A Tour of Laval May 20, 2004

Ron Jones

Thursday May 20... sunny skies, warm, people in good spirits and, in fact, all the makings of a great day for a Club outing.

This time the location was Laval, Quebec's second largest city and the place of residence of over 50 Club members. It was natural then that the organizers of the day were Olivier Foug�res and Micheal Hazel, two of those residents. Olivier, with the help of Micheal did a great job of organizing and all went by without a hitch.

The day began, for some, at 8:30 am where 18 members and family met at the NFB to board a bus for Laval, 20 minutes away. They then met their colleagues from Laval and nearby areas and all 50 boarded a double decker London bus for the grand tour. Laure Gauthier and Claude Pelletier, experts, not only in genealogy, but in the history of the area, pointed out the sites of interest en route as the bus made its way to the first stop, the Fleurineau - l'�conomus�e de la fleur. Here we were introduced to the history, processing and marketing of dry flowers. The Fleurineau provided each Club member with a bouquet of flowers.

Next stop, the Paradis des Orchid�es where 2,500 square meters of greenhouse space houses 100,000 orchid plants divided into 50 species and 500 varieties. The long and delicate process of bringing the orchids to the markeplace was described by the establishment's owner.

Our next visit was to l'�cole h�teli�re de Laval, a school offering courses in the culinary arts. Here we enjoyed a delicious hot and cold buffet. The food was superb and the service great maybe because it seemed like there were as many waiters and waitresses as diners.

In spite of the fact that we all dined well, we continued on to the Fromagerie du Vieux Saint-Fran�ois where we learned about the manufacturing of goat's milk cheese. We visited the stables where a hundred beautifui white goats seemed to be pleading for petting. (They were not disappointed) and then came the sampling of various cheeses to the accompaniment of wine on the beautiful surrounding lawn.

Our final stop was Laval's city hall where we were greeted by George Chahine, Chief of Protocol and Beno�t Fradet, City Counsellor. After an address by M. Fradet describing the history and future of Laval, I was asked to say a few words about the Club and to thank the city for their invitation. The Club residents of Laval were presented with a souvenir book and all were invited to a glass of wine.

Then back on the bus and the return to Montreal as it began to rain.

A perfect day. My special thanks to Olivier and Micheal and to Laure Gauthier and Claude Pelletier. Also thanks to our ever-available Anthony Kent who has become our unofficial translator and who did an outstanding job at each of our stops.

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Photos were provided by Monique and Micheal Hazel, George Pearson and Marie-Pierre Tremblay.