Sunday we celebrate the Epiphany and we can enjoy these delicious cakes and buns topped with the famous bean. I find it unfortunate that these traditional cakes are on sale since December in supermarkets because it has no meaning. Similarly it should not be that this ritual is dragging on until February because as they say After the party, farewell the saint.

I remember sharing the cake in my youth when I was hiding under the table to designate the recipient of the hand: for that that one, I asked my mother? I mentioned in the order of my preferences emotional moment of the beneficiary, an order which could be upset by a quarrel with one of my brothers. I kept preciously beans at home but was left to chance and there was no question of promoting younger, namely yours truly.

At work the Epiphany will be the opportunity to taste many, probably a bit too. I dread to be crowned queen, having to choose a king and especially to be decked out in the crown. Good ridicule does not kill me and if fate means I will pay the next cake.

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Sunday we will celebrate May 1. This year we will not have a day off for Labor Day, 2011 is not a good year for employees. Employees who work in compensation will be paid double this holiday.

As usual the various unions and political parade will follow their lead. On the banners the protesters assert greater purchasing power and job security. For some, like the other, participation in this gathering will be a test. A new assessment of the number of participants diverge between unions and the police, it is also a tradition.

Meanwhile the florists will be busy around bouquets of lily of the valley. Compete for sales of which benefit individuals, for that one day, a tolerance, they enliven the single strand of a thrush pink and transparent paper. Husbands and children go early to buy the lucky bunch.

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Place Sainte Anne Rennes

My dear readers I wish you all a merry Christmas . I hope that the festive season you will be surrounded by those you love, you will be spoiled by Santa Claus, even if like me you're too old to believe again.

He reigns in those days surrounding Christmas special atmosphere that is felt everywhere in the streets, in stores where crowds jostle and even at work where there is little soul working.

Opéra de Rennes

Yet not everyone will unfortunately not get to live a family Christmas and too many people suffer from loneliness. I read recently that the isolation affecting more and more people and not just older. In a society where social networks are forged on the web, there are those who are alone, desperately alone and loneliness must be even more difficult to sustain during the holidays.

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Barrel organ to Quintin

Quintin , small town character close to St Brieuc in Cotes d'Armor organizes each year for the festival of St. Martin street singers.

This year this free festival took place on 6 and 7 November. The ancient city is the perfect backdrop for this event. The street singers to sing the songs friendly banter and old audiences repeat in chorus the chorus from the collective memory. Who knows the Bastille and its famous Nini dog skin?

The barrel organs and their colorful punch cards strung music of yesteryear. For the festival the town comes alive and the viewer looks back in time with the parades, recreations of old crafts disappeared today. At a street corner the grinder in an alley once a farm hand with the churn, a little further women wash clothes in the old ...

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The empty granaries and other clearance sales are popular. September sees blooming everywhere and Rennes is no exception. The fire sale of Saint Martin is the second largest in France.

The sell-Saint Martin is located north of Rennes and that of Sainte Therese south. The latter brings together over 300 exhibitors and is held in June. The two meet a huge success story continues from year to year, so much so that sometimes lie bradeurs fans on hand to ensure the ideal location.

I like the idea that these objects despised by some found a second life. The gift of marriage that did not like the side by side stroller that is no longer the birdcage pendants and luminaires. There are toys, books , dishes, clothes, a jumble in which lovers love happy poking. It is a snub to the consumer society.

The antique shops are the first on the scene. Armed with a flashlight, they are there at dawn and size each other up in a flash stand. They seek the rare piece that they will negotiate a good price to sell it then. With no knowledge of prices leave some fans from beautiful objects for a pittance. Others, however, overstate their wares. This is the game my poor Lucette!

I happened to sell out to vacuum the house for more than making money. Up at 3 am for a lean recipe I regretted nothing because I spent a fun day to play the market. It reminded me of my youth, no doubt. However I remember a fire sale when it had rained much of the day and there's another song. The weather is key and when the exhibitor is obliged to cover transition booth tarps to protect its treasures is bad for business.

I remember selling a stool milking the cows, all muddy and with worm-eaten any feet. As I apologized to the buyer, this one tells me the contrary, it is true that this side had won. Go figure, I would not have given sixpence! A young woman bought me a pair of red boots in size 38 in which it was very difficult to house his 39 but she insisted. My wool balls went like hotcakes.

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The Cultural Space of the Champs Libres in Rennes

The Esplanade Charles de Gaulle, former Rennes best known as the Champ de Mars, has a long history behind it. In the 1900s there was an agricultural fair and you could see the boys in sailor suits with their mom walk in robe in the shelter of an umbrella. For the fair of 1906 a provisional farm and a lighthouse had been erected there. The gentlemen wearing boaters admiring the horses, cows .... Finally as in any agricultural fair in fact.

Over time the urban landscape has changed. The former barracks of the Dovecote adjoining the Champ de Mars was razed to make way for construction of a major shopping center and a wide range of high-rises. On the other hand, was built in 1961, the Verizon Center, which as its name suggests was originally dedicated to the sport then this hideous building was renamed Liberty and transformed into a multipurpose room which hosts exhibitions, fairs, sporting or cultural events such as the Travelling festival or the night of the Fallen .
Despite a rather poor acoustics The Liberty hosts major music shows including the famous Transmusicales. The great tower of safety dominates the square of its 16 floors since late 1973.
The clock ticks off the time of year, exit the agricultural fair, the carnival hello to the many attractions and circuses with their huge tent and traditional menagerie that brings a touch of exoticism.

But in recent years this vast place has changed radically and thoroughly modernized with the construction of the Champs Libres futuristic space dedicated to culture, the 4 a space of 1750 m2 young, the renovation of Liberty, the opening in late 2006 to a complex of 13 theaters which I mentioned in a previous post.
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Our neighbor Norman has many attractions. After turning the Mount (St Michel) in Normandy by a quirk of the Couesnon, it has a culinary treasure that I will reveal.

Normandy rice pudding

The Teurgoule gets its name because it was hot and tasted that sweet tooth twisted the ghoul when they burned. Kind of rice pudding flavored with cinnamon baked nearly five hours baking in a bowl very soft clay, so much so that the rice grains are virtually no longer detectable. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients: 2.5 liters of whole milk, 150 g round grain rice, 25 pieces of sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 pinch of salt and a knob of butter.

Heat the milk to a boil, add sugar, salt, rice and cinnamon. Pour into the dish by adding butter. Bake in slow oven (about 130 degrees) for 5 hours.
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My second year blogger ends and that's with you dear readers or frequent passing as I go into the year 2010. I hope like me you have finished the year 2009 in beauty , and that these celebrations were the meetings with family and friends warm.

The 2009 report regarding the blog is rather positive and what I remember most are the wonderful encounters he offered me. In my personal life I will remember two important events, the marriage of two people who are very dear to me and a change of job in a difficult but ultimately very beneficial.

For the new vintage of which I do not know if it will be amazing, I preferred not to establish a list of good resolutions, most of which would be abandoned just made. Anyway I will try to concoct a good little notes and I hope that I will never know the anguish of the blank.

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The gift we offer is the testimony of many feelings, deep and sincere friendship, love, filial love, maternal love or passion. It is a reflection of the donor but also a mirror in which those who receive it can be recognized, for he who gives his tastes erases the benefit of those of the man he wants to fill.

The calendar provides many opportunities to make gifts. The Christmas tradition where gifts have taken priority over the next Bible, the New Year of presents somewhat forgotten today, but it is the heart that chooses the best.

The real present knows no ulterior motive and is free from any thought of return. He did not appreciate its value but for him. Besides, we never let the price tag, nor is any mention this one. It is well known that a small bouquet of flowers sometimes causes more intense pleasure than a costly jewel.

We never offer indispensable utensil of daily life but something halfway between luxury and necessity. Unless you are an artist who will be deemed the most personal of gifts by offering one of his works, it is best not to offer an object of manufacture. In contrast budding artists that are children receive in the heart of realizing their handcuffs a nice present.

Should each gift is a surprise? It is true that the surprise, when it is good, ten times the joy. But an unpleasant surprise to be preferred a gift idea with tact and delicacy collected. Beware also if one offers a stamp or stamps tools to a DIYer because it is easy to make mistakes in an area that is poorly understood.

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As Christmas approaches the issue of gifts starts you tapping? Find the gift useful or futile but would be happy, that is the question?

To avoid the crowded stores and buy in a hurry in the excitement of days, I take it in advance, sometimes well in advance. In fact I buy at any time of year when I stumbled on a bargain. And above all I note on the fly avowed desires of my relatives. During the talks it is not uncommon for one or the other is talking about something he wants or needs.

I take advantage of private sales that offer a wide range of items and prices. And yes you must think quickly because the addition is indigestible when there are many to spoil.

I also sometimes offers a last resort, purchase orders which prevent the twinge that we derive from seeing the discomfiture of the one we wanted to fill. The voucher is less fun but it's still a safe bet. And still more prosaic, there is a check that will give the recipient the choice of its use.

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