Chocolat Triflé.

Last night it was finally time for our "girls night out", which really meant eating Natalie's Triflé (that she had promised to do us from the beginning of our exchange), stopping by at a house party at St. Denis (Natalies house, organized by her roommates) and checking out a new bar in the neighborhood. It was a lovely evening, thanks girls! 

Earlier that day I had gone to get my hair cut. The guy working on my hair told me couple of places to check out, and concerts that were coming up. One of the places he recommended was called Else's. This was the places we decided to go to, and it was a very nice surprise, especially to our Norwegian friend :) The founder of the place had in fact been from Norway (passed away couple years ago), but the Norwegian influence was quite evident in the interior as well as "under the bar menu" (with Linie Aquavit, some Norsk snaps). The place had really mellow music and cozy atmosphere, topped of with candles and Cidre Chaud. 

Maintenant, we re sitting at Café Névé, which seems to have turned into our regular place to get lunch, study, drink tea. Tonight my parents arrive here, and I cant wait for all the things we have planned starting from tomorrow. Next week its destination, Vermont, Cape Cod and Boston. If we re lucky we might get some windsurfing or surfing done at the beaches of Cape Cod. Although, couple days ago I saw an article about Great Whites appearing at the shore this time of the year, one had been about 3 meters long.. we ll see about surfing :D (Check out this awesome picture:  (Great white shark and Kayak)

Now, some french homework ! Ill be missing few classes next week..

Le vrai goût de la réglisse.

It was a nice surprise to find a box of Panda Réglisse tendre, at one of the local food stores.. <3

La Flambée des couleurs

I had been waiting a while for an opportunity and time to get up to the Laurentides, the mountains just north of Montreal. I had heard that it was really pretty to go there during the fall to see all the different colors painted over the mountains around you. I was also quite curious what would one of the biggest ski areas look like!


SO, with Natalie and her parents we decided to spend Saturday climbing up Mt. Tremblant. As you can see from the pictures, the trees had in fact turned yellow, orange, red and some had lost all of their leaves already. Maybe by next weekend many more trees will be without them. (Hopefully not! So Auli and Viki can enjoy them as well). The ski village of Tremblant, looked quite a bit like an ski resort from the Alps and was full of tourists. Although, it was understandable as it was a Saturday and the first sunny day we had seen in a while. In the link below you can see how Montreal looked like for couple of days in a row last week. http://www.theweathernetwork.com/your_weather/details/620/3269075/5/caqc0363/plpcities?ref=ugc_city_thumbs


The hike up took about 4 hours, with occasional photo opportunities and snack breaks. A total of 6.5km, up about 250 meters, didnt go without difficulties (muddy paths, keds shoes, invasion of tourists, and lack of energy) BUT we all happily made it to the top. It was really strange to sit in the ski lodge and drink hot chocolate, with out all the ski gear and snow outside. However, the views were magnificent!


Now after a french study session, readings for tomorrows classes, plate of ratatouille, several cups of tea and good music, I think its time to finally go to bed. Tomorrow another 8.30-21.30 day. Below some pics from the Mountain!


Ohh and by the way, congrats NIPWITZ for the Best Webisode award at IF3 Annecy! 

The Carpet

Chairlifts waiting for the ski season! 

We didnt encounter any bears, unfortunately

View from Tremblant

Spikes

Café Névé.

Things you find at the girls bathroom (casa de popolo)

Bagels and Cupcakes

Uusi viikko, uudet kujeet. To be honest it feels a bit weird now that IF3 ended. Its back to reality, back to school, and finding something else interesting to do. Of course this city is full of things to do and people to meet. We set out with Natalie to try out a good breakfast place, go eat at our favorite cupcake place-as of now, and visit china town. Too bad we "didnt have time" to visit the contemporary arts museum nor the grand library, but next time we continue our little tourist sightseeing tour. 

The breakfast place we chose was called Santropol. I had spotted it a while ago, and thought it looked like a really interesting and colorful place. You have to look closely since the outside of the cafe is not very visible to the street, and the terrasse is well hidden behind a fence. We sat outside in the garden, it was very colorful and full of flowers. The food and drinks we had (bagel chips+dark bread and sun dried tomato and garlic cream cheese, fruits+yogurt+honey, and chai tee + coffee) were super delicious and looked nicely set out too. 

The MIA gig was a big disappointment. The concert was really short, badly mixed and really noisy. However, she looked gorgeous as always, looked like she had a really good time and the dancers were amazing. I hope some day ill see a better performance from her. Next weekend possibly The XX. 

Santropol

Cupcakes. 

Chinatown. Playing around with the camera

M.I.A

Tonight MIA at Metropolis! Dont have to feel
bad about missing her at Flow :)
I hope its gonna be a good one.