Back in 2023 shortly after moving back from France, my wife and I went on vacation to our nations capital, Ottawa Ontario Canada. We had been used to traveling extensively while living in Europe and we decided to try and keep that sense of adventure and excitement alive upon our return. The problem is that Ontario Canada doesn't have a whole lot to offer us in terms of traveling. We both grew up here and/or spent the better part of our lives in the province, so we have pretty much seen all that there is to see, many times over. There also isn't a whole lot to begin with, so it doesn't take long to see all of the highlights.
Parliament Hill
Nonetheless we decided to make the most of the situation and do some extra long weekends and some day trips touring around parts of the province.
Fairmont Château Laurier (left)
Ottawa was a place that neither of us had been to so it made a lot of sense to go a check it out.
Alexandra Bridge over Ottawa River
The city of Ottawa is situated in the South Eastern part of Ontario right on the border of Quebec. Its right next to the city of Gatineau Quebec, which is actually the subject of this post.
Gatineau is on the other side of a bridge that spans the Ottawa River.
Canadian Museum of History
You can walk there from downtown Ottawa in just a few minutes.
The two cities are practically connected and if it weren't for the river separating them you wouldn't even know that they were different cities (geography I mean).
Museum of History up Close
There are actually several bridges that cross the river and connect the cities but we went across on the Alexandra Bridge.
It was actually a bit of a hike to where we went in Gatineau but we treated the trip like an excursion for the second day of our trip.
We took our time and spent a few hours visiting a small park, exploring a very cool neighborhood in the downtown area on Rue Laval (Laval street) where we also ate lunch that day.
Fish Tacos
Do you think that I made her laugh or that she made herself laugh?
At the end we hiked a walking path along the river before returning back to Ottawa on the Alexandra Bridge again.
The views of the Capital were particularly stunning from the walking path.
From there you can see the parliament buildings rising up out of the trees from across the water.
We came across a small neighborhood on Laval street that had a very unique sort of vibe about it.
It was lined with rusty red brick homes that housed different restaurants and cafes.
The streets were pedestrianized in the small area and were paved with modern day Cobblestones.
There were several art installations scatters around and a few large murals on some of the walls of the buildings. It was a colorful and fun little neighborhood.
The whole site had a very artsy feel about it that gave off good vibes.
We noticed all of these tongue sculptures stuck to various objects in the area. It was one of the art pieces I was referring to.
In discussing them with my wife and trying to decypher their meaning she suggested that it was probably something to do with the French language and how the French are known for being very protective of their native tongue, stereotypically speaking.
Who can blame a culture for not wanting to lose their language to assimilation though?
Anyway, this area of the city is also know for its art and typically has an annual art installation set up in the sky above the streets, like a collage of colorful umbrellas as an example. We saw a lot of these in France actually.
This year's piece was a swinging girl.
In my mind the girl was a ghost.
The black gloves and hair in front of the face was a nice touch.
I like the creepiness. It might have been boring or fake looking otherwise.
