Enjoyed The Summer In Ottawa, But It’s Back To Work Time!

We moved to Ottawa this August from Vancouver. It has been very busy trying to get everything in order, but my husband and I wanted to familiarize the boys with the city and enjoy our time together before they start school. I decided to close the store until everyone and everything has settled down. The studio is coming along and I’m pretty close to restarting my work. I’m looking forward to it and showing you the studio. 

We had a great summer exploring a few places in Ottawa. It’s the capital of Canada, so the iconic parliament buildings are a big draw here. The boys just loved it, but not enough to take a 45 minute guided tour inside. They might last 20 minutes…tops. You can take one big loop around the parliament buildings and see a lot of the city, since it is quite high up. 

I took this shot when I was sitting on the top front of the double decker bus. This is the Rideau Canal. It is just a beautiful place to take a walk along. Apparently, it freezes in the winter and the city opens it up for ice skating to the public. The building in the distant is the Fairmont Hotel Chateau Laurier. It’s built in a French gothic style to match the buildings around it. It’s right in the centre of downtown beside Parliament.

My favourite place to visit is the Byward Market, also steps from Parliament. It’s amazing that such a great market exists right in downtown. From Spring to late Fall, you will find many produce vendors from Quebec (Ottawa is right on the border of Ontario and Quebec) selling beautiful fruits and vegetables. Everything tastes so much better right from the farm and the prices are even better than the supermarket. 

This bakery, Le Moulin De Provence, in the Byward Market is one I really like going to. It offers a plethora of French cakes, cookies and pastries. A coffee, pastry and a design magazine would just be the perfect quiet time place. Their claim to fame is that Barak Obama visited and they have a cookie called the Obama cookie. I believe it’s a butter cookie with the Canadian maple leaf icing. I’ll take a photo next time. It’s always really busy in here, so a few quick shots is all I could do this time.

There are many other vendors at the market. This one specializes in garlic, chilis and herbs. The varieties that are offered are amazing. Since Ottawa borders the province of Quebec (French Canada), we get a lot of artisanal and gourmet food products. We are so lucky to have all these offerings. 

This is Carleton University. It’s a major university in Ottawa right by the south end of the Rideau Canal. I believe that public policy is one of the major subjects offered here. 

That’s it for now, but since I’m here and settling down, I will definitely update the blog much more often than I did for the former part of this year. If you’re reading this, thank you for taking the time to come by. It has been a big journey for my family and I to move across Canada to a new city. My priorities are always my family and my work, so I hope everyone and everything will flourish here. I already feel more creative in this new environment and hope to bring some of my best work. The shop will be back up soon. Thank you for waiting.