A wedding, 3 birthdays, and other adventures in Quebec

After leaving B.C. we were off to Montreal to attend Stephane's youngest sisters wedding.  Marie Pierre was a glowing bride and we had such fun preparing for, then celebrating, her big day!

Take a long look as this may be the first and last time we ever see Stephane in a tux and Andre in a suit and tie!

 Marie Pierre & Joey 

Aug 4, 2012

color photos above by Erhan Kip Photography

Joey is quite the musician, no nerves as he serenaded his adoring bride, his dancing mum just beside, and all the guests.

I have been fortunate to be a part of many weddings yet this is the first time I have ever seen this hysterical game played.  The blindfolded bride must pick her grooms legs from the line-up.  Sure enough Marie singled Joey out even after a few switch-a-roos by the MC.

 

Once again consider myself so lucky to be a part of this fun loving family! The good timin' gals; sister in laws Nancy, Marie Pierre, mother in law Giselaine, and niece Valerie.

After all that excitement we hit one of our favorite roads, the Circuit du Paysan, to enjoy the countryside and eat and drink merrily.

This year we made a couple of new stops; the alpaca farm alpagadore, which was highly interesting to learn about the superiority, the softness, fineness, and quality of their coats in comparison to wools.  These cuties are relatively easy to care for, they require much less food than other animals of their size, and are clean critters.  The fiber comes in 52 natural shades and is used to make all kinds of textile clothing and crafts.

 

Just outside Saint Armand, in the Eastern Townships, the domaineduridge winery is not to miss.  After sampling a generous selection of their many wines, we were ready to stop for the night!

Also in the Eastern Townships, Magog, a charming little city full of pedestrians and people enjoying the great outdoors.

We paid a visit to an old friend at his family's summer home, which was every inch as lovely as every embellished story ever told about her.

How dreamy to have spent childhood summers at this lake house!

It was a real treat to have lunch at such an adored and well lived in cottage, and the company and conversation  to match.

After making our way back to Montreal, we did a day trip to the espace pour la vie.  First stop, the biodome, a unique museum which houses 4 ecosystems under one roof; a tropical rainforest, a Laurentian maple forest, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the sub-polar regions of the America's, the Labrador Coast and Sub-Antarctic Islands.

 Second up was the insectarium, where the entire spectrum of natures incredible colors were displayed in thousands of species of insects across the globe.  

Did you know that there are more species of beetles on the planet, some 400,000 different types, than any other animal species?  Check out this fascinating article on newsroom.ucla.edu.

Our third and final stop was the Botanical Gardens, my personal favorite, 74 hectares boasting 30 outdoor gardens, an arboretum, and 56 greenhouses used for collections, research, and production.

 These remarkable bonsais are hundreds of years old!

After viewing this place I feel so silly complaining about the upkeep of fluerdelysvilla's yard!  If you are a garden enthusiast, be sure to check out their Green Pages, full of helpful hints!  Unfortunately the rain cut short our stay, it is a very long run to the parking lot in a downpour fyi!

Just before we left Quebec we were able to ring in three of the girls birthdays; from left to right Valerie's 13th, Marie Pierre's 24th, and Giselaine's 64th.  No that is not a typo, that big smile in the Britney Spears top is not one of the teenagers, can you believe it?!

 Our final day in Quebec we had one last hoorah on the Harley to Hudson to catch up to island friends and frequents; Sandy, Shayna, Hillary, Kelly and Kaelyn.  Soooo good to catch up and finally get to see the famed "little house in the woods" in person!