I want to apologize for the following post. I have succumbed to the Fall 'flu and therefore am struggling to function, but I wanted to get this out before too many days after the actual event had passed...
For a limited time, the ticket to the Mosaicultures Internationales at the Botanical Garden also allowed us a second visit. (There was so much to see we could have done with more than two visits to be honest - the Montreal Botanical Gardens, founded in 1931, house 22,000 plant species spread over 75 hectares - but two were better than one!.)
People had mentioned the Gardens of Light as something worth going and see, so the following day, accompanied by T, we returned (me wrapped up in my furry lined boots and bad-ass winter coat, a tad over dressed as it turned out. No gloves though, as we can't remember were we put them...there is going to be a big panic when the cold does come...) It was one of those things we had been meaning to do last Fall, but all our time and energy had been taken up by buying furniture, cars, kittens...
This year however, we were prepared. We had no idea what to expect, other than the Chinese and Japanese Gardens at the Botanical Garden were going to be lit up, and you could go until 9pm.
With dusk falling here just before 7pm these days, we made use of the car rather then the three buses it had taken us the previous day.
Apparently, the Chinese Garden, inspired by the gardens of the Ming Dynasty, is considered to be the largest of its kind outside of China.
It was very busy - the Chinese Garden in particular - and there wasn't all that much time to stop and take in the beautiful vivid colours as the crowds pushed us along the winding paths.
The Japanese Garden however, was more more of a picture of tranquility. Not only were the lights calming, more refined...
...but the mayhem of the Chinese Garden had subsided also.
Although the peace was disrupted by the sound of the roar of the crowds of the football - soccer - game playing across the road at Stade Saputo, as Montreal won against Guatemalan team C.D. Heredia...