Vancouver Makes Me Sad

September 7, 2013September 7, 2013Leave a comment

Vancouver makes me sad only because it was a everything I love about cities, rolled into one and I couldn’t stay. There were metros and beaches and runners and bikers and markets and fresh fish and blue skies and mountains and 70 weather with no humidity and boats and Tim Horton’s on every corner and bars and parks and kayakers and paddle boarding and dogs and dog beaches and shopping….shall I continue? I was not happy about leaving. Arriving in the city, we quickly made it to our hotel in the posh, yuppy district of Coal Harbour. A complete 180 from the roach motel we stayed in the night before. We immediately dropped our luggage and headed out for a walk along the harbor. City view on one side, Vancouver Bay and mountains on the other. Perfect. From there we stumbled into a quaint little area called Gastown where a bike race was going on. The neighborhood was packed with spectators and we parked ourselves at a bar for a while to watch. After boredom of watching bikes circle and circle, we ventured off to the most unimpressive Chinatown I’ve ever been into. Then, we ate at the worst restaurant we’ve ever ate in, something that’s become a bit of a first meal in a new city tradition. Disgusted, we walked back to the hotel through an area where I’m pretty sure I saw about 5 people who were completely high on bath salts. Strangely enough, it was just a couple blocks from our posh digs. I turned my engagement ring around and made a mental note to avoid this area.

Our backyard

Our neighborhood, Coal Harbour

Gastown

The next day we used a Groupon for a Hop on Hop off bus or a HOHO, which is way more fun to say. I’ve never done on of those before and I think it’s a great thing for people who are old or have kids. We are totally fine taking the subway and paying a few dollars for the challenge of navigating a city. For $20, the HOHO is pretty pricey for able body people. We spent most of the day at Granville Island strolling the market and grazing on fruits, veggies, cheese, bread and desserts. Then we finished the HOHO tour and walked through the gay neighborhood of Davie and the cities most expensive neighborhood of West End. All of this was followed by an indulgent sushi dinner. I was falling hard for Vancouver. One of my favorite days was spent riding bikes through all the neighborhoods in the city and Stanley Park. We stopped to eat and drink often and I wondered if this is what it would be like if we lived here. Probably.

Stanley Park

The last day was spent taking a boat and bus to Grouse Mountain to do the famous, Grouse Grind or as the locals call it, The Grind. This is a 1.8 mile trail up the face of Grouse Mountain. The Grind’s website says, “This trail is very challenging. Keep in mind that there is a wide range of mountaintop trails that might better suit the average hiker.” Are we average hikers? I wanted to find out. So, I’m happy to report that based on the results of our hike, I’m a little more in shape than the average bear. As for Fabien, I’m having him tested for performance enhancing drugs.

The Grouse Grind is no joke!

A preview of the Grind

I’m not gonna lie – it was hard. At some point, my legs were shaking so bad, I had to stop. Not to mention I was profusely sweating. However, I was doing a lot better than 90% of the people on the trail. I was pretty sure a few people were going to need a helicopter rescue. Then there were the super humans. Women and men who ran past me. One man I talked to for a while said he does it every day. You can actually get a chip that will keep your stats and compare you to the other climbers. If we lived in Vancouver, we would definitely be doing this regularly. It was an amazing workout. After a big, rewarding lunch and shower, we finished off our Vancouver adventure at a music festival followed by a yummy seafood dinner. We took the bus back to our neighborhood and it stopped in the sketchy area a few blocks from our hotel. Again, the druggies. Our flight home was at 7am and we woke up early to head to the airport. I flipped on the news and saw the report that Cory Monteith, one of the stars of Glee, over dosed on drugs in Vancouver, at the Pacific Rim hotel, which was on the very same block as our hotel. We walked passed the scene on the way to the metro and it was eerily quiet. Strangely, there were no reporters or fans yet. I’m not a fan of the show, but, of course, it’s really sad thing. Had we passed him getting off the bus when we walked through the sketchy area? Maybe. Moral of the story, say no to drugs, kids. I returned to Nashville bummed. I don’t want to hate on my city, but Vancouver is everything I love about big cities and traveling. <Insert sad face here> To check out all our photos of Canada, click here. And to read about our trip in the Rockies, click here.

Our Home and Native Land

September 2, 2013September 4, 20132 Comments

Queue the music….

“Oh, Canada,
Our home and native land,”

And that’s all of the Canadian national anthem I know. And so I sang it….for the whole 10 days we bounced around the country. It drove my husband completely mad and he encouraged me to at least learn a few more lines while we were there. I didn’t.

In my defense, I wanted to got to Peru, hike the Inca trail and see Manchu Picchu before it closes. However, after scheming, compromising and preparing for hostels, planes, trains and automobiles in exchange for a nearly 5-figure vacation, I started looking into alternatives. Fabien chose Quebec and Montreal and I chose the Canadian Rockies and Vancouver. I won based on the fact that I do all the planning.

We flew into Calgary and quickly skipped over the city, heading straight to the Canadian hot spot of Banff. The original plan was to rent a car in Calgary and drive across country to Vancouver. That is until I found out going that direction (and not in the opposite direction) carried a one-way charge of $1,500. Clearly, Canada is smoking too much medicinal marijuana if they think I’m paying that. So, I booked a bus with a tour company, who cancelled our reservation weeks later. It was then that I realized it was cheaper to fly across country than drive. Geeze, Canada – you are a logistical nightmare. I needed a vacation after planning this vacation.

Now, I’ll stop complaining about first world travel problems and tell you about Banff. It is freaking amazing. The mountains, the air, the 70 degree weather, the blue skies, the mountain tops, hiking to the mountain tops, the rivers, the lakes, the glaciers – all of it is perfection. We spent our three days there hiking, worrying that we didn’t have bear spray and staring at a 360 view of the Canadian Rockies. My favorite afternoon consisted of seeing a ginormous elk with countless points, glacier gazing at Lake Louise and viewing the bluest water I’ve ever seen at Lake Moraine. No photo filter here, people.

Beautiful Banff

This poor guy couldn’t even get through the forest

Lake Louise was amazing

Have you ever seen water so blue? Lake Moraine is stunning.

After three days, we rented a car and drove the 200 mile Icefield Parkway from Banff to Jasper. I purchased this great app, Gypsy Guide, that gave us a tour of the Parkway. For $4.99 we learned the history of the mountains, where the most beautiful hidden lakes were located and the best places to spot wild life. The drive took us all day because we stopped everywhere and took our time taking in the beautiful scenery. There were two main attractions of the day. The first was a 2-hour stop at the Columbia Icefield where we rode an Ice Explorer to the Athabasca Glacier and then got to walk around, take pictures and drink the pure blue water. It was really cool. And the 2nd was when I saw a bear and screamed the announcement so loud causing Fabien to slam on the brakes, bust a viscous u-turn and nearly causing a multi-vechile pile up in the middle of nowhere. It wasn’t in vain because I saw two black bears and have the photos to prove it.

Amazing Peyto Lake

Glacier public transportation

One of the world's bravest kid or the child of the world's stupidest parents.

The world’s bravest kid (or the child with the world’s stupidest parents).

By dinner time we stopped in Jasper (think Northern Exposure), ate dinner and quickly drove to a little middle of nowhere town, Hinton, to spend the night in a sleazy Econo Lodge (the only hotel for hundreds of miles). The next morning we drove through the most boring landscape on the entire planet to Edmonton where we flew to Vancouver.

To view more pics of Canada, click here.

A Mexican Bender

August 25, 2013Leave a comment

Yes, it’s August and that can only mean one thing for the wife of a french man. The in-laws (and 5 other family members and friends) are here. I love them all dearly, but because I didn’t want them all in my house for the whole month, it was decided that we would spend a week Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The vacation can only be described in one word – binge.

Our group of ten arrived at the hotel hungry and exhausted after leaving for the airport at 3am. Fabien and I were a little more refreshed after a nap in the first class cabin (a new perk that’s been occurring rather frequently due to the miles we’ve been racking up with Delta). We immediately stormed the all-inclusive buffet. After I ate a few cups of guacamole, I repeated the following process continued for the next two days: beach, bar, buffet, books. I laid under a palm tree and finished Tiny Beautiful Things by one of my new favorite authors, who I got to meet this year, Cheryl Strayed.

“Like if you think you want to have a baby, you probably should. I say this in spite of the fact that children are giant endless suck machines. They don’t give a whit if you need to sleep or eat or pee or get your work done or got out to a party naked and oiled up in a homemade Alice B. Toklas mask. They will take everything. They will bring you to the furthest edge of your personality and abso-fucking-lutely to your knees.

They will also give you everything back. Not just all they take, but many of the things you lost before they came along as well.”

-Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things

Side note: read her book Wild and prepare to fall in love.

One of the highlights of 2013, meeting Cheryl Strayed

After two days, it was time to remove myself from the lounge where eight of us would head to Chichen Itza, a beautiful lagoon and the adorable little Mayan city of Valladolid. I certify all of these places amazing and give props to the Mayans for building a sweet little city, which is no easy feat considering what tiny people they were. For example, our guide, a Mayan named Irvine, stood a generous 4’9. It took every ounce of restraint to not pinch his cheeks and put him in my pocket. We returned from the day, exhausted and satisfied. The tour company, Xperience Xcaret, was so well organized and worth every penny. If you’re considering any visits to Mexico, I’d totally recommend them.

Chichen Itza

The cathedral in Valladolid

Zaci Cenote was formed from a meteor that dropped 65 million years ago

Enough activity. I returned to my regularly scheduled plans – bingeing on books.

For the next three days, I parallel parked myself between the pool and bar with my Kindle. It was glorious. I started & finished the highly acclaimed Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg and the much loved My Year with Eleanor which was written by friend of a friend of a friend, Noelle Hancock.

“I’m not presumptuous enough to think I’ll ever be as fearless as Eleanor [Roosevelt]. But she taught me that courage is a muscle. It needs to be exercised often or it’ll weaken.”

-Noelle Hancock, My Year With Eleanor

Then rainy season granted us with its presence for two full days, so I justified starting another book. I was on a serious bender and I’m pretty sure Fabien was planning an intervention. Fortunately, there were others to keep him entertained.

On the last full day, me & my nine French crew would spend the morning in a monsoon at the ruins of Tulum. I went in college, but was still awed by the city. Eventually, mother nature gave us a pass and even a little sun when we visited Xel-ha, a natural water park . Another fun, exhausting day courtesy of Xperience Xcaret.

Tulum under a monsoon

For the final hours in Mexico, the Murphy’s Law of vacations was in effect which meant it was the most beautiful. I’m happy to have awaken at 7:30 to spend the last few hours playing in the huge blue waves and finishing my absolute favorite read of the week, Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. She has officially become my new drug of choice.

“I guess he’ll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it means to be human, to have the darkness just as much as the light- that in fact the dark parts make the light visible; without them, the light would disappear. But I guess he has to figure other stuff out first, like how to keep his neck from flopping all over the place and how to sit up.”

-Anne Lamott, Operating Instructions

The last bittersweet hours

So, thanks to the inspiration of the beautiful writings from Cheryl Strayed, Sheryl Sandberg, Noelle Hancock and Anne Lamott, I haven gotten my writers groove back. I hereby solemnly swear to update my travel blog without further ado. Stay tuned for stories that include bears in the wilderness, being in close proximity to the latest celebrity death and a complete recap of my weekend on a hippie commune.

Stacie Chevrier

-writer-

Category: Travel

Vancouver Makes Me Sad

Our Home and Native Land

A Mexican Bender

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