Meet The Fortins

Don’t fret people! We are still very much alive and kicking, we have just been a bit offline lately. The reason for this is of course our Canada-holiday that we are currently enjoying. Here’s a quick update from the first leg of the trip:

We locked the door to our apartment in Edinburgh at 5am last Wednesday morning when a taxi picked up us and drove us all the way to Glasgow International Airport. We know, it sounds a bit over the top to hire a taxi for a trip that far, but it made total sense and was actually the cheapest and most comfortable option available, especially with a baby on board.

The flight over to Toronto from Glasgow lasted for 7.5 hours and was actually quite enjoyable even though we had chosen to fly cheap and cheerful with Air Transat, which is about 2 notches up from Ryanair and 2 down from KLM or Air Canada, but as always, you get what you pay for. Surprisingly enough, the food on the flight was good (or as good as economy class airplane food can be), and Ethan even got a baby-kit with nappies, wet wipes and other and essentials. In the baby-kit there was also a teething ring that he has become fond of and is now using every day. Overall, Ethan did really well for his first flight. The takeoff did not faze him at all; he got a few hours of sleep mid-flight and only really cried on approach to Toronto. The pressure change did a number of him, and he was tired after a very long day as well, and we did expect that his ears would be hurting during both takeoff and landing, so no complaints there. Our little trooper!

When we had picked up our baggage at the airport, we had a rental car waiting for us, complete with a GPS (very much needed, as it would turn out), and off we went to find Trenton, Ontario! An hour and a bit later, we had arrived at Jules’ and Catherine’s beautiful log house outside Trenton. We received a warm heartfelt welcome and soon Great grandpa Jean Noel came to the house, along with Pierre & Lorraine and George & Joanne. Bonjour to us, they said!

They were obviously thrilled to meet little Ethan, who inevitably will be the center of attention for everyone over these two weeks. Catherine and Pierre are amazing cooks and for the next few days they whipped up fantastic suppers for us, and it was really nice for me to meet this side of the family and get to know them a little bit better, as I have not yet had the pleasure to do this. Unfortunately, I missed out on a very intricate pork roast dinner, as I was not feeling well one night, but I was told it was something quite spectacular. Something else that was spectacular and very amusing was Ethan bouncing around in a jolly jumper hanging from the ceiling, dressed in his green skull and bones onesie doing an Irish jig! Shaena caught it on video and if the technology works in our favour, we'll post the video here on the blog.

Jean Noel had also organized an outing for us on Thursday morning. He took us to the RCAF Memorial Museum in Trenton, as he knows that I am interested in old airplanes, wartime history and trivia. Among other things, they had a Spitfire in mint condition in there, a wide variety of other interesting airplanes, and their pride and joy – ‘The Halifax’!

Quick history update: In 1945, a Handley Page Halifax bomber on mission to deliver supplies to the Norwegian resistance movement was hit by shrapnel from a German artillery gun and had to perform an emergency landing on a Norwegian lake, and sank as a result. Tragically, 5 out of 6 crew members died in the incident. The bomber was recently extracted and has been rebuilt to its original condition by volunteers, spending over 350.000 man hours on the project. The 6th crew member, now an old man, visited the extraction team while they were still working on getting all the parts of the airplane out of the lake, and got his old thermos back! Later, once the airplane was fully restored he also paid the museum a visit to see how the end result had turned out. Apparently, he was extremely impressed.

Definitely a gripping story and a very impressive effort by everyone involved! On Friday afternoon we said bye-bye to the Fortins and headed to downtown Toronto to check in to our hotel for the night and to prepare for our dinner with friends later in the evening.

Thank you to Jules & Catherine, Jean Noel, Pierre & Lorraine, and George & Joanne for your warm welcoming and great hospitality! Hope to see you again soon!