Home again; Jardin Botanique

[redbird]

Seeing rysmiel was excellent, as is being home with cattitude. The actual travel in between was irritating--my flights were delayed in both directions (though Air Canada was quite civilized about the whole thing), and I discovered the hard way that if you add money to a NYC Metrocard, it wipes out the information that you have a valid transfer.

As Rysmiel noted, there shouldn't be many places to hide full-size topiary models of the Easter Island heads, but we couldn't find them. We did go to the nice maple/ice cream place, and had an assortment of nice fruit-flavored ice creams. We also had sushi for breakfast on Saturday, and last night I discovered that the Montreal definition of shrimp in lobster sauce is very different from any I've had before (brown sauce, not white), but tasty.

This morning, since Rysmiel had to go to work and I had an afternoon flight, I went to the Jardin Botanique, which includes the Insectarium. Well worth it, even on a rainy day that feels more like late September than August (I'd guess upper teens (mid-60s if you prefer Fahrenheit)) and even with part of the Chinese garden under (re)construction. At one point I was wandering down a path and a workman told me, in French, that this area was closed. I just said "oui" and turned around. The Chinese garden includes a dawn redwood (Metasequoia, not the giant redwood) that is only about twice my height, and rather thin on top: I suspect Montreal is marginal for that species. There are some excellent beetles and dragonflies in the Insectarium, and a functioning beehive. I now have a hat with a picture of a monarch butterfly. The rose garden isn't as splashy as either the New York or Brooklyn Botanic gardens have: it feels less like a living garden catalog and more like a garden someone would plant and wander through just because they like roses. Elsewhere, I got to smell a sacred lotus: it's a strong scent, and I'm not sure whether I like it, even after checking it twice. One oddity was that the labels are in botanical (modern) Latin, French, and English, and I saw two different plants that had a Latin name, a note saying "Nom français indeterminee", and an English name.

Comments

[kate_nepveu]

On proper August days, the Shade Garden is an invaluable, brilliant stop in the Jardin Botanique. I somehow missed it the first time I was there, but Chad and I strongly appreciated it last summer.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Well I guess it's better than making up a French name on the spot for something from a corner of the world nobody French has ever visited -- put it in the Jardin Botanique and probably someone will have a revelation of an appropriate name at some point, and can pencil it in.