Beer in the ‘Peg

After a little over a year living on the prairies, I’ve learned that some of western Canada is playing catch up to the rest of the country in the growth of craft beer. Certainly that’s true in Saskatchewan, and I came to learn it’s also true in Manitoba on my recent visit to its capital city of Winnipeg. Playing catch up doesn’t mean you can’t find a great craft beer, it just means you’ll sample you’re way through the available choices much quicker.

After a morning flight to Winnipeg a late lunch beckoned, and given the choice by my dining companion, I selected Peg Beer Co. so I could get a tasting flight to accompany my meal. The craft brewery in the Exchange District is my kind of place – industrial feel, a good selection of their beers on tap, and a fairly solid kitchen. On a hot afternoon, I stuck to fairly light beers in my tasting flight. From left to right: a wheat (that I got through most of before snapping this picture), a really solid ISA, a sour beer (my favourite from this visit) and a slightly spicy rye ale. All delicious and the good first impression would bring me back later in the trip for another meal.

Sampler at Peg Beer Co.

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Guys weekend in Montreal

The idea for a guys weekend in Montreal with my dad started with a desire to relive some old times in the city. Aside from family road trips to visit my mom and dad’s relatives in New Brunswick, my first real travel experiences were with dad visiting Montreal to take in Expos games in the early 1980s. Those trips were fun times and the memories of them still float around in my mind from time to time. The excited feelings I had when I first arrived in Montreal as a child on the train on those trips are pretty much the same feelings I have today when I visit a place for the first time.

So with nostalgia sparking the idea, and a couple of Blue Jays preseason games in Montreal this past March forming the cornerstone of a trip, I invited my dad on a guys weekend in a city we both love. I flew in from Saskatoon, him from Halifax, and we met in the Montreal airport ready to relive some good old times and to see what kind of trouble we could get into. Trouble is all relative of course, and 40-somthing me and 70-something dad were both up for some unhealthy but delicious eating. First order of business was a smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz’s.

At Schwartz's Deli

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Champagne trip to Reims

When my wife and I visited France back in 2009, we stuck close to Paris with the exception of a very memorable, and emotional, day trip to Normandy to see Juno Beach. On this return trip to one of our favourite countries we decided that our day tripping should be all about wine. Having already had an exceptional day touring Burgundy, our second wine-related day took us to the city of Reims in the heart of the Champagne region.

After an early morning high speed train ride from Paris, a quick bus ride and walk took us right to the front gates of our first Champagne house tour at Pommery.

Domaine Pommery

One of the unexpected features of Pommery that made this a great stop was the art both inside and outside their facilities. From an oversized fruit tree on their dramatic front lawn, to a Daniel Firman work depicting an elephant balancing on its trunk inside the chateau, we were engaged and entertained even before our tour began.

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The sights of Vieux Lyon

I wasn’t sure what to expect when we committed to part of our trip to France being based in Lyon. I love big European cities, so I knew the overall vibe would be great. What I didn’t expect was the how much I would be drawn to the older parts of Lyon.

Vieux Lyon was always right there, just across the Saône, looking down on Presqu’île where our hotel was located. On our first trip over the river to wander around, we didn’t even make it the whole way over the bridge before stopping to photograph the beautiful early spring morning.

Vieux Lyon and the Saône

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Modern meets historic

For the better part of six days, my wife and I called Lyon home during a two week vacation in France. Lyon is beautiful. Gorgeous, really. And if you were dropped into the city blindfolded, you’d know you were in France from the architecture alone. I really wasn’t expecting to see much modern public art while visiting here, but was more than pleasantly surprised by a few sculptures and installations as I wandered around Lyon. These pieces all caught my eye as physical representations of a noticeable modern vibe running through this historic city.

On a stunning afternoon in the sprawling Parc de la Tête d’Or, this installation, “Ensemble Pour la Paix et la Justice” caught my eye. It was commissioned for the G7 meetings in Lyon in 1996.

Ensemble pour la paix et la justice

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A day in Burgundy

If I had to pick one wine, and only one wine to drink over the remainder of my days, it would be a toss up between pinot noir from Burgundy or the effervescent bubbly from Champagne. Coincidentally, on our visit to France this spring, we spent a couple of days touring these respective wine regions to help me solve this dilemma to which there really isn’t a wrong answer. I’ll leave the account of a day in and around Reims tasting world class Champagne for another post… this one is all about a spectacular day spent in Burgundy.

We took an early morning train from Lyon to Beaune and waiting for us at the quaint station was Patrick, an expert on all things Burgundy. He was our guide for the day and after some quick hellos and a sketch of our plans, we got into the back of his car to make our way to Auxey-Duresses for our first tasting and visit with a winemaker.

It couldn’t have been a better start to the day. Michel Prunier warmly welcomed us into his small facility. Although Patrick was available to translate where needed, Michel spoke in French slowly and we followed along except for the most technical of winemaking jargon. Michel explained his winery and its 5 generation family history and spent some time showing us the small batch of bubbly he makes each year in addition to his pinot noir.

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Three great meals

Admittedly, it’s not too difficult to simply stumble upon a great meal in either Paris or Lyon. With even a half an ounce of planning, you’ll have hundreds and hundreds of options at your fingertips. Our challenge was a little steeper as our plans need to be gluten free for one of us (thankfully, not me… I’ll take the entire bread plate, thanks). Over a two week period, we made three reservations and each gave us an outstanding dining experience.

Chez Marcel, Paris

You would walk right past this place if you weren’t paying attention. It is a quaint 30 seat bistro tucked just off the busy Boulevard Raspail. We arrived a few minutes before our 7:30 reservation and waited for the owner to arrive and let us in to the restaurant. As soon as we stepped foot inside, we knew we would be in for a great meal.

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A perfectly French day

March 17, 2017 – Lyon, France

It might be hard to have a better, or more “French” day than I’m having. I slept in (good start). Had a leisurely coffee and a pain au chocolate at a cafe a few blocks from our lovely hotel. Then it was off for a morning of exploring the Croix-Rousse neighbourhood including the almost 100 vendor daily market of fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses. I turned some market purchases and a baguette into a perfectly acceptable picnic on a bench overlooking the neighbourhood square all the while sipping on a just before noon Kronenbourg beer. And of course, the meal ending strawberries from Provence were divine. A short break later, I had an un-St. Patrick’s Day afternoon by enjoying a Hoegaarden on a patio of a cafe that had no traces of leprechauns or green beer. And tonight, another picnic, this one in Place des Célestins with a bottle of pinot noir we brought back from our day trip to Burgundy.

France, I like what you do to me while I’m on vacation.