SUMMER TRIP - VICTORIA BC#2
Happy Monday my little cats!
I'm going to try and get you traveling today, to stretch out the month of August as much as possible. I'm heading for Victoria, a small town in British Columbia that's been my favorite part of the trip - I'd love to have stayed a night or two longer!
And it was a dilemma to choose the photos I wanted to show you, even more than for Vancouver! So I've also put together an album Facebook with the photos in HD and all the images. If you missed Vancouver, the article is here. hereand the album facebook here!
It was already an adventure to get to Victoria, we took a seaplane and what a pleasant surprise, I'm not a big fan of flying, I'm not afraid but it's not a real party when there's turbulence either, I always write a little text to the people I love before taking the plane like ... But I'm not afraid! So the seaplane, I said to myself, there are literally 10 of us in the plane, it's going to be complicated, the take-off, the landing, why don't we sink, ok there are floats but it's still steel, it's not a plastic plane... Well, well, well and then, in fact, too good! No turbulence, no shock on landing, just absorbent cotton, literally... And then a breathtaking view from start to finish... I almost want more!
Victoria is the capital of British Columbia in Canada, located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and marking the border with the United States... And the city is called Victoria after Queen Victoria, of course... So imagine a city with little houses in the English cottage style, in every color... In fact, it reminded me of Disneyland's Main Street... But in real life!
Arriving in Victoria is easy, and we discover a charming hotel, the Magnolia HotelWe have a few hours to explore the town before a trip out to sea to see the orcas! We followed your advice and ate gargantuan French toast at the Magnolia Hotel. Willie's. As well as looking like something out of a Technicolor dream, this little town is extremely flowery. Of course, you might say, blackberries as big as apricots grow like weeds on every street corner...
There's a host of adorable stationery, jewelry and concept stores around Douglas Street, Yates Street and Wharf Street, near Willie's Bakery, which I recommend you take a stroll around and get inspired! And there's no denying that these Canadians are really big on typography and hand lettering! A storefront with crazy lettering, and I could buy anything in the store...
With our bellies full and our eyes full of colorful flowers, we head out to sea, with the tour Orca Spirit AdventuresI'm quite curious to see these organizations that can plan excursions where we're sure to see these mammals! In any case, it was sublime to see them in real life, we were about 200m away but in the hold of the boat we could hear them communicating... Amazing! Eleonore told me about a great documentary "Black Fish about orcas in captivity, which I watched that evening at the hotel (I recommend it if you haven't seen it yet), and it made the whole experience of the day more than magical, to see these sublime animals in the wild!
I'd advise you to wrap up warm, even though it's summer in Victoria and there's plenty of sunshine... With my "Mon petit chat" sweater and jersey skirt, I was so cold I'd have killed for a Damart!
On our way back from our sea tour, we wanted to go and see this little fishing village you'd told us about, to see the botanical garden and go back into town to take photos in the late afternoon light... I can't tell you that we obviously couldn't do everything, which is why I'm sorry we only stayed one night!!!
Like the pontoon of the'Orca Spirit Aventuresboat pontoon is not far from our first option, we went to Fisherman Village, and we were not disappointed by these small, floating, multicoloured wooden houses. I could have stayed here for hours to take photos of every detail... And a special mention for the village ice-cream shop: yoghurt, maple syrup and pecans, I'm getting hungry just writing this...
The heart pebble collection... The inhabitants of this little village really play the game, and for us photographic gold diggers it was a godsend!
Then back to town, cameras at the ready, I feel like we were like two kids on a treasure hunt! Suddenly, I saw a mini alleyway, turned around and called Eleonore, and there was the shock of Tan Fan Alley, like a space-time rift that took you into the city's Chinatown, but Disney-style Chinatown...
Collective hysteria took hold of our instrammage bodies... We climbed onto benches, bent over and climbed (yes, we really did) to get the coolest shots! Everything about this little spot is incredibly photogenic (even the phone booths) and the light is perfect... As you can imagine, I'm in love with Victoria.
And last but not least, I'm sorry this article is so long, but I just can't decide which one to choose - it's been a truly magical day!
We dined today at a delicious seafood restaurant, Ferris's Oyster Bar & Grill, where everything was stunningly fresh, and I fell in love with these ukulele lamps... how about a little DIY? Then we head back to our hotel, exhausted from all the incredible things we've seen, and discover the Parliament building completely lit up by thousands of tiny bulbs, under a mauve sky - Disney, I tell you!
Kisses and next time I'll take you to Tofino!
Lisa
To read this post in English, click here!