Rennes Impressions

I have been in Rennes for two days now and am still getting my bearings. My host family's home is between a church and a large orange crane and to make it home from my explorations I march around in squares attempting to zero in on it. Each street is named after a famous French person preferably someone of Breton origin, but others will do in a pinch. A sentence underneath each road sign explains who he was and what he did( I have yet to find any lady streets if they are lurking). Nearby we have Gabriel Fauré St which I ran down today.
I am living in a neighborhood built in the 1930s. My French numbers are shaky and to me the house seems a lot older. It was built to house the railroad workers. My host mama thinks it poignant that a railroad worker today could not afford to live here. The houses are in rows and have large over-gown shrubs/ flowering trees and nice yards protected by high fences. In our yard we have mysterious flowering tree which overhangs the gate. It has blossoms that look like pink roses except that it is firmly a tree. It is the sort of thing one would kiss one's 19th century mailman lover underneath as he made his daily rounds. I can't figure out why it is blooming in January.
A very large and dog-like rabbit maintains jurisdiction over the yard. He likes to come up and sniff you when you enter the gate and he frequents the compost bucket up on the porch. He will receive food by hand and sometimes he presses his face up against the glass door of the kitchen. I am to feed him stale bread if I like. I was very glad to hear this because I was afraid the stale bread was for me. People in Rennes seem to prefer their bread/brioche as Melba toasts. Breakfast=this fare which I am unaccustomed to. My host mom also really likes honey tea with more honey added and we drink that compulsively. It is rather tasty and certainly takes the chill off. I also like how she has Camembert for dessert.
I am still trying to get to know people at Université de Rennes II. All the St. Olaf students showed up late and all the other exchange students know each other already. When our classes start I am sure it will be better. However today in my translation class at La Fac ( the regular French university) I met two students who helped me figure out what was going on in a class that has been meeting since September. They were really very nice and their French was SO FAST. I have heard that French students really unite and share their work readily. This seemed to be true as people were reading, correcting and sometimes copying my notes without my asking. The professor is British and all the kids love him. It was funny for me because he translated the French into English phrases that I had never heard of-- some of which I thought made absolutely no sense. All and all a very exciting class. More to follow I am sure.