Day 8 was the day all of Jon’s dreams were coming true: he was going to Paris! We set out from the Airbnb in Brantford and made our way to Glenhyrst Art Gallery and Gardens where there is an entry to the trail to Paris that follows the Grand River.
Along the trail we saw quite a few creatures, some of which I didn’t care for at the time, like the toad who jumped onto the trail at me causing me to run away screaming “toad!” I much preferred the Rose-breasted Grosbeak that you can make out in the first photo if you look closely. I also finally saw an Indigo Bunting but it was torpedoing across the trail and hid in a tree afterward so I have no proof. It lives rent-free in my mind though, which is good enough for me.
At one point in our journey we came along a motorcycle convoy that started off very confusingly for us. We saw a bunch of police on motorcycles and were wondering what we’d walked into. Then a steady stream of bikes continued on and finally we realized that it was a charity motorcycle ride. It was amusing at first, except that we couldn’t cross the street to carry on to the trail we were trying to access without crossing in front of someone. After what seemed like a long time trying to patiently wait, we finally bolted because the number of motorcycles was really quite unbelievable and we didn’t want to wait and wave at them anymore.
The walk on this day was quite pleasant as the weather wasn’t too hot and most of the trail was shaded. There were some areas with mildly steep inclines but nothing too challenging. It seemed like it wasn’t long before we were seeing signs that we were almost at our destination.
Once in Paris, we did what we usually do at our destination: find a beer. We went to the Paris Brew Company and Jon got the “Saturday sized” beer which I believe may have been a little larger than he was expecting.
Paris Brewing Co is in the Paris Wincey Mills Market which we toured after our beers and lunch. The food at Paris Brewing Co is as good as the beer and we highly recommend it if you’re ever in Paris. After lunch we went for a walk around the downtown where the main street was completely ripped up, but it couldn’t hide the fact that Paris is indeed a very charming and pretty place.
Next we checked into our hotel room at the Arlington Hotel. Our room was the “Hemingway” room and there were photos of Ernest Hemingway all over the suite. The suite was very spacious and cute, as was the rest of the hotel. After changing out of our yucky hiking clothes we went to the Cobblestone Pub to watch the Blue Jays. Our server at Paris Brewing Co had recommended it as a good place to watch, as a bartender there was a huge fan. Not only did they put the game on for us, but they put the sound up, which pretty much never happens so we were very happy with the recommendation. The drinks were also very good so it was a win-win on the pub but a big lose for the Jays who got destroyed 15-1 by the Red Sox.
After the game it was time to go for dinner. We had reservations at Stillwaters and were excited to go after having randomly heard people in Hamilton talking about how much they like it there. We had a salad and charcuterie to start and a fish platter as our main. Everything was great and we had a seat indoors right by the window facing onto the river. As we were eating we saw a VIA train go by and Jon couldn’t believe it – the inspiration for him to want to be there in the first place, as we were eating dinner on the river!
All in all our day in Paris was a success. On one hand it would have been nice to stay longer, but on the other we would be going to Langdon Hall the next day so we couldn’t really complain.