High Park Cherry Blossom

Not too late... thanks to the late bloomers!
I just checked High Park's update on the state of their cherry trees and the Toronto park predicts the full bloom for May 5-10. (It usually occurs around the last week of April.) 
(Update as of May 2, 2016: Full bloom expected between coming weekend May 6-7 or the next)

Two years ago, I showed up on the first week of May... and missed it, but there were lots of petals on the ground and the crowd had deserted the place. High Park in the spring is always gorgeous anyway so I wasn't too disappointed but I took a mental note to return the following year.

Last year, thanks to the update we can get on High Park's website, I saw the cherry trees in full bloom and I could take photos of this glorious moment to create the HIGH PARK Cherry Blossom Stroll  in my guide Toronto Urban Strolls 2.

I showed up on a Friday and never would have thought so many Torontonians had it in them to "play hookie"!

Lisa Rochon: about friendship and cities

I've always read Lisa Rochon's articles on architecture in the Globe and Mail with pleasure. She never loose sight of how it serves the urban dwellers.

In her blog Chasing Home, she gets more poetic and intimate. And it's still about us, in relation with our environment. Her latest is beautiful. She reminds us of a quote from Aristotle:
"Friendship binds cities".

"Sidewalks are long, linear stages for conversation" declares Lisa Rochon. 

As the author of Toronto Urban Strolls... for girlfriends, I couldn't agree more!

Like Toronto Urban Strolls on Facebook!

Toronto walks, anyone?

The new girlfriends guides are out! After six months (in the making), my two guides Toronto Urban Strolls 1 & 2 are finally available online, and in the travel section of major bookstores. 

Click on the books' covers to have a look inside.

Toronto Urban Strolls... for girlfriends 1 (Second edition)
The first edition of this 192-page guide with 28 Toronto walks sold out in three months last summer. This is the second edition, with the 28 Toronto walks fully revised.


It includes nature walks, neighbourhood strolls and I-Spy circuits (the best Toronto walks to discover urban treasures).
Buy on Amazon or on Indigo.

Toronto Urban Strolls... for girlfriends 2 

A follow-up to Toronto Urban Strolls 2, this guide includes 24 additional Toronto walks. No overlap with the first guidebook!

You'll discover more neighbourhoods, more Toronto nature and more surprising urban sights. Buy on Amazon or on Indigo.

Both guides are available online on Amazon and Indigo and should be in the stores by the first week of May.

Like Toronto Urban Strolls on Facebook!

Moms are people too!

Social grooming, anyone?

Who knew? It turns out there's more to my guideToronto Urban Strolls... for girlfriends then a mere reference book to walks around Toronto. It is the perfect tool to fulfill a primal human need vastly neglected lately: the need for bonding.

Thanks to Twitter, I came across a few articles from a great website called Babble (for a new generation of parents). One of them, titled A Different Kind of Playdate, Why adults-only time is good for the whole family, really appealed to me.

(Phone photo of me with my oldest friend,
more than 40 years after we first met...)

I wrote my guides Toronto Urban Strolls 1 & 2 because I saw how most of us dream of long holidays and fancy vacations as if they were the only answer to recharge our batteries. Sometimes, all we need is a little adult timeout with our friends, a couple of hours for a walk and $20 for coffee and a treat in a cute café.

Like Toronto Urban Strolls on Facebook!

Behind the scene in Leslieville

Working behind a counter in a cool coffee shop has its advantages!  

Next time you visit Te Aro, my local café in Leslieville, and notice a pretty blonde with soft eyes, a radiant smile and an Australian accent behind the counter, say hello to Natasha Bouchard: singer/songwriter.

"I've had amazing support from the community!", marvels Natasha as she sits in front of me for the interview after a long shift. Right on cue, a customer entering the café cracks a joke at her as he passes behind her.

Read her inspiring story on how an artist's engagement in her community paid back when she decided to self-produce a show.

Like Toronto Urban Strolls on Facebook!

Colonel Smith Park: great waterfront walk

Waterfront walk in Etobicoke

When I was doing research for my new guide (Toronto Urban Strolls... for girlfriends, Part 2, to be in the stores in may) I took advantage of a bright Saturday to explore Colonel Smith Park in Etobicoke.

This stroll, covering Colonel Smith Park and Rotary Park, includes a visit to the japanese bakery Tatsu's Bread (across from the park, on Lake Shore Boulevard), where you can usually hear Humber College students from the Music Department perform jazz on the weekend!

As you can see in the last photo, my husband was really "helping" with the research...

Caffeine buzz for a writer

About the role of caffeine in the making of a guide

Sometimes, there's lace in my latte! (This one from Broadview Espresso at 817 Broadview Avenue.) 

In our last email exchange, I was telling my illustrator that everyone but me got a nasty cold in my family. I suggested that maybe the fact that my body is saturated with caffeine helped.

She told me that she has to thread carefully between enough coffee to get a buzz but not enough to prevent her hand from being steady. Good girl!

Like Toronto Urban Strolls on Facebook!

Intrigued by the book writing adventure? 

Read my posts on the making of Toronto Urban Strolls... for girlfriends 2.

The making of Toronto Urban Strolls... for girlfriends

It's all about perseverance

I'll get to the bottom of this!

(A friend just posted this on Facebook. It even looks like me!)

Like Toronto Urban Strolls on Facebook!

Intrigued by the book writing adventure? 

Read my posts on the making of Toronto Urban Strolls... for girlfriends 2.