Of mooses and beaverers
In this episode, we travel to Canadia for two weeks to catch up with family and old friends!
After the food fest that was San Sebastián, we flew to Paris via Biarritz and spent an evening wandering the streets of the City of Lights. We've been to Paris a few times before, of course, while living in London, but every time we visit we realise just how much there is to see here and how little we've been able to explore. Luckily, we'll be coming back to France and Paris in a couple of weeks, on the return path of this Broomerang tour.
So we wave our baguette in farewell to la belle ville, and leap on to an Air France flight to Toronto! Well, almost. Actually we wait in the airport lounge for three hours waiting for the aircraft to arrive, and then another two hours in the plane on the tarmac, while the ground crew search the aircraft for the luggage of two passengers who decided not to fly. At one point we could see no fewer than twelve Air France staff outside our window, six of them scratching their heads saying 'ben non, m'sieur, le bag, it eez not zere' and the other six (management types) frantically rifling through the containers... But eventually the bags are found, and we are airborne, YYZ bound.
We were met in Toronto by Al's younger brother Dunc and aunt and uncle, Marj and Roy (they who continue to confirm our suspicions that we know very little of Paris! :-)) There's nothing quite like a welcoming party at the airport, especially after a flight comme ça... We spent a great couple of days in T.dot, as the young'uns call it. The Pan Am games had been put on to coincide with our visit, which was very thoughtful, so we went and saw the Canadians thrash the Yanks in the men's volleyball quarter finals (yeahhhh). We visited the St Lawrence market for some fresh veggies and indulged in one of our favourite pastimes, a meal at home with family, great food, and some fantastic wine. And we squeezed in a round of golf at the Toronto Hunt, which although we've played a few times and is always a beautiful afternoon, continues to betwixt and beguile!
Before we knew it, we were off again - this time in Marj's lovely Clio (a veedub Cabrio!) for the three hour trip up the highway to Huntsville in 'Cottage Country' as people from around these parts call it, and to Al's parents' cottage. (Al: I suppose I should stop calling it the cottage - it's been their home for almost twenty years - but old habits die hard, it'll always be the cottage to me!) We spent about five days up with the Broomses, catching up with what we've all been up to, as well as helping dad out with a couple of small projects he had on the go, like, you know, putting a new floor in the basement...!
We also did a few of the things you do in Canada in the summer - swimming in the lake, canoeing around the lake, walking around the lake, looking for beavers in the beaver dam... A bit of golf...Chillin' out. Nice.
Right - five days in one place? Gotta go baby! Back in the car, this time heading due east through Algonquin Park (listening to the local radio station the whole way... The Moose!) and over to Ottawa to catch up with our very good friends Jàs and Chantal and their two kids. Jàs and Al go back to first year of university at Queen's. He was the giant Polish guy at the end of the hall with kolbasa hanging from his curtain rail, who amongst many, many other things convinced Al to quit the track & field team and try out for the volleyball team instead. (Al was getting stalked by a very tall and scary high jumper anyway, so it was a welcome offer...). Eventually (skipping over lots of really funny university stories which Michelle says shouldn't be in here) Jàs ended up serving as best man over in Australia, mate, and whenever we come to Onterrible* we make sure our plans include a night or two with them.
*Jàs' term. He may still be pining for BC. Actually we didn't hear him call it that this time. Maybe he's finally adjusted?
Canasta is the game of choice when we meet (boys claiming to be reigning champs for another couple years just because they won the last game. The girls insist it was one game all and they technically won on points - technically, smeckically) and this time Jàs and Al also found themselves back on court for his Tuesday night beach volleyball competition. What was that? How'd we do? Oh, pfff, since you asked, we won both our matches. Yep, the boys still got a little game in 'em.
The next day, AI was unsuccessful in finding a chiropractor.
We did, however, manage to play nine more holes of golf. Couldn't convince J&C's oldest, Adam, to play with us this time. He's fourteen now, so had better things to do than hang out with old farts like us. His sister Tiana, on the other hand, is eleven and is still full of joy and wonder with the world! We were learning to juggle (Al teaching her), riding the unicycle (watching her in AWE), going to her soccer match and having a great old time! Jas and Chantal, enjoy the next few years with her...soon she shall become a goth and wear only black. Nah, seriously, great kids both of them, with some kick ass parents. Despite their questionable taste in music (I'm talking to you, Milli).
...And we're out! Three days is all we had at this station of the whistle stop tour. Back in Clio we get, and back through Algonquin Park to Huntsville for one last evening with the folks. The next morning it's everything back in the car, hugs all round, a few tears, got everything? Yep. Okay, let's gogogo back to Toronto.
Ah. We may. Have. Forgotten. Someone.
Take two... A few more hugs, back in the car, take a breath. Are we SURE we've got everything? OK. Back we go down Hwy 11 (The Moose on the radio... Did that dentist's billboard have a giant beaver holding a toothbrush?), past Barrie and back in to Toronto, where we have a few more days before we head off. First on the agenda is a test drive in one of these:
My uncle was doing some <ahem> research into Tesla, purely on a professional level, you understand, so it seemed to make sense to see their product offering in action, so to speak. Let me tell you, this is not your mom's Prius. Fully battery powered - no gasoline backup, This is a 4.8 tonne sedan, and we had five adults in this thing. When it was my turn to drive (heheheh) I decided to drive it like I drive Brian. On the track. We were taking corners at speed - three adults in the back holding on pretty tightly - with zero body roll. Flat as a pancake around the corner. And the acceleration - you put your foot down and it just starts eating up the road. No perceptible gear changes - it just gets faster and faster until the people in the back are screaming and the sales rep gently touches my arm... Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
After the test drive it was back to the Hunt for (you guessed it) another round of golf, followed by Friday night barbecue at the club... Beatiful view over Lake Ontario. Canada can seduce; you must keep reminding yourself 'Ah yes, but remember February'....
Saturday we caught up with Dunc for brunch and to check out his new digs - he's the proud owner of a new condo in downtown T.O., (which means we are officially the last of the Brooms to not own their own home...)
On Sunday we managed to squeeze in brunch with Greg and his new wife and bubba. We realised that it had been seven years since we'd last seen each other (holy crap), the last time being when we celebrated our fortieths in Europe (holy CRAP) and pretty soon we need to start planning our fiftieths (HOLY CRAPPITY CRAP).
On that note we figured that was enough reminiscing; we grabbed our stuff and ran to the airport. The Broomerang has turned...back we go to gai Paree!
PS - we went for a couple of runs in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery and stumbled across a couple of 'fun' headstones... We'll leave you with these...
