Une glace pour tout le monde

We are living in a fabulous part of Montreal called Mile End. Its in the francophone part of the city and our neighbourhood is a mixture of alternative hip types (like Newtown in Sydney) and Parisian city life (fruit and veg shops selling wares on the street, french in the air everywhere). We are right in the thick of it and literally around the corner are some great cafes and restaurants. One of the favourites for all the family is this place  - amazing ice creams. There's even a maple syrup flavour! Yum!

[Check out Asha sampling some of dad's!]

Mont Royal

Mont Royal is the large mountain (a hill really) in the middle of town from which the city gets it name. When we first arrived 2 weeks ago the trees were mostly bare as it was just coming out of winter. Its amazing how 2 weeks of warmer weather can bring out the leaves and flowers. This is a beautiful space for walking, riding and enjoying the trees right in the middle of the city (think Central Park NYC, and in fact it was designed by the same person!).

We have yet to make it right up the top - apparently there are spectacular views of the city in all directions - but our first impressions were good. And we even got to meet some of the locals!

Clark Park

The joy of discovering a new city with small kids is the delight in finding green space for them to play. This is our closest park. Asha loves the swings and Claude enthusiastically digs in the sand and plays on the slides.

Our new home

We arrived in Montreal just in time for the snow to melt and Spring to arrive. Its warm, blue skies every day so far and temps in the mid twenties. We have landed in a little ground floor flat which will be our home for the next 2 months until we move somewhere more permanent.

This is a lovely neighbourhood, with trees and flowers just starting to come out and cafes and great little shops all in walking distance. Of course the first thing we sought out were the parks!

 

Canada

We moved from Sydney to our new home in Montreal, Canada. Montreal is the largest city in Quebec Province, mostly French-speaking and will be our home for the next few years. We hope you enjoy the photo journey that we'll take you on during our time here.

Baptism of Asha Quynh

The most significant thing we did while back in Aus was to welcome Asha into our church family.
Asha means "hope" in Sanskrit languages. We are thankful to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has called us out of darkness and into a living hope.

Her middle name is Quynh (a Vietnamese name pronounced Quinn) which is a beautiful flower that blooms at night. It represents the special place that Vietnam has in our family's life. (And true to form, she is night time girl!)

Lots of water splashed around!

Fire engines!

Almost every day in Sydney we walked or drove past our local fire station, much to Claude's great delight.

Fun times with family and friends in Australia

During our few months back in Australia we had a great time reconnecting with family and friends.

 With Omi and Opi at The Entrance, feeding the pelicans.

Early mother's day celebration with the Green girls.

 Park time with the boys

Watching the train video

 Tea with Poppa

This is how you ride it!

Great grandmothers

2 of the finest ladies around. Aged 99 and 98, they are the matriarchs of each of our families.

Visiting Pete and Kath

We took a trip up to Orange to see Pete, Kath and Zoe and visit their new property. Claude and Asha had a great time playing with their cousin. We also enjoyed fig picking, and the fabulous treats we made with our harvest.

Lord Howe Island

Yes, I'm miles behind but these photos are worth the review. A few posts of things we've done before the move to Montreal then Canada photos to follow. Our magnificent trip to Lord Howe Island with Greg's extended family.