Nobody knows where Chamonix is until you mention Mont Blanc, so it helps to use the full town name in first reference. Even though Italy and France share Mont Blanc, all the best access points are on the French side. Funnily enough, it’s sometimes mistaken for being a Swiss ski Read more…
A mere hour away from Geneva, Annecy was hard to resist. Reading all about its delicious baked goods, boat rentals, and island castle made me eager to give this town a visit. Sitting in the middle of the River Thiou, the Palais de l’Isle is undoubtedly the main attraction in Read more…
Brockville was renamed from Elizabethtown after Major General Sir Isaac Brock, who helped win the war of 1812 against the Americans. Fitting with the naming of the town, it was also one of the first Loyalist settlements in Upper Canada back in 1784. Its courthouse was built in 1843 and Read more…
Merrickville is one of the most charming villages in the Ottawa valley. Its locks on the Rideau River resemble the ones installed at the Rideau Canal in Ottawa by Carleton University’s campus. On one side of the river stands the lock station and a blockhouse. The old blockhouse has been Read more…
The British Sovereign is from the house of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, so there should be no surprise to the etymology of this town. Located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, Cobourg was an important location for trade in the 19th century. The Peterborough and Cobourg Railway connected the city of Peterborough Read more…
“The City of North Bay is a vibrant community in Northern Ontario,” says the city’s website. It could be a vibrant community in summer, but a cold autumn day makes the city’s street population consist almost entirely of homeless people. It’s also the first major city on the way to Read more…
I’m travelling Ontario based on the Reader’s Digest Canadian Book of the Road. I should also make it clear that I got the 1991 edition for free from a garage giveaway so some of the information isn’t current. I arrived in Pembroke looking for Ontario’s largest totem pole at its Read more…
I had a quick run through Renfrew. There, I said the pun. The downtown area of Renfrew is actually very pretty. The traffic is calm, people are kind, and local businesses stay local. There aren’t too many chain stores apart from fast food restaurants that populate the streets. The blocks Read more…
Gatineau sounds like gâteaux, which is the word for cake in French. My relationship with Gatineau is also very gastronomical. It is right across the river from Ottawa, in Québec, where alcohol is sold inside supermarket and discounts are abundant for quality European foodstuffs. Once a week, I would cross Read more…
Waterloo and Kitchener are the twin cities of Ontario. Even though they have grown to connect into one urban agglomeration, they are still separate cities. The logo of the city is actually the tower of the old town hall that now stands in Waterloo Park. The new City Hall, like Read more…