Two friends and I set out on Saturday, November 2, for Paris, Ontario, for the artisan’s yearly event, their 28th in fact. While the artists used to host the buyers and lookers in their homes and other facilities, this year the event was hosted at the Paris Fairgrounds, all under one roof. Entrance fee was only $2 to support the organization’s support of arts in their community. Here’s their purpose:

The mandate of Kindred Spirits is to encourage and support the creative arts in Paris and the County of Brant. Proceeds from this event’s admission go to further the arts by providing bursaries to high school graduates pursuing a degree in the arts and by sponsoring awards for artists exhibiting at the annual Paris Fair.

I was looking forward to the musical group, The Austins, on flute and guitar, but they weren’t present at the time we attended. I was disappointed to miss them.

http://christmasinparis.ca/

 

I found a delightful calendar of Wildlife photos by Anca Gaston that I’ll either put up in our home or give as a gift. So many lovely items there, including wonderful felted art by Jennifer Budd. I loved her work and have seen some of her artistic creations at a previous Christmas in Paris.

When we had seen what we wanted to see, and made our purchases, we were off to the downtown to find a restaurant.

We booked in at Trattoria for a tasty Italian lunch and chatted about travels and family matters.

There were other places we wanted to look at, one being John Hall, a place where one can purchase linens and table ware, the other pressing one was Paris Chocolate Sensations, the chocolate specialty in town.

It was literally like being a kid in a candy store. Which one will I choose? We couldn’t resist and each of us came out with a small treat, which Inna called our dessert for the day.

 

When we’d looked around uptown Paris, we opted to go for a walk in the park. The rain had let up by then, but we had our umbrellas along, just in case.

 

Not only was there a playground on the other side of the river, but there was also smooth walking trail with musical opportunities along the way. The air was cool but we were dressed for it.

 

 

 

 

Along the path a ways we came upon a bridge where we stood and watched the roaring river below, amazed at its speed at this time of year.

 

 

 

There’s history along that path too that includes the site of a former factory, which I’ll save as a post for another day.

As we came to the end of the path and circled back to the street where my car was parked, we enjoyed the walk in the leaves.

We headed back home and chatted along the way about our day and the pleasure of getting away together.

Until next time…