Following breakfast, VanRamblings took a stroll with Corinne along the boardwalk, towards the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens.
The gardens were planned in the 1970s to celebrate the Annapolis Valley’s rich heritage. Originally a French settlement, established in 1605 under the leadership of the Sieur de Mons, Annapolis Royal’s founding colony was called l’Acadie, its culture referred to as Acadian, as it is today. Over a period of 105 years, the British made six attempts to conquer the Acadian capital, until they defeated the French in the Siege of Port Royal, in 1710. Shortly thereafter, the town’s name was changed to Annapolis Royal.
Designed to represent the gardens of the Annapolis Valley at various periods in Acadia’s history, the Historic Gardens has something for every garden lover: formal Victorian and Rose gardens, La Maison Acadienne et Potager (a French settler’s dwelling), an innovative garden representing the modern period, a blush of perennial flora and fauna, a riot of textured, leafy shrub borders, and reproductions of pools spanning the centuries.
Covering 17 acres, and showcasing the Annapolis Valley from a horticultural perspective, as far as VanRamblings is concerned, Annapolis Royal’s Historic Gardens easily surpass Halifax’s Public Gardens.
Our garden tour continued long into the day with a visit to …

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VanRamblings was up early to begin a day of birthday celebration.
Overnight, for the second night in a row, there’d been a spectacular thunder and lightning storm, the rain pelting down with gale force velocity. Just the kind of overnight weather VanRamblings loves!
Still, upon arising, the skies were blue, the sun was shining. Another spectacular day in the Maritimes, and a great day full of promise in Annapolis Royal. And, did we mention, it is VanRamblings’ 60th birthday!
After our usual breakfast (granola, yogurt, blueberries, tiny home-baked muffin, and coffee), we headed over to the Market Square for the Farmers’ Market, the mid-week summer market about one-third the size of the spring, summer and fall Annapolis Royal weekend market. Upon our arrival at the Square, we spotted a gorgeous hand-crafted wall-hanging quilt, and were stunned to find the price was only $10! Needless to say, we’ve been admiring our tremendously-priced, and beautifully-crafted, purchase all day.
Over the course of the hour we spent at the market (there was an Acadian fiddle player that kept us enraptured), we also picked up a jar of Gilbert’s Cove crab-apple and cranberry jelly, and a glass jar of French Shore organic strawberry jam (nicely wrapped and now in our suitcase); a colourful print of a hand-painted depiction of Annapolis Royal, as well as a hand-printed ‘post card’ of the same (which we sent off to our friends, at work, in Vancouver); a tiny cinnamon bun and a couple of squares of milky fudge.

Continue reading Annapolis Royal: Birthday Celebrations Make For A Very Good Day →

For VanRamblings, Monday and Tuesday proved to be a busy couple of days (although ‘busy’ is a relative term when in come to Annapolis Royal).
Monday
After spending the morning exploring Annapolis Royal — walking along the boardwalk, sauntering over to The Queen Anne Inn, checking out the various museums, galleries and shops, as well as spending a bit of time at The Internet Cafe — it was home for a great lunch, fresh caught scallops and greens from Corinne’s garden, made into a scrumptious salad.
After lunch, we traveled on over to Granville Ferry to Michelle’s home on the Annapolis River (opposite side of the river on which Corinne resides) for Film Club, a monthly film buff discussion group. Consisting of a group of 7 – 10 Annapolis County women (sometimes men attend, as VanRamblings did on Monday), mostly retired, each month these erudite women meet to discuss a film suggested by a member of the group. This month it was Nick Cassavetes’ adaptation of Nicholas Spark’s 2004 best-seller, The Notebook. In September, the movie up for discussion will be Tim Burton’s modern-day fairy tale, Big Fish (which, Christmas of 2003, VanRamblings’ loved).
Monday afternoon’s discussion revolved around the issue of Alzheimer’s, the experience various members of the group had with the malady (friends, family), and how realistic was the film’s depiction of the degenerative illness. The issue of ‘passion‘ was discussed — some members of the group felt that ‘passion’ transformed as one aged, but there was dissenting opinion on the matter. Most group members felt that Joan Allen’s seemingly latter-day humanistic conversion was inconsistent with her conduct throughout the film, and such plot device only served to take them out of the film. There was general agreement, tho’, that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams had very real heat in the film; VanRamblings offered that, in fact, Gosling and McAdams fell in love during the making of the film, and lived together for five years subsequent. Discussion group participants swooned.
Following Film Club, Corinne and guest traveled over to the grandeur of the North Hills Museum, an Annapolis Valley heritage home owned formerly by Toronto-based antique collector Robert Patterson, who in retirement moved to Annapolis Royal, and set up his home as a Georgian manor, a perfect representation, and collection, of period décor. Patterson bequeathed his home to the people of Nova Scotia, as a heritage site, in 1974.
Well, that was only part of what VanRamblings was up to on Monday. Just wait til you read about our many adventures on Tuesday …

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