Year Two Day Seventy - The Art and Jazz Festival in Collingwood

Dear all, 

Collingwood at the weekends is always a joyous occasion and this weekend would not disappoint with the Art and Jazz Festival being downtown hosted by the GBACA http://www.gbaca.com/. Karla was looking after the stall of her amazing mum, Sonia and I couldn't wait to swing by and pay her a visit. 

Sonia makes amazing artwork and the stall looked fantastic. Unfortunately, the weather would not cooperate  (including a barrage of numerous electrical storms and a tornado) and the turnout wasn't great.  I feel bad for the organizers as there were bands playing throughout the day and some incredible displays of art work, jewelry and crafts. 

Karla's mum is so talented - her work is gorgeous so do give her a shout if you need any fabulous Iron ornaments for the garden! And here is a stone mason at work at the show - he was also clearly very talented, Collingwood is full of budding artists (Hurray!). 

Year Two Day Sixty Nine - 1000 Island RV Park

Dear all, 

On the way home from Montreal, (and after following a car sporting the latest in 'Moose rack' accessories) Darren decided to pop in on a large RV park that he had spotted just outside of Kingston. 

The RV centre was VAST and situated on the highway. Darren was not so much interested in the RVs as the HUGE barns that houses the jet skis and snow mobiles. http://www.1000islandsrv.com/

Even the 'jet ski' barn was massive - one could get lost it in - lost in a sea of Sea-doos!

As you can see, the boys got very involved - it was however, quite overwhelming yet (of course) very inspiring (a field full of jet skis.... urm... yep, that's inspiring - better keep on buying those lottery tickets..)

Year Two Day Sixty Eight - Place Jacques Cartier

Dear all, 

Still in the gorgeous Montreal, we stepped out today and explored the fabulous Place Jacques Cartier in The Old Town in Montreal! http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/tour/etape6/eng/6fena.htm 

The plaza is covered in artists stalls, musicians and performers and it provided the perfect central point for the Old Town. We stopped off in several of the many bustling restaurants over the course of our trip. The first was Restaurant Le Fripon http://www.lefripon.com/ where we contemplateled dinner with a large plate of nachos and some cold beers. 

The boys decided to try some of the intriguingly named 'Midnight Sun' ale (http://midnightsunbrewing.com/), a Canadian beer that (no.. it can't be possible) no one had ever heard of. It was quite good, dark as night and got the thumbs up from Darren and Vince!

It really is a lovely spot - my photographic skills probably don't do it justice, especially after a 'demi' or two but hopefully you get the gist of what to expect on a lovely balmy in downtown Montreal.. 

Kerry and I also managed to explore the 'Rue D'Artistes' - a small alley way full of stalls, shops and gorgeous boutiques that took right after their namesake. 

Down a small corridor, there was a gorgeous outdoor gallery with an amazing atrium covered in ivy with a spiral staircase that run up and out from the market area. It was quite unusual to see something like this in Canada ( but very common in Europe) and was an absolute delight. 

Then, more food - this time at a local Pizzeria - Bella Vita. 

We had a wonderful night of (many)pizzas and (many) jugs of sangria.. It was fabulous!

Montreal is amazing and I urge everyone to visit if they have the chance! J'adore Montreal!

Year Two Day Sixty Nine - LYLY KA (selling ESPE) at the Bon Secours Market

Dear all,

I have a new wallet!!!! And it's from Montreal! Time to splash out on an early bday gift ( for myself..) and thought it high time to replace the (awful) wallet I received [for free] from a charity shop in London, about 6 years ago... not very chic ( but certainly retro). Kerry and I stopped in at the magnificent 'Bon Secours' Market in the Old Town and found an AMAZING boutique, LYLY KA (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boutique-Lyly-Ka-Créations-Québécoises/195885727134886?sk=wall) while browsing through the gorgeous stalls. http://www.marchebonsecours.qc.ca/en/index.html

Kerry managed to find a gorgeous leather bag ( which was very reasonably priced) and I fell in love, almost immediately with this cute little wallet. They even had amazing packaging *sigh.. it's all about the packaging) http://www.espe.ca/ And it was only $25. Some might say that's a lot but I won't buy one for another 10 years so it most certainly evens out over the duration.  

What a find and so cheap! I am now officially ready for the new School Year!

http://www.espe.ca/product/product_wallets.html

Year Two Day Sixty Eight - Bus Tour Around Montreal

Dear all, 

As we were only in Montreal for a few days, we decided to hop on a (London???) bus and do a quick tour of the city in the comfort of a (London?????) Double Decker ( visa Tower Bridge and Aldgate apparently...). We used the city-wide group Gray Line http://www.grayline.com/Montreal who seemed to know what they were doing and had a veritable fleet of buses on hand to scoop up eager tourists. 

Vince and Darren needed coffee before we could embark ( seen here running down the high street as the bus was about to leave) but once they were on board, we were off!

 We actually drove through the Old Town before we went over the river to the next stop, The Casino!

We got to see St Lawrence River in all it's gushing glory - it is pretty impressive and we had a splendid view from the top of the bus. 

The boys were pretty happy when we left the Casino (Evil, Evil Casino) http://www.casinosduquebec.com/montreal and we sped back into town towards La Centre Ville and *wait for it* shops... 

We stopped off in St.Catherine Street (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Catherine_Street) where we tried to find some cologne for Vince ( he was on the look out). It seemed timely to try something from the 'Jean Paul Gaultier Range' but after a couple of squirts..we decided that it maybe wasn't the scent for Vince. The street was rammed with shops ( and churches) but we decided to head on with the tour ( it was 'hop on, hop off) and get some 'culture' 

We then visited, St Joseph's Oratory, an impressive structure up on the hill looking over Montreal. http://www.saint-joseph.org/

We then stopped off in the glorious Mont Royal Park http://montreal.com/parks/mtroyal.html  - Montreal's equivalent of Central park, an expansive mass of park land full of revellers, runner and gorgeous cafes. We found one cafe and settled in to enjoy the sun and a brief escape from the inner city. 

The cafe was lovely, French and after a brief moment inside (**even a Tuesday seems busy in Montreal), we were promoted to the Patio. 

After a couple of beers, off we went again, this time back into town via the observatory point. 

Back in the city, we saw more of Montreal at its best - glorious statues and buildings on either side. 

Montreal is beautiful and was had a wonderful afternoon zipping around the city on our big red bus. Brave Montreal!

Year Two Day Sixty Seven - The Keg

Dear all, 

An exciting first today - we discovered the local Keg in Old Montreal and couldn't resist! Darren, Vince and Kerry are huge fans so were (again) very surprised that I had never entered the doors of this hallowed restaurant.  http://www.kegsteakhouse.com/en/locations/QC/montreal/old-montreal-keg/

I was immediately impressed by the decor - it was chic and sophisticated with a splash of glamour seen in the many photos of famous rock stars splattered throughout the restaurant. 

Everyone was adamant that everything would be fantastic and they were not wrong - after we received a fabulous array of beverages, our first culinary treat was the amazing soda bread that arrived in a warm basket accompanied but freshly whipped butter. I knew it was rash to start with bread ( in order to maintain maximum capacity for the dinner) but I couldn't resist. This stuff was delicious!

Then our appetizers... it just kept on coming. Darren and I shared a Caeser Salad and Bacon wrapped scallops *sigh* which were quite simply, sublime. 

Vince and Kerry also selected salads for their appetizer ( a pre cursor for the main course - a good tactic for experience 'Keg' regulars)

And then it arrived! After fawning over the menu, I had selected the 'Steak and Surf' ( this was a difficult choice  - the menu is extensive and apparently one is never disappointed here) and Darren had chosen another cut of steak which, quite frankly, was bigger than my head. 

It was amazing and as you can imagine, we didn't have room for dessert.... 

We love Montreal!!!!!