My tastes do change with age, and one of the things that I've really come to love is French fries. Thus, in Canada I wanted to have poutine. I was very tired when we arrived, partly from driving, partly because I had been sick. On our way up, we had missed the American duty free, and had to go back around. On our way back, I drove up to the customs agent, who looked a bit angry. He said, "did you not see the stop sign back there?"
I didn't. Oops. Anyhow I apologized and he let us back through. The American duty free store is a lot shabbier than the Canadian one. I bought a bottle of sparkling wine and some candy.
That night, we went to an amazing Canadian restaurant called Pied du Cochon. It may be one of my favorite restaurants in the world. They feature fois gras and animal innards. We ordered fois gras poutine, pork chop, kidney stew, and blood sausage. For dessert, we had pecan pie and maple creme brûlée. Definitely one of the best meals that I have had in a while.
The next day, my friend suggested we go into a coat store, called Kanuk. Their costs were amazing, and even warmer than the Canada Goose that I have. I fell in love with a bright red coat that was cut very stylishly. Apparently it was made two weeks ago in the shop upstairs. It is their new line, so I was one of the first to buy it, and probably the only person in the US with this coat. For now. The coats allow you to pick the trim for the hood, so in a way it's very personalizable! The sales person suggested colors that would match well, with some being fluffier than others. There is even a cold room where you can test out the jackets. I'm very happy with my purchase.
Later, we went to a diner for some more poutine, and to a few bars. There was a speakeasy called "Big in Japan" next door to the diner, which was beautifully decorated and had good cocktails. We went to another bar for oysters, but I forget the name.
One woman offered to take us to a bar that she promised would be fun. She had a friend who was quite young with her, apparently he was from Belgium and travelling for a year. When it got to the "bar" which turned out to be a restaurant, it became apparent that they were a couple of some sort. They then proceeded to engage in a very serious conversation about where their relationship was going and how he was leaving and she wanted a baby. Maybe they were drunk, but it was awkward so we tried to sneak away while she was crying, but then they were like, "Wait why are you going??" We made up a lie about being tired, and left them to debate their future, while we got burgers at a gas station and made our way home.
Actually, before going home we went to check on our car, but had recorded the wrong street, so we could not find it. At first I thought it had been towed and began to worry. It was also very cold, and we were standing outside with some drunk raggedy looking people on the street. Luckily, my friend remembered that as we exited our car, I had gotten excited because there was a Cambodian restaurant. We typed Cambodian into Yelp, and that is how we ended up finding our car.
It was a short trip, but one that was a lot of fun. I would really like to go again, perhaps for a longer stay.
