. And Breton can be used for British and for Breton.
So, while travelling around, investigate the French way of life and the one of Brittany's people ! and compare ! French clichés for beginners ! !!!

About French table manners
French people like to remain at table for hours
If you don't sauce your dish with bread, you're out !
One hamburger is eaten while 9 baguette sandwich are tasted
365 cheeses on the French territory, one a day... with green salad !

The French way of life in the Breton cuisine
- Bretons feast in a creperie
- They buy only cauliflower "Prince of Brittany" (and produced in Brittany , not in Britain!)
- They enjoy oysters on the port of Cancale (and during good months ...)
- They only eat Plougastel strawberries ... (Plougastel is a city in the west of Brittany)

French feel French when
They speak loud
They criticize their administration
They strike all the time
The national sport : to steal tax

Bretons feel Breton when they ...
- dance in the Fest Noz! (fest noz is a breton word meaning night party where you dance to Breton music).
- swear that their grandmother wore a cap in the last century!
- punctuate every sentence with a Kenavo (thank you in breton language)!
- wear a sticker "A l'aise Breizh" on the car (means be confortable, man)

How French Parisians look at Bretons
- They wear wooden clogs
- They have discovered the frigde in the 2000's
- They're narrow minded,backward.... in short stubborn like a Breton
- Brittany, it is "province", there's nothing to do there...

How Breton look at Parisians
- Look how slow he is driving... Must be a Parisian on holydays...
- Look at those Parisians with their yellow raincoat and boots... Ah, Ah, Ah !
- Don't know how to eat pancakes : just two ingredients, more you won't taste the galette, ignorant !
- I do love Parisians ! No, no way, they're too arrogant and do not know anything about anything ...

See how the love story goes ! French unions are perfect !
I could go on (LOL) .... !!!! but I leave the pen! For Your opinion! About French manners, acting, speaking, eating...
And don't act wrongly now !

Yes... in these unstable times, climate changes and warm worries, how to find the ecologically correct ?

With the Copenhagen summit, one is forced to wonder and to ask questions and to look all over, in front, below, above and on the sides to try to find an answer! Have you any tips to reduce your environmental impact, your carbon emissions?

Have you ever wondered what is your carbon footprint ? in CO2 ? in tonnes of carbon ? in greenhouse gas ? in carbon credits ? In other words, are you more methane? Or carbon dioxide?

Who do you think won the prize (carbon credits) from these competitors?

1 - Our first volunteer is a French, he has a good job in a big business, his house is heated with wood, he uses low consumption lamps and takes all morning his bike (10 miles to go and 10 return) to reach his workplace. 4 times a year he flights from Paris to New York ... for his work!

2 - Our second candidate is a 4 wheel vehicule Canadian driver. He lives on the coast. He goes hunting every weekend in a forest 30 kilometers from home. He has a wind turbine in his garden. And during the summer time, he likes to stay home and enjoy the sea... No need for vacation far away.

3 - The third competitor is a she : a hiker, a walker, retired, who abandoned her car long ago and only uses public transport to go around.
Vegetarian, she also stopped eating fish and buys only local products. She lives in an appartment with high isolation. Her delight is to hike in the Atlas of Morocco, in the Andes of South America ...

4 - Our fourth participant is a young American student. He has long forgotten the paper and handles all correspondence, invoices and other items through Internet.
He has no car, travels by bus or bicycle, depending. No more trips, he prefers to surf the net ... and pee (sic) in the shower. Only a small pleasure red bleeding meat .... once a day ....

5 – Fifth candidate: a young couple who lives in an old house. Far from a big city, they organize with their neighbors by carpooling to work. A small garden for vegetables, furniture made of recycled materials...They can not stand the cold and live in an apartment warm heated ... 25° ...

The results of the competition are as follows : consumption of carbon credits
- 250 kg of beef, 100 kg calf (candidate 4)
- 12 000 km of city car or 8500 miles per year with a four wheel vehicule (candidate 2)
- A year of fuel heating, 3 years of electric heating (candidate 5)
- A flight from Paris to New York (candidate 1 and 3)
Result: they all won the race ...

I did the test ... to calculate the ecological footprint for myself and family ...
It's easy to do, interesting and only takes a few minutes.
Currently the average footprint of a French is 4.9 hectares, 9.2 hectares for an American and 1.4 hectare for an African. The footprint for sustainable living all that well on this land is 2.1 hectares.

Read this article in French : Consommation de tonnes de carbone de C02 ou de gaz carbonique

You love flowers, you love trees, parks and gardens. Le Parc Floral de Haute Bretagne, I visited in springtime will please you. Even if its name is not very poetic, the place is nicer.



Located about ten miles from Fougères, the park created in the late nineteenth century welcomes you from March to November (Parc Floral de Haute Bretagne, La Foletiere - The Châtellier 35133 Tel: 02 99 95 48 32).

What I like in this tour is that the landscape changes all the time. Depending on the season you'll visit a garden with different colors, a different garden ..

- Spring corresponds to the blooming of camellias, daffodils... End of May, rhododendron's lovers will enjoy the 800 feet planted in the garden.
In summer, roses, hydrangeas, lilies and lotus color the park.
In the fall, asters and cyclamen and liquidambars finish the season.
Gardeners, choose your month!. Or take a subscription to come when you want.

Of course, many other varieties of plants, flowers and trees (whose name I don't know) grow in this garden and delight visitors.



In an hour and a half, you'll cross 25 acres of green paradise ... I went through bamboo forests (all colors), avenues of pink or rubbed magnolias ...
20 gardens are to discover and each has its specialty: gentian or camellias ... And everyone will find his pleasure.



Children (3 ½ years and 4) are a bit small to enjoy the flowers... They liked getting lost in the maze. Or loved to test the balance of the suspension bridge. It was too early in the season to feed the carnivorous plants ... Too bad.

A greenhouse offers to buy seedlings of plants that you have seen ...
The park also rent places for business or for weddings ... ... Or rooms in the Manor of Foletiere ... 5 nice rooms named... Renoir, Degas, Monet ...



... Everything is on their website ... And if you book early, it's cheaper ...



Read this article in French : visiter un jardin en Bretagne : le parc floral et ses chambres d'hôtes