Most of our trip is constructed on the premise that there’s very little that actually must be accomplished on any given day. This is, after all, vacation. And while some people do quite well with the concept of a highly-planned day, we seem to do much better with dinner reserved ahead, and one principle activity earmarked for the day.
Today, we were even lazier than usual. Chuck wasn’t feeling well – a lingering cold – so we spent a good part of the day lounging, after breakfast. We walked around for a while, but we spent most of the day either in our room or at the cafe Van Houtte next door to the auberge. We walked to the Bouchees Gourmandes on St. Paul Ouest in the afternoon for a quick bite to eat. While we were there, we also bought a dozen chocolates. They’re hand-made and they’re really wonderful. We carried the bag back to our room, where we promptly ate them all.
In the evening, we walked up the street to Bonaparte for dinner. I’ve already described it here as a perfect Christmas Eve dinner – traditional and French and quite good – and it didn’t disappoint. There are 2 degustation menus available this year – C$48 and C$62. We chose the first, which was more than enough food for us. Lobster bisque, foie gras terrine, salad, lamb, dessert. Wonderful. Even Chuck, struggling through his cold, enjoyed the meal. We walked back to the auberge in the crisp night air and watched “Scrooge” starring Alistair Sim, until we fell asleep.
Reservations at Bonaparte are recommended. But even for Christmas Eve, we heard there were openings right up until that afternoon, so while you should reserve, you may get lucky.