Toronto to Vancouver

We fell in love with the West Coast of Canada the first time we came, we always wanted to move there. So when my husband got a job opportunity over there, we did not hesitate. Vancouver here we come !!!

We decided to drive. It was a long journey but it worth it, as we travelled through a lot of the provinces: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

Sometimes it was a bit boring and long but as we decided to stop at all the giant roadside attractions, it made the road trip more interesting and funny!!!

We used the link below to plan the trip:

www.roadsideattractions.ca/province.htm 

and we were also inspired by the movie One week:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqD9Dm_DMN8. We listened to the soundtrack every morning.

We left in April 25th and it took us 9 days. 
Here is our maps and iphone selfies !!!

Day 1 : Toronto to Hunstville (220km)

We know the area pretty well, as we used to go to Muskoka/Algonquin Park very often. It is a part of Ontario that we love. We had dinner at a small italian family restaurant in Hunstville, The Little Place by the Lights. Good homemade pasta.

www.thatlittleplacebythelights.ca/Home.html

On the way we stopped at the the Giant Pencil in Bracebridge and the World Largest Photo-mosaic in Port Carling.

Day 2 : Hunstville to Sault Ste Marie (566km)

The road was not really interested and it was loonnnnggg. 

On the way we stopped at the Giant Nickel in Sudbury, the largest Muskoka chair in Northern Ontario in Thessalon and the Giant Loonie in Echo Bay.

Day 3 : Sault Ste Marie to Thunder Bay (708km)

Again a long drive but the north of Lake Superior is really nice, some parts of the lake were still frozen. On the way we stopped at the Giant Goose in Wawa, the Big Thermometer in White River, the Terry Fox Memorial and the Big Curling Stone in Thunder Bay.

Day 4 : Thunder Bay to Winnipeg (694km)

On the way we stopped at the Moskito carrying human in Upsala, Spider Beetle and Husky the Muskie in Kenora.

Day 5 : Winnipeg to Regina (654km)

The drive in Manitoba was king of boring. On the way we stopped at the Largest Fire Hydrant in Elm Creek and the largest Smoking Pipe. Then in Saskatchewan , we stopped at Sarah the Camel in Glenboro, the Red Paper Clip in Kipling and the Eiffel Tower in Montmartre, they call it the Paris of the Prairies. So funny for us.

Day 6 : Regina to Medicine Hat (570km)

It was not planned but being in SK, it remembered us of the TV show Corner Gas that was supposed to be shot in the area and fortunately it was not far from Regina, so we decided to go have a look.  The town "Dog River" is actually in Rouleau. 

Then we stopped at the World Largest Teepee in Medicine Hat and were lucky to find a good burger place, the Local Public Eatery, www.localmedhat.com. 

Day 7 : Medicine Hat to Calgary (488km)

On the way we stopped at the Dinosaur Park in Patricia and the World Largest Dinosaur in Drumheller. Our very good friend Nicolas was in Calgary on business trip the day we arrived, what a nice coincidence. We had dinner with him at Charcut, good food there. www.charcut.com

Day 8 : Calgary to Kelowna (626km)

When we arrived in Calgary the night before it was already summer with 22 degres and in the morning it was winter with 0 degree. We were lucky to pass Banff before the storm, they closed the road because of avalanche. 
There were no attraction on the road, it did not matter because the scenic drive was so beautiful. We were very excited to be in the Rockies !!

Then arriving in the Okanagan Valley it was so different but beautiful too and so warm. We had very good wine from Mission Hill, a local winery. We stopped at the Ogopogo in Kelowna. Salted Brick is a good place to have lunch in Kelowna, they are specialized in charcuterie. www.saltedbrick.com

Day 9 : Kelowna to Vancouver (626km)

This was the last day of the trip, almost there... We were looking forward to it !!! When we arrived it was sunny and the day after it rained. A vancouver welcoming !!

But so far the weather has been sunny and warm. We are very happy to live  here in this beautiful BC in the middle of the mountains and the ocean. Hopefully it is the last move for a looonnngggg time !!!

We just finished to unpack and settle down in our new apartment so I am going to have time now to take picture and to cook more. Except if I am always outside enjoying outoor activities. Hopefully I will post soon !!

Thanks to all our friends who followed us on Facebook during the road trip !!!

Toronto and the Saint Lawrence Market

Hi there, I know it has been a while since my last post, more than a year …Time is flying so fast… Since the last post I found a job, we travelled and worked out a lot and we spent quality time with our friends, so I did not take time to sit down in front of my computer….

Things have changed now, we moved again. We are now on the west coast in Vancouver !!! But before writing new post here I wanted to do a last one on Toronto. My favorite place to go grocery shopping, The Saint Lawrence market.

The Saint Lawrence Market is a landmark, the largest indoor market in Toronto and now well known in the entire world because it was voted No 1 market in the world by the National Geographic. It is so busy right now, tourist are everywhere looking around and taking pictures. It is located in the old town area of Toronto, south side of Toronto close to the lake.  

For the first 5 years living in Toronto, we did not really go there for grocery shopping because it was so far from our place. It was just for special occazion because they have nice product that we used to eat back home.

For example this is the only place in Toronto to sell Jambon de Bayonne (prosciutto ham with Espelette pepper from south west of france) quince paste and a few months ago I found some Cote d'or chocolate, creme de marron (chestnut paste) or some Calisson from Aix en Provence (sweets that I need for Christmas dinner).

But the last year we lived right on Market street, just 1 min walk from the market. So our routine was to go to the farmer market on the north side every saturday morning to get fresh produce from Ontario and then to the south market to get fresh fish, deli, grains, dairy product, meat and bread.  And from time to time portugese custard tart, my husband's guilty pleasure (the shop is on the lower level).

Or you can go there just to have some snack, they have good Montreal style bagel at St Urbain Bagel shop, baked fresh daily on premises or go to the little shop Carousel Bakery and have their peameal bacon sandwich recommended by Anthony Bourdain from the travel Channel The Layover. It is a signature dish from Toronto.  And if you are more into fish go to Buster's sea cove to have some fish and chips. There is always a long line up. Whatever you like, this is a nice place to go to.

Now that we live in Vancouver I have to check out the local market on Granville Island !!!