[upbeat pop music]
Winter in Canada can be pretty brutal
and I do not deal well with this season
I tend to just stay inside and hibernate
but I thought it would be a cool idea to head out to Montréal
to see how they deal with the cold, snow and lack of daylight
The winters there can be a lot more harsh than Toronto
and because it's their 375th anniversary, they've just got tons of stuff going on
We're here at the Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montréal
to check out the Fête des neiges
which is a bunch of activities and entertainment for families
We're going to have a lot of fun
and be a family today
Within minutes of being there, we already ran into someone pretty awesome
The Chris Hau
Someone took 'Chris Hau' so I had to be 'The Chris Hau'
(laughing)
You've got this 'Fête des neiges' look
I like it
(laughing)
We got one of these which will give us access to all the activities
at the Fête des neiges
So the Fête des neiges is very much geared toward families
but that doesn't mean that there aren't also things that adults can enjoy
There's so much cool stuff going on
I don't know where to start
(laughing)
What should we do first?
Um... zipline
Zip...
...line?
(laughing)
The first thing you want to do is the zipline?
So we started with the zipline
[upbeat pop music]
OK, merci
Whoa!
C'est bien?
-C'est bien!
-I'm alive!
Yeah, you're alive!
That was fun but I was happy to be back on the ground
It was pretty cool to see all the different things they've done with ice
Can we talk about how intense this ship is, though?
This is a real ice ship
-That just goes to show you how cold it is in Montréal
It's not melting
[sound of a chainsaw]
Foosball!
They strap you in
-What?!
-Do you want to play?
Sure, let's...
It'll be fun
(laughing)
OK...
We're playing giant foosball
So our team name is 'Papadrouilles'
Oh my God
Foosball didn't seem like it was going to be that exciting
but I think the spirit of competition set in
(screaming)
(more screaming)
(gasping)
We've got Miss FIFA over here
All right, let's get something to eat
There were a few different options to choose from
but we definitely have a sweet tooth
We got the 'cannelle classique' beaver tail
-'Queue de castor'!
-How do you say that?
-'Queue de castor'
Queue de castor... cannelle classique
-Ah, bien!
-Aw yeah, aw yeah, aw yeah
So 'tire d'érable' or 'maple taffy'
is this traditional snack
Maple syrup is poured onto snow
and then wrapped around a stick
but it was pretty awkward for us at first because we had no idea what to do
(laughing)
We eventually figured it out and it tasted very good
[sultry music]
(laughing)
Oh, I'll leave you alone
So after that, in the spirit of traditional activities
we got to go dogsledding
[chill dreamy music]
So that was pretty fun
A lot more bumpy than we expected it to be
But then it was time for something I had been looking forward to doing all morning
All right, time to go tubing!
It was magical
[upbeat pop music]
[music abruptly ends, screaming]
Tubing was way too much fun and we ended up going down the hill multiple times
because we are grown children
Overall we had a really fun day
and it was great to see so many families and kids out
just being active and having fun
and making the most of very unpleasant weather
It made me think about my own attitudes toward winter
and how as we get older we complain a lot
and stop having fun
Gotta give a quick shoutout to Julia, long time fanarolla
It was so fun hanging with you
If it's winter where you are, I encourage you get out there and make the most of the season
And if you have the chance, head over to Montréal
because they've got tons of cool stuff going on
If you want to see what we got up to at night
check out my video on Igloofest
It's this wild music festival that takes place at the Old Port
Wow!
Thanks for watching, I've got new adventures every week
so make sure to subscribe and turn on your notifications
I'll see you next time...
à la prochaine!