A Piece of Paris at Granville Island

Josie and I had a great afternoon today at Granville Island. (Do check out this link because there are fabulous photos, much better than I could ever take.) Anyway, Granville Island is a small island and shopping district located in an area called False Creek directly across from the downtown core of Vancouver. It used to be an industrial manufacturing area, but is now a major tourist destination offering a public market, a marina, a hotel, the Emily Carr Institue of Art and Design, various theaters and shopping areas surrounding the last industrial outpost - a cement plant. There's also ferry service from the island to downtown Vancouver across Burrard Inlet.


We had a wonderful lunch at Monk's Oyster Bar. I chose the shrimp and spinach salad while Josie chose crab cakes and salad. Since we'd been so good choosing a low-cal main course, we splurged on dessert - Josie with creme caramel and moi with cheesecake! We took a stroll on the patio afterwards to admire the scenery before continuing on to the other end of Granville Island.

Granville Island hosts a variety of buskers and you can see them everywhere playing all sorts of musical instruments. Today, we stopped to listen to a First Native gentleman playing a variety of pan flutes. It was hauntingly beautiful music and Josie even checked out the price of his cds. We didn't buy any, though, because it was early in our exploration of the island.

Later, we saw a busker setting up near the Ferry Wharf and when we realised he was singing in French, we rushed to listen to him. His name is Joshua Minsky and I must say he was very easy on the eyes as well as the ears. We stayed quite a while, applauding politely when he'd finish a song. As some of you may remember, I used to teach FSL (French as a Second Language) and my ears prick up when I hear French, especially in song.

Josh began to study guitar at the age of 8 and after finishing college in 1980 he moved back to New York and began performing in clubs and restaurants, singing and accompanying himself on the guitar. In 1984 he moved to Europe, where beginning in Amsterdam and then moving to Paris in '85 he made his living by playing in various venues, based mainly in Paris but moving also between Nice, London, Zurich and Stockholm. In 1996 Joshua moved back to Vancouver. After a four year break from music he began playing and singing at Granville Island's Daily Outdoor Concert Series, where he can still be found.

He was so charming and delightful, we each purchased one of his cds. Josie bought Souvenir de Paris and I bought his latest one entitled Au Cafe Mazet. Rumour has it this cafe is where Jim Morrison of The Doors had his last drink before his rather untimely death and so Le Mazet has kept the reputation of being a drinkers bar. On the weekends it's very lively and caters to ex-pats, but I believe it's now closed for refurbishment. Josh wrote three songs on this latest cd and as I type this, I'm listening to the first one entitled "L'Ete" (the summer) as he accompanies himself on guitar. He has an intensely haunting voice when he sings slow ballads like "La Vie En Rose" but he also sings some fun and upbeat songs like "Le Soleil a Rendez-vous avec la Lune" (the sun has a rendezvous with the moon).

If you'd like to actually listen to Josh singing, check out this youtube video. It was shot by someone who was visiting Granville Island in Dec '06 and checking out the mussels. But you'll at least get a taste of why Josie and I enjoyed our few minutes listening to several songs by Josh while admiring the view towards the Burrard Street Bridge that links residential Vancouver to the downtown core.

When visitors come, we'll take them to Granville Island and go for lunch at Bridges Restaurant which is right on the wharf. We'll sit on the patio with their trademark yellow umbrellas and watch all the yachts go by as we sip margaritas and dine on fresh seafood. Yummy!

Hope you enjoyed the latest installment of Josie and Leslie's Excellent Adventures. For a look at a couple of last year's J&L's EA, click here (spring on the West Vancouver seawall or here (Ladner Village Market).

Y'all come back, hear! :D