A Winter Wonderland Christmas

      

       This was the first year I have ever been away from my family for the holidays. My family is very traditional when it comes to celebrating Christmas. My mom and dad always cook the "Gourrier Holiday Fixin's" which are: gumbo,  red beans and rice, keish, roast, and many more extremely delicious dishes! My sisters and I think of fun activities to do with the nieces and nephews for Christmas Eve night, and we usually take all of them to the movies on Christmas day.

This year Jerry and I spent Christmas on Mont- Tremblant, which is a village located on a mountaintop about 2 hours away from Montreal. This was our second visit to Mt. Tremblant. The first time we went was for my birthday during the fall. The difference between fall and wintertime on Mt. Tremblant is pretty drastic, but equally as beautiful and full of activities for families and tourist.     

Once we arrived on the mountain Jerry and I headed straight to the ski lifts for a better view of the village. The mountain was full of cabins and houses that were covered with snow; they reminded me of gingerbread houses. We needed to rent skiing gear for the next day, so Jerry and I went to get that situated when I started to feel nervous. This was the first time either of us have tried skiing and when I saw the bunny slopes I was a little concerned. For whatever reason, I thought bunny slopes were mainly flat. Well our beginner slope was a hill, and not a very small one.   

This is a picture of Jerry at the bottom of the slopes. On the left side of him are the beginner slopes, and the right side are the more advanced slopes. After we completed the newbie class with an instructor for 3 hours, Jerry though we were good enough for more of a challenge. Let's just say we did it and we survived. Skiing was a lot of fun, but very scary for me. As a first time skier I had a hard time stopping on my way down the slopes and the feeling of not having control of your body when your moving at a fast speed was pretty frightening for me. For those of you that enjoy a good adrenalin rush, this is the sport for you. 

Videos are uploaded to our facebook page, check them out and see how good we did ;). Happy Holidays!

    

Sidewalk Sale

If you plan on visiting Montreal, make sure you visit in the summer so that you can participate in the many activities, including the Sidewalk Sale. Saint Catherine Street in Montreal, which is almost 7 miles long,  is well known throughout the year for its underground malls and array of shops. Not to mention the big Sidewalk Sale that occurs once a year. During the two day Sidewalk Sale, Saint Catherine St. is closed to automobiles as locals and tourist come out to participate in this huge shopping event. Stores up and down this street fill the sidewalks with tables and racks of stock for pedestrians to rummage through.

The range of items sold at the Sidewalk Sale was pretty impressive! From clothes, shoes, food, to even cars, you couldn't leave Saint Catherine St. without a souvenir of your eventful outing. Prices were dropped as much as 70% at some shops, as signs filled the streets and workers announced in French and English their amazing sale prices.

 

Every corner you passed walking down Saint Catherine St. offered more and more entertainment as shops provided unique ways to market their products.  In the picture below you can see how a gym was able to draw attention to themselves in the middle of a shopping extravaganza. Trainers and gym members actually participated in a Crossfit workout in the middle of this busy event.

As for me I was able to leave with a good find. I grabbed the last Vero Moda peach crochet sweater in my size from one of the many clothing stores. I've never heard of the Vero Moda brand and I'm not that big into name brand items, but I have been looking for a crochet sweater to help keep me warm under my big coat during the winter. This sweater caught my eye and the price couldn't be beat.

Beauty at Night

Its been a month since we have lived in Montreal and I am still trying to deiced if I think the city is more beautiful during the day or at night. Visiting somewhere during the day and at night is almost like going to two different places. Day visits allows you to see the intricate designs of buildings, but then the way the city lights up at night is so beautiful. Here are some night night shots to show you exactly what I mean.  

Ooo La La

Since school is out and I am not working right now I'm trying to do as many activities around Montreal on a budget. Its not hard to find fun things to do here; actually many activities that Jerry and I have done have been things we just came across. Surprisingly, the activities we have enjoyed the most have been the one's we've done for free. For example, this week we went to the Musee Des Beaux-Arts De Montreal. At least 95% of this museum is accessible for free by the public. The exhibits range from 20th Century paintings to modern three dimensional structures. Below are just a few of my favorite pieces. Enjoy!

(Click on the picture to read more about Chihuly)

The structure above was created by Chihuly, all of his pieces show in the museum were made of colorful glass figures. One word describes his style "stunning!"

Last but not least are my absolutely two favorite pieces. The first one reminds me of a 70's film with Pam Greer and the last one is just creative. Not to mention my hair can be a big mess when I brush it all out, so I guess I can relate with the "half mannequin."

Carnival

What an unexpected surprise it was to find out that today was Montreal's Carnival Parade. I was walking down St. Catherine St. when I realized there were drummers performing. As I walked closer to the crowd by the drummers, I saw beautifully created costumes for dancers from different countries. I made my way to the parade's judging booth, every time a new group passed by the booth they stopped and put on a little show. It was fantastic, there were dancers, drummers, and floats. It was a great experience and fun seeing people representing their country.

Cacao 70

 

Since I've moved to Montreal, I have been fortunate enough to link up with a group ladies that are from the US as well. Every Wednesday we get together for coffee and try out new cafe's around the city. This week we went to Cacao 70, which is a dessert restaurant with a chocolate bar. In other words its "delicious!" No matter what you order chocolate is somehow incorporated into your meal, whether its coffee or a cup of fruit served as a fondue dish. Their menu is filled with different types of chocolate to help satisfy your sweet tooth. I ordered a single fondue serving with semi-sweet chocolate and addded cream cheese.

 

Besides the food, I really loved Cacao 70 because it offered a comfortable setting with great customer service. This is the type of place that my friends and I would love to hangout at if I were back at home.

Mount Royal Park

Today Jerry, my fiance and I packed a lunch and headed out the door. We weren't sure what we were going to do, but it didn't take us long to explore a new area of Montreal. We started heading north towards McGill University, which was not hard to find being that it looks like a castle. The architecture here is spectacular! Back at home you would not easily come across as many beautiful, antique, and rustic buildings that have so much character and history.

 

After walking around McGill University we realized we were right next to Mount Royal Park. The park is located in the middle of Montreal which also happens to be the highest part of the island. Even though this park offers various routes to get to the top of the mountain, Jerry and I chose to take the zig zag staircase. On the way up I thought about one of Joel Osteen's books. I don't remember which one it was, I just remember him talking about hiking a mountain and how he wanted to give up, but someone coming down the mountain told him that he was almost there and the challenge was worth the suffering. Well, today Joel and I shared the same suffering, and the challenge was work every drop of sweat.

The view from the top was absolutely breath taking, as you can see. Jerry and I found a nice grassy area, ate our lunch, and took a very nice and long nap. Of course this eventful day wasn't quite over yet, we still had to hike back down the mountain. In the end it was a wonderful day, one Jerry and I would like to say was the best free date we have ever been on.