Page 145 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2020 South Africa

trees with rivers and lakes adding a touch of blue
and soothing sounds. That night, Paul and his
lovely wife, Mary, had me to their home for dinner
with another charming couple. I love Canadians.
The Heratys are perfect examples: warm, inclu-
sive, active and engaging. I really found this true
countless times even among strangers in both
Victoria and Vancouver.
Back on my own again, I visited the Vancouver
Art Gallery right downtown. It sits in a building
designed by that same Francis Rattenbury when it
originated as a provincial courthouse. A museum
here since the 1980s, it holds a vast collection of
Canadian art.
It includes works by Canada’s famed Group of
Seven, whose works I have long loved. Franklin
Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Frank
Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. McDonald, Fred-
erick Varley and A.J. Casson are the original
Group of Seven. But their inspiration originally
came from the gifted Tom Thomson, whose early
death in 1917 still is shrouded in mystery. Emily
Carr, that Victoria native, was also associated
with the group.
The Group of Seven is distinguished by its
treatments of Canadian landscape. Some are
wildly abstract while others are realistic visions of
the gorgeous forests and waters of Canada. I love
their paintings and will always seek Canadian mu-
seums that house them.
And I really love walking among the forests and
seas and rivers and lakes that inspired them more
than 100 years ago.
Victoria and Vancouver made all my birthday
wishes come true.

Paul leads the way through the
rainforests of red cedar, hemlock
and Douglas fir trees on a trail in
Vancouver’s Stanley Park.

Preceding page: Paul ponders the
spruce and hemlock trees on a trail
in Capilano River Regional Park
near Vancouver.

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