Pat and I visited the Montreal Botanical Gardens last Saturday. It was a glorious day, sunny and warm. Getting there by metro was easy and all we had to do was follow the crowds–they were all going there, too!

We loved the aboriginal garden. It had beautiful, natural paths that led through small clearings, each telling a story of how native peoples interacted with creation. It all had a spirit of reverence and quiet (even when a rather boisterous family passed by chasing a three year old!) We found a bench and sat for quite a while talking to the squirrels and watching a family of ducks make their way through the fallen leaves on the forest floor.

We emerged from the shady canopy into the sunlight and were overwhelmed with the huge landscape full of peony and iris.

We sat for a few minutes on a park bench and were greeted by a cheeky squirrel, who visited with us for quite some time. Obviously he was accustomed to the generosity of strangers.

We wandered along and looked at the monastery garden, which I loved. I decided that when I grow up I am going to be a medieval monk.

We found a shady spot to sit and read for awhile.

We explored the vegetable gardens. I loved how there were raised rectangular beds (like mine at home!)

We were ready for a drink, and found the tea room. And took a few more minutes to read, too.

It was a lovely, slow moving day of being surrounded by gorgeous flowers.

We didn’t get to see the Chinese garden, the Japanese garden, or any of the north part of the paths. I guess we’ll just plan on coming back again.