Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Beloeil

...is 30 km from Montreal. From the slopes of Mont St. Hilaire (above), amongst the old apple orchards, Montreal is a cityscape on the horizon, rising from the white plain. The River Richelieu is frozen in the middle of Beloeil, anchored by the slim spires of stone churches on each bank.

We went for a walk in the woods. Windchill of -21'C was promised. I wore four layers plus a borrowed down coat with fluffy hood. Yes, Mommy, I know what you are thinking!

Beware the child behind you: Vince's nephew, Yann. He has many inventions planned, most involving hamsters. The only one I could sanction was a hamster-powered lawnmower, which fertilizes while it mows.

La famiglia: Vincent, Yann, Germaine, Vincent's mom.

The snow squeaked beneath our boots. We saw a woodpecker.

I was impressed by the cold. They said the weather was quite mild.


I fell in love with a birch tree. The most silky, beautiful bark...

6 comments:

  1. You are correct - that is exactly what I was thinking. But it is very beautiful

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  2. Marie et Beence...I didn't get to the blog in time to wish you a Happy Christmas, but I do.
    I have much to complete before our (very quick) trans-Tasman trip in February so will be blog-hopping with fewer comments.
    A final note - I'm going to make your gnocchi this weekend! Always petrified having heard of so many disasters!
    Joyeux noel.

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  3. love thispost marie--looks like a very cold and fantastic time! joyeux noel my friend!

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  4. I was ready to email this post to J with a note about how we should take the train to Montreal ourselves, but then I read "wind chill of -21" and "quite mild" and think I'll wait to mention a trip until spring. Which up there must be around July, right? ; )

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  5. Looks like a wonderful place to spend Christmas...merry Christmas et joyeux Noel to you all!

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  6. (late) Merry Christmas to you all too, and a happy New Year!

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