I Walk to Richmond

Mushroom and cheese (made with sheep’s milk) omelette for breakfast this morning. I really miss cooking with gas. Electricity seems so slow.

I am chocolat chaud powered and ready to find that Super U and see what it is.

First we go by this delightful window. Almost every pane has a cloth bunny and each one is different. I love it. Is Easter closer than I think? The mail slot is cleverly placed so the door can be beautiful from top to bottom.

Sometimes it seems Loches has more cars than it does people and there just aren’t enough parking places. Here they’ve made clever use of the sidewalk.

Getting farther from the centre of town the parking becomes less difficult to find.

And eventually there are more parking spots than cars.

This house has fantastic set of back stairs that’ll last a lifetime or two, but they’ve put a satellite dish where the clothes line should be.

And it looks to me like the only one using this door for quite some time is maybe a cat. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen a cat in Loches. Plenty of dogs, but no cats.

Are you getting the idea that this is a long way? Can you tell it’s all up hill? Look at the clever sidewalk. No need for parking at all here.

And yet even out here there are no ugly power lines. BC Hydro has a lot to answer for.

Then there was a really loud noise, like a supersonic jet flying really low. Then I saw a jet fly by, followed by it’s noise. As I was waiting for a third one (tricky because the noise comes after so you don’t know when they’re coming) look at what I saw!

That’s right! Power lines! Maybe it has more to do with construction that’s hundreds of years old and less to do with aesthetics than I thought. A second opinion would be helpful here.

And here it is, finally!

It has everything: food, clothing, electronics, appliances, books, alcohol, auto supplies, furniture, office supplies, a wall of PINK toilet paper (?!?!), you name it! It’s huge. Everything is under one roof. This puts both Canadian Tire and Walmart to shame. People must come from everywhere to shop here. I went to as quiet an area as possible to get some pictures. I don’t want to make people uncomfortable.

And next door is another shopping centre.

Where I find this! That’s right…a sporting goods store and yoga mats!

I feel like I’ve walked out to Richmond and now I have to figure out how to get back to downtown Vancouver. It’s a long way back!

Everywhere I walk, drivers are so courteous. In fact I’ve decided that everyone here is in a good mood and totally relaxed. Doing nice things for other people seems to be second nature. Nothing’s a problem. How did they get to be that way, and how can we de-stress and get some of it? Even in this giant traffic circle zooming around at highway speeds the drivers stopped for me and waved with a smile and a nod.

And guess what I find on the way back. I wanted to know if the menu was the same as in Canada, but I don’t even know the menu in Canada, so I didn’t go in.

And almost back to downtown Loches I find the movie theatre! I had decided there wasn’t one, but I was wrong and here it is. It’s tucked about two blocks behind the old courthouse building.I’m back into what I consider “my neighbourhood” now, and feel I’ve had a good walk, but I make a little side trip to try a different bakery. I never get tired of the baked goods! Here’s a restaurant (viewed from the back) that I’d like to try out one of these days.