More "firsts" in year one in my life in a new country....
Since Summer time is the official season of festivals, we decided to participate in the annual "Tastes of Italy" event, in the area of town (appropriately) called Little Italy. Traffic was blocked off along the main street so we were able to leisurely wander along and take in all the sights.
There were parades with flag throwing,
bubbles, live music, and lots of food samples
including coffee and various cheeses.
There was a huge display of new and vintage Fiat cars.
It would have been really cool if we could have driven
one! Oh, and, of course, there was plenty of PIZZA!
There were two stages with live music.
We spent more time at the location where the lead singer was quite an energetic fellow who spoke Italian, French and English. His accent while belting out "Roll Over Beethoven" was truly entertaining. Ask David to do his imitation sometime!
The lights from the church next door added additional ambiance to the whole event.
The weather was pleasant and it was a great night to be outdoors. This town is really jam packed with outdoor events. Every weekend there are several choices of things to do.
This particular festival was a great chance to check out a whole new neighborhood that we had not yet had the time to explore. There are tons of restaurants here so I suspect we will be back to try some more of them out!
So - corn that is grown in Canada is a big thing! Once the harvest begins, corn shows up in every market, at every major store and every little vegetable stand. We have been to two "corn roasts" already. And I have to admit - the corn is really yummy. Personally, I have always considered corn on the cob to be a complete meal all by itself. I generally add a bit of cayenne pepper on my corn (along with butter and salt) but last week I tried something new. Kudos to my garden facilitator's suggestion -thanks Nancy! I put some of my homemade basil pesto on the corn instead - and it was a very tasty alternative. I highly recommend it.
I am working really hard to get in some more trips with Gibby
before winter comes to Montreal.
Winter in Texas was never a concern with the RV, but snow tires are mandatory in Quebec and we are not planning to put snow tires on Gibby.
So, a couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity for a short get-away up in the Laurentian Mountains, about an hour and a half north of Montreal.
We camped at an RV park in a town called Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts. We got there late on Friday and fortunately missed all
the rain.
The weather cleared on Saturday morning so we were able to go hiking for a couple of hours. I made note that the trails are well marked, in case we come back here for cross country skiing someday.
We made it to a scenic overlook with a view of the lake. Even though almost all the campsites were filled, we did not see anyone else on the hiking trails.
This little cabin might have looked inviting if we were caught in a blinding snow storm, but luckily that was not the case so I was NOT even tempted to go inside to check it out.
Across the street from the campground was a beach area and a lake
where you could rent canoes or paddle boats. Dave went for a short swim and I just enjoyed walking barefoot along the beach and digging my feet into the sand.
Saturday night there was a big bonfire and live music at the campground. The weather was great! Cool enough to need a blanket at night and I even turned the heater on in the RV for a short time.
On Sunday, we met up with two new friends,
Debbie and David, that we met at the Food Depot
where we volunteer on Tuesday mornings.
We rode bikes along the Le P'Tit Train Du Nord trail, from Sainte-Agathe to another town called Val-Morin.
The bike route is one made along what used to be the old train track. We stopped along the way and took our time and enjoyed the weather and the company.
Last weekend we attended a film festival in one of our neighborhood parks. The neighborhood is called NDG (Notre-Dame-de-Grace) and all the films were related to NDG. Either they were produced by someone from the neighborhood, or they were about the neighborhood. There were about 16 short films. Some were musical, some were factual documentary types, some included dancing, some serious and some just plain silly. Quite a variety. We got to vote for our top 3 favorites. People brought chairs and blankets and picnics and - again - just enjoyed being outside.
Everyday is not sunny, however. We had a lot of rain this afternoon but I put on my bright pink rain boots and ventured out anyway!
Thanks for joining me on my journey... Life is good in NDG.
There were parades with flag throwing,
including coffee and various cheeses.
There was a huge display of new and vintage Fiat cars.
It would have been really cool if we could have driven
one! Oh, and, of course, there was plenty of PIZZA!
There were two stages with live music.
The lights from the church next door added additional ambiance to the whole event.
This particular festival was a great chance to check out a whole new neighborhood that we had not yet had the time to explore. There are tons of restaurants here so I suspect we will be back to try some more of them out!
So - corn that is grown in Canada is a big thing! Once the harvest begins, corn shows up in every market, at every major store and every little vegetable stand. We have been to two "corn roasts" already. And I have to admit - the corn is really yummy. Personally, I have always considered corn on the cob to be a complete meal all by itself. I generally add a bit of cayenne pepper on my corn (along with butter and salt) but last week I tried something new. Kudos to my garden facilitator's suggestion -thanks Nancy! I put some of my homemade basil pesto on the corn instead - and it was a very tasty alternative. I highly recommend it.
I am working really hard to get in some more trips with Gibby
before winter comes to Montreal.
Winter in Texas was never a concern with the RV, but snow tires are mandatory in Quebec and we are not planning to put snow tires on Gibby.
We camped at an RV park in a town called Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts. We got there late on Friday and fortunately missed all
the rain.
The weather cleared on Saturday morning so we were able to go hiking for a couple of hours. I made note that the trails are well marked, in case we come back here for cross country skiing someday.
We made it to a scenic overlook with a view of the lake. Even though almost all the campsites were filled, we did not see anyone else on the hiking trails.
This little cabin might have looked inviting if we were caught in a blinding snow storm, but luckily that was not the case so I was NOT even tempted to go inside to check it out.
Across the street from the campground was a beach area and a lake
where you could rent canoes or paddle boats. Dave went for a short swim and I just enjoyed walking barefoot along the beach and digging my feet into the sand.
On Sunday, we met up with two new friends,
where we volunteer on Tuesday mornings.
We rode bikes along the Le P'Tit Train Du Nord trail, from Sainte-Agathe to another town called Val-Morin.
The bike route is one made along what used to be the old train track. We stopped along the way and took our time and enjoyed the weather and the company.
Last weekend we attended a film festival in one of our neighborhood parks. The neighborhood is called NDG (Notre-Dame-de-Grace) and all the films were related to NDG. Either they were produced by someone from the neighborhood, or they were about the neighborhood. There were about 16 short films. Some were musical, some were factual documentary types, some included dancing, some serious and some just plain silly. Quite a variety. We got to vote for our top 3 favorites. People brought chairs and blankets and picnics and - again - just enjoyed being outside.
Everyday is not sunny, however. We had a lot of rain this afternoon but I put on my bright pink rain boots and ventured out anyway!
Thanks for joining me on my journey... Life is good in NDG.
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