Doormen and mouth guards

"Oh Alice dear, where have you been?

So near, so far, so in-between"  

There is a building down town Montreal. A bulding with a doorman, 3 elevetars and 10 floors.
I one day I walked in, informed the doorman that I was on my way to the dentist. He gives me a name of the dental clinic, I say sure and take his advise and press number 10.

 

"How can you know this way or that?

You choose the door, you choose the path

Oh Alice"

This building is full of dental clinics. Several different ones even on the same floor. One should never randomly choose one of them on the internet, just because it's close to work and not write down the information properly. One should never do that... but that was exactly what I did. I knocked on so many doors that day. "Are you expecting a new customer today?" I had this weird Alice in Wonderland feeling. Very stressful, I have to say. 

"So many doors, 

how did you choose, 

so much to gain, 

so much to loose, 

Oh Alice"

Finally on the seventh floor, I found the right place. I thought I would go to this place for a basic clean up and check up and it would be a one time thing. I went there again this morning and I think it was my 4th time. 

My mad hatter dentist didn't provide me with a doorman nor a door mouse but a mouth guard. Not only am I a sleepwalker and talker, apparently I'm a teeth grinder too. I have a very active nightlife. No wonder I'm grumpy in the morning and need those endless mugs of coffee to get my engine running again. 

"Did someone pull you by the hand?

How many miles to Wonderland?

Oh, Alice"

I have been zooming in this painting while sitting in the dental chair waiting for my dentist to show up. I love the colors and I ever so often wear something that match it. Little did I know a dentist could have tricks to ease stress at night. I have been seeking for ways to get rid of these sleeping problems. I'm now keeping a night log, while wearing my nightly mouth guard. Maybe, just maybe, I'm a little closer of finding not so much wonderland but a calm and peaceful dreamland. 

white blazered evening

On Saturday we went to see the "Le Petit Prince" as a ballet performance by Les Grands Ballets Canadien at Place des Arts. I love Place des Arts. I love the Opera House in Helsinki as well. No need to compare them. I think there is room in my heart for both.

The performance, the choreography and the music was really splendid, we loved it.

We, being me and my white blazered man.

One should never judge a man by his clothes but nobody said you can't enjoy the scene. I have dreamed for many, many, many years to be walking hand in hand with a white blazer. My dream finally came true. I didn't even have to ask or give some hints. Just got it served on a silver platter along with a nice glass of wine. 
While reading the program of Petit Prince my white blazer surprises me with a nice remark. "Hey the music was partially done by Finnish musicians". More precisely by Kimmo Pohjonen and Kronos Quartet. That little detail made me love the evening even more.

"It is only with the hearth that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye"

a sneaky little thing

Finland and Canada share the same kind of winters, depending a little on the year and what kind of winter mother earth decides to serve on her magical platter.

We therefore have similar outdoor activities. I find it funny how differently they are executed in each country.

Like fishing on the ice for example. In Finland it's more this kind of "lonely, grumpy old man" activity, looking something like this.

In Quebec it is this big family and friend activity. Looking more or less like this. 

People come with their snowmobiles, gather around a cabin that is heated so you can warm yourself up and then they stand there talking and socializing, while hoping to catch a dinner. 

There are plenty of cars, snowmobiles and cabins all around where the ice is thick enough.

This is what the actual fishing activity look like. You have these holes in the ice, a stick, a handle and a cord. You plant them a little here and there according to your own strategy. 

When the thing starts moving up and down, you have most likely caught a fish or something of the kind. These things don't move very often, so people enjoy beer, wine and snacks to make the activity a bit more fun.

The fish that got caught this fine day in March is called walleye. Looks like this.

It is apparently a North American relative to the European pikeperch. 

Our Finnish-Dominican two pack went for a little visit to do our own social contribution. 

We enjoyed it but will probably not join these cabin creatures for any longer periods of time. We however did show our enthusiasm when handed an invitation to come back in the summertime.

In the car on our way back to Montreal, I proudly informed my darling that I for the first time in my life made a playlist on my iPod called "love". I tend to be the DJ ever so often and I thought it would be a nice idea to be able to play sweet love songs to my man. I however had a hard time finding any in my iTunes library, so I informed him that the list was still pretty short. More precisely 3 songs short, 1 legitimate love song and 2 Italians. I'm not saying Italians are not legitimate when it comes to love, it's just that I don't have enough knowledge in the language to know for sure that they are love songs. They sound very romantic to my ears but so does Rammstein. A song from my German fellows had actually snuck in on this playlist by mistake. It was supposed to go in the "rock" folder. Sneaky little thing. My single legitimate love song is one that has been with me since I can remember. It's Chris Isaak's "'Wicked game". 

We had a lovely weekend. We, unlike Finland changed winter to summertime and lost an hour and as much as one might dislike loosing an hour of sleep, it does give hope of spring being around the corner somewhere. We, like Finland, celebrated international women's day. I got myself a nice little surprise. It would have been a bigger surprise but I'm a sneaky little thing. I just happened to stumble upon the surprise before it was presented to me. When my love asks me a very usual question; " will you be taking your bath?"... I answer with a hint of unusual enthusiasm "yes, yes, I will...but you have to come and keep me company".

I got to bathe in rose petals and it's funny but it is a very wonderful feeling. 

"what a wicked game to play to make me feel this way, what a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you"

It was a bath to remember, playing around with rose petals like a child. 

"Oh sweetie, my so sweet, let me take a picture, I promise I won't show it to anybody"

This picture is kinda like the Rammstein song, meant to go in the private folder but "by mistake" ended up here. Sneaky little thing 

a secret window to blue cheese

The great thing about other people's birthdays is that you have the opportunity to take them somewhere YOU want to go. So that's what I did this weekend. I packed our two pack in my Mini Cooper and took us east to a sweet little place called North Hatley. 

There is a B&B called Auberge La Chocolatiere. The name, the place and the owners are exactly as sweet as it sounds. Genuinely good people in a beautiful place. http://www.aubergelachocolatiere.com

The view from the room was even better than I pictured as they gave us a room in the corner so we got a more panoramic view of the place. Cherry Blossom was the name of our room. The theme of the place is very much inspired by chocolate and the owner greeted us with her handmade chocolate that was really delicious. Their hot chocolate is to die for and I have a feeling there were more to discover in that entire chocolate theme but we felt a little bite was good enough for us. 

I was in a hurry to go out for a walk and get kissed under the little pavilion on the dock. For a girl who ever so often gets blamed for not being romantic, I found my desires pretty much down the lovers lane. The mane reason for coming to this place was actually this kiss... well that and the mussels in blue cheese sauce served in the restaurant pub across the street.

There is just so much chocolate and romance a girl can take.

The weather along with everything else were spoiling us this fine Saturday in the end of February. We were up in -7°c. In other words almost summer in Siberic-Canadian terms. After plenty of kissing and other romantic outdoor activities, we made it to the charming Pilsen Pub http://www.pilsen.ca/index.html. We started with an "oh so" delicious onion soup and later in the evening went back for more. Yes, my blue cheese mussels were equally delicious. 

North Hatley is a little village of only 750 people and probably the same amount of ducks.

A real pearl at the north end of the Massawippi Lake.

There is apparently a film called "Secret Window" with Johnny Depp and the shooting of this film took place in this pretty spot. 
I believe the birthday boy ended up enjoying the weekend just as much as I did and hopefully when the real summer kicks in, we go back to gaze at a warm and blue view under the pavilion on the dock.