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The Breton capital redefines "provincial"
Lined with slightly lopsided but
beautifully preserved half-timbered houses, the rue Saint-Michel in
Rennes
exudes a timeless charm on a mild fall afternoon. Indeed, aside from
the fact that street signs are in both French and Breton, the handsome
city center, with its pedestrian lanes, stylish shops and busy cafés,
bespeaks an eternal France with a ballast of culture and comfort.
This vision is slightly misleading,
however, since at the start of a new century the capital of Brittany
is quite visibly and vibrantly forging a new identity. Consider that
from 1954 to 1982, the city’s population grew from 124,000 to 200,000;
another 80,000 people are expected to move to the area by 2010. Deceptively
quaint, Rennes is in fact remarkably similar to Portland, Oregon,
and Cambridge, Massachusetts—not only because of its municipal slogan,
“vivre en intelligence” (“live intelligently”), but because
of its climate, politics, universities and high-tech economy.
Moreover, this handsome and architecturally
heterogeneous city offers a gust of youth rarely found in the Old
World. In fact, anyone looking for a bona fide, modern-day Latin Quarter
should head for Rennes, where a brief stroll along the rue Saint-Malo—locally
know as the “rue de la soif” (“street of thirst,” for its many
crowded bars and cafés) underscores that this is one of the youngest
cities in the Western world. Conversations with locals leave no doubt
that Rennes’s large student population—about 60,000 and growing—is
reshaping the city’s personality.
“During the Trans, Rennes is like
a funky Celtic version of Ibiza,” gushes the barmaid at UBU, one of
the most legendary nightclubs in Europe. She’s describing the atmosphere
during Transmusicales,
an annual four-day music festival that’s among the most popular in
France. With acts like Président Chirac—the rap group, not the politician—it
attracts some 25,000 visitors every year. Founded in 1978, Transmusicales
started out as a showcase for local talent and has grown into one
of the most influential musical events in Europe. Icelandic singer
Björk and American Lenny Kravitz both launched their European careers
here.
In many ways, the evolution of Transmusicales
mirrors the recent history of Rennes itself. To put this in a U.S.
context, imagine an affluent, traditional, buttoned-down city like
Charleston, South Carolina, transforming itself into a mecca of youth
culture, a place variously described as “thriving,” “innovative” and
“fresh.” “It’s amazing the way Rennes has changed,” says Catherine
Guy, a vice-president of Rennes II, the campus of the University of
Rennes devoted to the humanities and social sciences. “It’s become
such a hip and interesting city. And although the student population
has been in the forefront of this change, almost everyone takes part
in Transmusicales and other events.”
Guy adds that Rennes’s entire cultural
scene—nourished by a $65 million annual arts budget—has become increasingly
rich and diverse. Alongside its museums and traditional performing
arts, Rennes now enjoys a lively calendar of festivals—Les Tombées
de la Nuit alone attracted more than 250,000 spectators during its
five-day run this past July. Launched in 1980, this mostly open-air
extravaganza showcases both traditional and contemporary creativity
in music, poetry, theater, mime—even culinary arts and the circus.
“Throughout Europe, there are so many fantastic alternatives to the
cultural models that dominate much of the world,” explains festival
art director Jean-Bernard Vighetti. “We think it is important to give
audiences a chance to discover them.” Tombées has also been a major
vehicle for the recent revival of Breton culture. This year, Breizh
singer Denez Prigent—whose specialty is Gwerz, a sort of melancholy
ballad that might be described as a Celtic version of Portuguese fado—delighted
spectators with his mix of traditional vocals and electronic music.
This exciting cultural life is only
one of the factors that regularly put Rennes at the top of national
“Best Places to Live” surveys. Claude Marcel, a Rennes native who
covers the city for the stylish home-decor magazine Côté Ouest, notes
that the city’s proximity to the sea is a big draw. “Within an hour,
you can be on Brittany’s northern or southern coast, and a lot of
Rennais escape to their vacation homes and boats nearly every weekend,”
she says. And for those who do stay in town, there is no shortage
of things to do. “Shopping here is great—there is everything from
Hermès to suburban malls to the Marché des Lices, one of the largest
and most colorful outdoor markets in France. Lately, I’ve also noticed
a number of contemporary art galleries. I think this reflects a change
in tastes, which used to be very traditional, very classic.” Chefs
too are becoming more adventurous; stuffy restaurants catering to
the expense-account crowd have given way to chic bistros and brasseries
offering creative cuisine alongside revived regional specialties.
Perhaps the biggest change is in the
appearance of the city itself, thanks to a 10-year program that involved
the restoration of 32 kilometers of historic façades. Half-timbered
houses that were once a dingy grayish brown are now alive with color.
“Most people don’t know that during the Middle Ages, houses were painted
in rich, vibrant, contrasting hues,” explains Dominique Ivroas-Dantec,
who promotes the city’s historical heritage for the Tourist Office.
“When these buildings were restored to their original state, everyone
was surprised and delighted.” Appreciating these 15th- and 16th-century
structures is now easier than ever thanks to the new pedestrian avenues
that lace the downtown area.
“Residents now feel so differently
about their city that they actually see it differently,” marvels
Ivroas-Dantec. “Before, they perceived it as gray—in both color and
spirit. A few years ago, however, we did a survey, and most Rennais
said they saw their city as ‘bluish beige’—the colors of stone and
slate, tones that convey a pleasant softness.”
What exactly prompted the Rennes renaissance?
As in many French cities, Rennes’s present can best be understood
by looking at its long and rich past. An entertaining way to grasp
its 2,000 years of history is to visit the Chapelle Saint-Yves, a
15th-century Gothic church that now houses a sophisticated multimedia
exhibit on the city’s history. Conceived by Ivroas-Dantec, the display
explains that Rennes (originally called Condate, or “confluence,”
because of its location at the junction of the Ille and Vilaine rivers)
was founded by the Gauls during the first century B.C. and soon became
an important trading center for the surrounding agricultural area,
exporting leather, linen and hemp to western France as well as to
Britain, Germany and the Low Countries.
Recognizing its strategic location
at the gateway to the Breton peninsula, the Romans fortified the town
with walls that fended off invaders until the 15th century, when new
ramparts—including the extant Portes Mordelaises—were built. During
the Middle Ages, numerous monasteries and convents were founded in
Rennes, which also became the seat of many of the most powerful dukes
of Brittany. “In 1491, the King of France was engaged in a battle
with Anne, the last Duchess of Brittany,” explains Ivroas-Dantec.
“French troops laid siege to the city until Anne finally agreed to
marry King Charles VIII. That union effectively ended seven centuries
of Breton independence.”
Yet even as part of France, Rennes
would continue to play a major role. In the 16th century, the king
established 13 provincial parliaments, one of them in Rennes. “It
was the highest court in Brittany,” explains Ivroas-Dantec, “and it
firmly established the city as a regional capital. It also introduced
an aristocratic air, with parliamentarians—mostly wealthy nobles—building
handsome townhouses where they would stay during parliamentary sessions.”
In 1618, work began on a grand parliament building. Still the pride
of Rennes, this magnificent edifice with gilded coffered ceilings
and elaborate wood paneling required almost a century of work and
the talents of some of France’s most skilled artisans.
Built of Loire Valley limestone, the
Parliament escaped the 1720 fire that devastated the heart of the
medieval city, with its warren of narrow streets and half-timbered
houses. Neighborhoods were rebuilt in stone and redesigned to include
two large squares, one in front of the Parliament, the other at the
Hôtel de Ville. “Today there are several places where you can still
see exactly where the fire stopped,” says Ivroas-Dantec. “Stand on
the rue du Chapitre, for example, and you will see a storybook 15th-century
home on one side and the elegant 18th-century Hôtel de Blossac on
the other.”
In 1857, Rennes was linked to Paris
by rail, but instead of spurring industrial development as it did
in other French cities such as Lyon and Lille, it mainly served to
accelerate the exodus of Brittany’s rural population toward the capital.
“By the 1950s, the city had become a rather sleepy provincial town,”
says Ivroas-Dantec. “The population consisted mainly of bureaucrats,
clergy and soldiers posted at the local garrison—and of course students;
even then Rennes was well known for its universities.”
Determined to prod Rennes out of its
torpor, President Charles de Gaulle decided in 1962 to build a huge
Citroën factory on the outskirts of the city; a few years later, the
government also located one of its leading telecom training and research
centers there—a move designed to capitalize on the local student population.
Many more centers would follow, setting the stage for what would turn
out to be a high-tech future.
“Citroën put Rennes on the map in
industrial terms,” says Texan Eric Beaty, commercial attaché at the
new American consulate in Rennes, which opened in January 2000. “But
it was the opening of the Atalante technology business park in 1984
and Canon’s decision to locate its European research center here that
jump-started the city’s new economy. Rennes is now a world-class hub
of telecommunications research and investment.” In addition to Canon,
other telecom giants—Mitsubishi, Lucent, Thomson, Philips, France
Telecom, Cap Gemini, Ernst & Young—have also set up shop here.
“There is no question that education
and research are the soul of this city,” says third-term mayor Edmond
Hervé, a former law professor who was first elected in 1977. “Yet
while we’re very proud of our rapidly growing high-tech base, we also
feel that it’s important to preserve and stimulate traditional industries
such as agriculture, agribusiness and manufacturing. And of course
there’s also our role as regional capital. All of this gives us a
very balanced economic base.”
This prosperity has enabled Rennes
to make major investments in its cityscape. In addition to refurbishing
the downtown area, Rennes put up much of the $50 million needed to
restore the Parliament, which caught fire in 1994. After five years
of painstaking work involving countless artisans, the splendid rooms
are once again open for business and tourists. Still used as a courthouse,
the building provides an oddly sumptuous decor for the trials of local
malfaiteurs while delighting visitors who flock to see this
rare example of early 17th-century decorative arts.
Rennes’s rapid growth has also made
it something of a laboratory for avant-garde urban planning. At the
moment, construction is under way on Beauregard, an inner-city neighborhood
that will eventually be home to more than 3,000 people. Bertrand Guidon,
research and communications director for the city’s department of
urban planning, architecture and housing, says the key to Rennes’s
urban philosophy is development on a European—and not a North American,
or automobile-oriented—model. “We intend to protect the green belt
encircling the city rather than have it become a dense ring of suburbs
like you see in some other French cities,” he says. “We don’t want
a gentrified downtown surrounded by less affluent suburbs, but rather
a mixed city in the broadest sense of the term.” Perhaps nothing is
more representative of the city’s forward-looking attitude than the
VAL, a driverless subway system that will be inaugurated in March
2002. The first all-new underground built in France in 40 years, it
was the subject of contentious debate, given that the city’s population
density is significantly lower than the established norm for subterranean
mass transit. Brushing aside the controversy and media criticism,
a triumphant Hervé has no doubt that the VAL will be a boon to the
city. “Well-conceived public works projects don’t respond to municipal
needs, they anticipate them,” he says confidently.
The mayor is equally enthusiastic
about the new NEC (Nouvel Equipement Culturel), a striking $70 million
cultural center designed by Christian de Portzamparc, the star French
architect also responsible for the highly lauded LVMH building in
New York and the Cité de la Musique in Paris. “This dramatic building
is a powerful sign of the importance of culture in our daily life,
but it’s also emblematic of the new Rennes,” says Hervé. “We will
always love our Parliament building, but I think everyone agreed that
the city needed a bold new symbol of its modernity.”
Meanwhile, work proceeds on the extension
of TGV tracks from Le Mans to Rennes, to be completed by the end of
2002, putting the city within an hour and a half of Paris (the trip
now takes two hours). This abbreviated proximity is expected to have
a major impact. “The TGV has already been very positive for Rennes,”
comments a senior city planner. “And this next step will only enhance
its appeal. With the new line, it will be feasible to commute from
Paris to Rennes or vice versa—although we believe that people will
be more likely to commute from Rennes to Paris. Why? Because Rennes
is a great place to live.”
Among the talented and influential
newcomers recently attracted by the local good life is world-famous
conductor Stefan Sanderling. A 37-year-old Berlin native, Sanderling
also directs the Potsdam Opera and the Mainz Philharmonic Opera, and
has guest-conducted all over the world. Two years ago, he accepted
the post of musical director of the 11-year-old Orchestre de Bretagne,
the newest French regional orchestra.
“I was working in Honolulu when I
received the offer, and I think many people were surprised by how
quickly I accepted,” laughs Sanderling. “Of course, it’s a fantastic
challenge to be able to shape such a young orchestra, but I was also
enticed by the fact that Rennes is a lovely place to live. It’s not
only beautiful, it’s also the ideal size.” He recalls that after the
terrorist attacks in America, everyone just naturally gathered on
the place de l’Hôtel de Ville to talk. “It still functions as a classic
forum,” he says. “You simply don’t find that in larger, more impersonal
cities.”s
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