Friday, March 17, 2006
Mont Tremblant
Our discussions about what to do during the week long March break seemed to centre around skiing. Jenny has been enjo
ying her skiing immensely and has improved in leaps and bounds. Alex, with her new snowboard can't wait to master it and I would like to get my teeth into some challenging slopes. Our first thought was to travel to Collingwood, a two hour drive north of here and stay on the mountain. Further investigations revealed that all Canadians on the east coast hold the slopes of Mont Tremblant in highest regard. As we have never stayed in a ski-in-ski-out resort before we thought we could get away 
with it this time and, upon investigating Mont Trembant further, discovered a set of Condominiums called "La Chouette" in the ski village that were very moderately priced. So
after a long 8ookm road trip and a detour and overnight stay at Montreal we arrived in Mont Tremblant at 8am, put our gear on, purchased a ticket and got into the snow.We had a three night stay in the village and found the experience a real enjoyable adventure. The temperatures were very mild (above freezing to start with) and therefore the snow got soft by the afternoon but there was heaps of trails of all levels. Some of the trails were very long taking 20 minutes or more to get to the bottom and a 9 minute gondola ride back to the
top made it very comfortable. We experienced different weather and ski conditions on each day with a good start on Sunday followed by late rain, a wet day on Monday with snow in the afternoon and a windy snowy day with sunny breaks on Tuesday. Whilst the snow cover was not ideal, snow depth was about 110 cm so no chance of not having 
enough snow to ski. Some of the black runs were closed because they were too steep to hold snow on them. Jenny and I got to ski together during most of our stay as beginner, intermediate and advanced runs followed similar directions enabling us to take
different trails and meet at the bottom. Alex had a great time boarding with Julia and has improved dramatically. needless to say she had loads of energy on the slopes and spent her time going over jumps, having stacks, toboganning (this is where she unbuckles her board and sits on it like a taboggan) and boarding with speed and style. Tr
emblant had much longer runs than any slopes we have found so far and in fact is comparable to the size of maybe two Thredbos.After each days skiing the routine was for Jenny and I to return to the condo for showers and a 'plonk' whilst Alex and Julia headed for the spa, pool and shower complex for an hour or so. On there return we ate meals that we prepared in Waterloo and brought with us. The condo was fully self contained. As you can see form the pictures the ski resort has tried to
replicate a European alpine village. It is a pedestrians only village and is full of cafes, bars, restaurants and shops all underneath a huge variety of accomodation. Jenny and I spent each afte
rnoon walking through the village having a great time soaking up the atmosphere. Because we were in Quebec the standard language was French, though all French Canadians can speak English and anyone working in the cafes, lifts etc spoke both languages fluently. It was amazing to see how easily they changed from one language to another when we spoke to them. We really did feel like we were in another country other than Canada.On the Wednesday morning Jenny and I snuck out at 7am for a leisurelly breakfast at 'Le Shack' whilst Alex and Julia slept in. We packed up and left at 10am for the arduous trip back to Waterloo where we arrived safely home at 7pm (One hour delay in traffic jam getting through Toronto)
Montreal
March break has arrived and after much debate and research we decided to head north in search of more ski fields while the snow holds out. On the way t
o find the white powder we dropped off at Montreal to explore another Canadian city. Montreal is in the province of Quebec on the St Lawrence River about 100kms over the 
border. On our trip up on the 401 highway we passed many signs saying 'to US'. If you have a look at the map you will see that once you pass Lake Ontario on the trip north following the 401 the US border is a short hop over the St Lawrence. We were tempted to go over for the first time just to have a peak but did not have the time.Alex's friend Julia accompanied us and with a car full of ski gear we arrived in Montreal at 2pm. Checked into the hotel and went for a walk looking for 3 or 4 attractions that lonely planet and other tourist books suggested could be tackled in an afternoon. The hotel
was in the middle of town and a short walk brought us to old Montreal and plenty of interesting sights including Chinatown, some fantastic old architecture, the Notre Dame basilica and a shopping mall where we had a late lunch. Even though it was quite cold (about -7) the sun was out which seemed to attract many other tourists and locals to come outside and enjoy the day.A walk through the basilica was awesome, it is a very large building and quite stunning, then down through narrow streets with ter
race housing that have doors that either open out directly onto the street or open onto a steep set of wide stairs if the front door is above street level which was usually the case. We came across the waterfront which had many many people out for a walk in the sun and then onto a piazza where we ran into a fire eating juggler and other buskers.We returned to the hotel where Alex and Julia went off to the pool to see if there were any interesting guys hanging around, and to have a swim, whilst Jenny and I raced off to the park before dark. To get to the park, which is located on
a hill in the middle of the city, we had to walk through the university. This had staggeringly beautiful architecture with buildings dating from the 18th century. We felt like we were stepping back in time, or walk
ing through Hogwarts out of Harry Potter. The climb uphill to the bottom of a cliff face was demanding as we were setting a cracking pace (the sun was rapidly setting). The last leg was a flight of about 1,000 steps which we took 2 at a time. This took its toll on us and we finally stopped almost at the top to catch our breath and watch the sun set over the city. Apparently the park was designed by the same architect who planned Central Park in New York. It was a very pretty place with lots of paths and heavily treed. We both agreed that it would be worth a visit in summer. In fact, we would like to return to Montreal at another stage when we have more time to see the rest of the city. PS: click on any picture to view larger.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Talisman
Went to another ski field (Talisman) 2 hours north of home with the school. Margaret Avenue has a winter sports carnival every year and students sign up for activities including skiing and snowboarding, tubing, swimming in the indoor pool, bowling or craft activities at school. It is a hit with the majority of student and staff who get in and have a lot of fun for the day. Needless to say another great day of skiing was had. Sorry, no photos, too busy churning up the snow. Have to get in as much skiing as possible in the next few weeks as spring is around the corner and the seasons change very quickly.
