The Metro Adventure: Guest Post by Ellie Z

One of the most noticeable differences between Rennes and the United States has been the quality of the public transportation system. Because there are so few cars in Old City Rennes, the majority of people travel by the one metro line or the numerous buses through the city. Every day, we use the metro to travel from Villejean University to Saint Anne, where we eat lunch. Then, we usually take the metro as well to reconvene for activities.

Thursday, while exiting the metro at Republique, I noticed a new decal; STAR (the public transportation system in Rennes) was hosting a scavenger hunt! Being a public transportation nerd, I quickly took a photo and continued to meet the group.

After our activity, my friends and I returned to check out the hunt. The instructions claimed that it was aimed for 5-11 year olds, but we decided to follow the path anyway. As one of my friends joked, we had the French ability of children anyway (but we are woking on that!).

The first stop was a “spot-the-difference”. Working together, the five of us quickly found the differences, and marked them on a photo on my phone.

Next, also at République, was a maze. It was helpfully already solved by someone with a marker.

Then we took the metro one stop to Charles de Gaulle. Upon arriving, we found the hardest and most important puzzle of the hunt: a rebus (a puzzle where you have to use pictures and letters together to complete the missing words!).

Not being native French speakers, it was difficult to decipher the message. We figured out «m-oi j’aime l-œufs v____ eau» but because we didn’t know the word for "wings" in French we couldn’t decipher it completely. We decided to continue on to the next stop and work on it later.

At the last stop, Gare, we found a “where’s Waldo” type puzzle.

Once again, we worked together to find the different characters.

Finally, there was an activity of comparing your height to Starlie (the mascot)!

Puzzles (mostly) completed, we followed the signs above ground to the “Maison de Vélo” (bike rental center), where a prize apparently awaited us.

But before we could go in, we needed to finish solving the rebus. We decided to ask someone waiting at the station for the word for “wings” in French. We asked a man how to say “les bras d’un oiseau” (the arms of a bird). Thankfully, he was very nice and told us the translation: “aile”.

Finally we could solve the rebus!

“M-oi j’aime l-œuf v-aile eau”
Moi j’aime le vélo
Me, I like bikes

We entered the Maison du Vélo and told the man behind the counter the solution to the rebus. We also explained that we were American foreign exchange students and we were really excited about the puzzle. He was so nice- he gave us our prizes, and we left.

Outside, we opened them to discover a sheet of stickers and a jigsaw puzzle!

It was a really fun and I am really glad we decided to spontaneously give it a try. Even though it was only a fifteen minute adventure during my month abroad, I know it will be one of my fondest memories of my trip when I go home.