Rallye des 5 Sens: Touring Rennes Using the 5 Senses

Students had a great first day of class here in Rennes! After class, we split into small groups for lunch. Some students enjoyed crêpes and galettes at a crêperie. Some students chose a galette, which is savory, while others chose to eat a sweet crêpe for lunch. 

Following lunch, we went on a walking tour of Rennes that used all of our 5 senses with a "rallye des 5 sens"! Our guide showed us different parts of the city, giving challenges along the way that students had to work together to solve. The first challenge took place at the Place du Parlement, where students tasted a pastry called "Le Parlementin" and had to use their deductive skills to decide what ingredients were used in the recipe. For each correct answer, groups received a ticket.

The next stop on the tour was a traditional wooden house in the city center. Rennes was originally composed mainly of houses made out of wood, but a devastating fire in 1720 resulted in three quarters of the town being destroyed. As a result, new buildings were built out of stone. In this challenge, students had to use their sense of touch to reach into bags and guess what materials were most commonly used to build the wooden houses, such as wood, rocks, gravel, hemp, and slate.

The next stop was at the Place des Lices, a large square where the weekly Saturday market is held. Here, students smelled common foods in the region and had to guess what they were smelling. They smelled sardines, seaweed, galettes, and salted caramel. Students much preferred the smell of salted caramel to that of sardines and seaweed!

After completing the walking tour and challenges, students had the opportunity to trade in their tickets for a prize of chocolate dentelles. It was an exciting day full of new sights, sounds, smells, and tastes!