Soirées and Bars

Bar la Place

The first night I went out was on a Wednesday. I almost didn’t make it to this soirée because I thought I missed my bus. I just ended up being late, but most of the time things don’t really get going until later in the night anyway. A “soirée” is pretty much just the word used for going out to parties, clubs, or organized events. The one organized on a Wednesday was for students at the international school to get to know and meet some people before classes start. I met up with a couple girls in my program and my assistant director.

The soirée was held at Bar la Place, which is where I’m pretty sure all of the intercultural soirées are held. They usually have three per semester. This bar has two levels, but I only saw the first floor the first time I was there. There’s a bar, high tables and stools, and a dance floor. There is another part of the first level that you can go down a couple steps to get into. They were having a little dance party in there while most of the other people were near the bar. I was able to meet a couple new friends at this soirée. I also recognized some people I saw in my classes the next week.

The second soirée was on the second floor, but I saw it before when I went there for my friend’s birthday. There are like five areas you can go to. It’s open by the bar, there’s a nook with seats, there’s an area that looks like a huge dining table and another area that looks like a small restaurant. There’s a lot of Indonesian decorations and a wooden elephant statue in the middle where a guy ended up putting his beer glass down right behind the elephant’s butt and said “If that gets refilled I’d be worried.” There was like no one there when we went for my friend’s birthday, but they said it doesn’t get pact until really late. There were so many people at the soirée though. It was open to other people and not just the international school and I feel like I heard more English then French. I made sure I talked to people I would only be able to speak French with most of the time. There were a lot French people there trying to practice their English. The international school tried to organize a game with cards that had you ask a question to someone who has the same color marker mark as you, but honestly no one knew how to play. I ended up just socializing with random people and those I knew from my classes.

Cactus

The second bar I went to was Cactus. I think this bar is pretty nice, but kinda small. When you arrive a bouncer greets you at the door, but I haven’t had a problem getting in so far. This bar also has two levels, but you go downstairs to the other area. The first floor plays more like classic hits and you can watch old American music videos on the screens behind the bar that don’t even match the songs being played. The only lights are Christmas lights and strobe lights hung around the ceiling and along the toy train tracks. When you order your shots a toy train delivers them to you! The vibe between the two floors feels completely different as if it were two different bars.

Downstairs, there’s another bar and it has a restaurant feel set up, but its very vertical and not a lot of space. People dance anyway. The lighting is a darker green-blue. There’s also a smoking area with grass if you go completely to the other side away from the stairs. I didn’t get a good look, but I think I saw people trying to sing like it was a karaoke area on the other side. The bathrooms are also mixed here.

Rue de la Soif

Rue de la Soif pretty much means “Thirst Street” because it’s characterized by all of the bars lined up on each side of the street. Supposedly it’s pretty known all around France. I’ve only been to it once so far and it’s definitely crowded with drunk people, but it’s still pretty fun. There are also Kabab places to buy fast food like Kabab items, french fries or taco sandwiches. Most of the these bars have nice tents set outside with lights. I feel like that’s also important for places to have since a lot of the population smokes and would most likely want to have a comfortable night outside.

There are discothèques (nightclubs) as well, but I haven’t tried them out yet. I know one here used to be a prison! Also, all of these places are close to station Saint-Anne and place de la République. It’s important to check your bus times if you don’t live close enough to walk. The last bus for me is usually around 1:30 a.m. But if I ever miss my bus, I can call a taxi or uber. It is possible to walk for me, but that’s not the safest idea. Most of the time I do feel pretty safe, but you still have to keep your guard up because you never know. The city honestly just feels like a giant college campus to me since there are so many students that live here.

Football Match

Today I went to a football (soccer) game with my friend and her house parents/”famille d’accueil.” It was held at Stade Rennais and we took one of the buses designated to go to the stadium from la République. It was only about a ten minute bus ride. All of the buses had the stadiums name in Breton (Galic language of Brittany) “Roazhon Park” and a pix-elated soccer player where the name of the destination usually is on the front of the bus. Rennes was playing against Nimes and there are sections on either side of the field behind the field goal where people chant for their team. Since it was a home game, Rennes’ cheer section was obviously much larger than Nimes’. One of the cheers I noticed was two quick claps and then hands out towards the stadium. There was also an echoing chant, but I couldn’t understand it. Rennes’ colors are red and black and their mascot is a white ermine.

Fun fact: There are murals of ermines in the windows of buildings being worked on, because it gives off a friendlier vibe. The animal has been a symbol of Brittany since 1316.

The stadiums major sponsor is Puma and you can find the logo on the backs of some of the stadium workers’ gear. There were also a lot of advertisements for yogurt. My friend told me while I was in the bathroom that they put a giant yogurt cup in the center of the field. I also saw advertisements for a tractor company. The stadium had flags that represented Brittany and the team towards the top of the stadium and there were signs that said Ouest-France (West-France) lining the stadium levels.

The bathroom surprised me a lot. I ended up going into a toilet room that didn’t have a normal toilet. It was a squat toilet. I honestly didn’t have trouble using it, it was just really strange because it was my first time using one.

On the field, the referees wore light blue instead of black and white stripes. Flags were seen all throughout the stadium and large flags were waved whenever they scored a goal. On the sidelines the team stayed warmed up by running up to someone and getting pushed back twice before running to the end of the field. Football games last 90 minutes with two 45 minute halves. Like a hot-dog at a baseball game, I got a galette saucisse during the break. Also, the scoreboards count up to 90 minutes, not down to zero seconds left.

The bus was so packed on the way back to la République. My friend and I felt like we were surfing through the streets because we were standing so close to the front window. The doors to enter the bus opened at one point while the bus was moving. It’s a good thing my friend wasn’t leaning against them!

Rennes ended up winning 2-1. 🙂

À bientôt

– Nicole