Whistler 1

March 28, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

This is my second trip out west to ski and probably my 40th altogether. We flew on a direct flight from Montreal to Vancouver, the only incident being that my wife and I were not seated next to each other. The flight attendant offered us chocolate bars and drinks an hour into the flight. I chose tomato juice and wine which I realized was an error on my first sip at 10:00 a.m. They no longer serve food on domestic flights so we brought along our own empanadas. I was able to drink the wine with the empanadas for lunch.

We are staying in Vancouver for 2 nights at a downtown boutique hotel called the Victorian. It is located in a great area close to walking distance to the major attractions. We walked along Hastings Street to get to Gastown which is the older part of downtown Vancouver. When I first came here 40 years ago, there was 1 block on Hastings where all the druggies lived on the street. The area has expanded greatly since then as Vancouver attracts down and outs from all across Canada due to the climate here and the ability for one to sleep out on the street in the winter. For one reason or another we have left a large segment of the population behind in our country. I don’t know the solution.

We walked all over the downtown area. There are an over abundance of coffee shops, all quite cute and selling $8.00 croissants and $6.00 cappuccinos with 18%, 20% or 20% suggested tips. There is a beautiful view of the mountains in the distance and one can see the harbour as well. The beach is not far away. The flowers are in bloom everywhere. Vancouver rarely gets snow and had non this season. Later we met my son Antoine for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. I never take home a doggy bag but the bread was so good we took some home for breakfast.

Love,

Brian