Dine with your DEAR and our DEER!

Wine anyone?

Now that our wedding salon is behind us, we are now preparing for our next big event which is Valentine's day.

We have a few rooms left on Friday and Saturday and a few tables left at the Inn for dinner on the 14th, 15th and 16th.

We also have our brunch with sleigh ride on Sundays.

February guarantees you will see the deer feeding from the dinning room, so join us for a romantic evening of good food and wine.

Out of town on Valentine's? Then offer a gift certificate that can be used for dinner, the SPA, sugar shack or a get-a-way at a later date. You will get brownie points for taking care of this and having it delivered by mail or hiding it somewhere in the house for her to find on Valentine's day.

Mother in Law's invitations

Having three son's and no daughter's I have always worried about being the dreaded mother in law.

When I was 18 years old, I was married for a few brief years to a guy called Norman. Well I have first hand experience of what a witch, a mother in law can be like. This is the type of invitation she would have loved to send out to her guests.

We have just had another great wedding salon where fortunatly I only had wonderful mothers and mother's in law in attendance. It is so nice for myself and all the wedding suppliers to have a chance to meet the brides and grooms as well as their family before the big day.

Planning a wedding should be fun and not stressful. I hope that we were able to answer most of their questions and to reassure them, that they have chosen the best venue for their special day.

We will of course hold our next wedding salon next year on Saturday January 31st, 2009.

Salon des mariés samedi le 26 janvier!

Ceci est pour vous inviter personnelement à notre porte ouverte samedi le 26 janvier à partir de 10h00. Cette journée est une chance unique de visiter le Pavillon de l'Érable, l'Auberge des Gallant et le SPA en plus de rencontrer nos fournisseurs et discuter avec notre chef.

Vous avez une réception à planifier cette année ou l'année prochaine? Alors profiter de nos services de planificatrices! Vous serez en bonnes mains.

Wedding Salon Saturday January 26th!

Join next Saturday from 10h00 to 4h00 and visit our open house. Visit the Maple Pavillon, The Inn and restaurant as well as our SPA. Our Chef and suppliers will be there to let you sample our wine and banquet menus as well as meet our wonderful staff.

Are you planning an event this year or next? Then why not meet one of our event planners that will help make your special occasion everything you dreamed of.

Do not miss this day because we only do this once a year!

Groomzilla's and hair nets!

Just so you know, hair nets are used in kitchens as much as hats now because they are even better at preventing stray hair from falling into food.

We have a window in our kitchen so everyone can see what the kitchen is doing and the staff can also see if someone is in front of the door. We have always had an open door policy and we think it is important for people to be able to see what is going in a kitchen. What do you have to hide if you have a clean establishment that produces delicious meals??? also it is nice for the Kitchen staff to have some contact with the public.

We are in full wedding booking mode. All the salons are over except for our very own next weekend, so the rush is on for the last bookings. we have a few dates left but we are also now booking for 2009.

We meet all kinds of people. we try to screen as many as we can to avoid the Bridezilla but since last year we have encountered the groomzilla's! yup we now have the guys wanting to make all the decisions. In 25 years of wedding planning I have never seen so many groomzilla's!

Now I am not talking about the nice guys that accompany the brides when picking out a hall. this of course is normal. I am talking about the guys that are forgetting that this day is all about the brides! yes guys, this is the dream for many girls and when I see groomzilla taking over everything from the decorations, flowers, table seating and cake with not a word from the bride I cannot help but think that bride should run as far and as fast as she can!!!

I also get a kick out of the excuses they have to postpone the wedding or change locations. Today we had one guy complain that the kitchen staff was not wearing hats so he left. as I said earlier, we chose nets but hats are still acceptable and worn. The poor wedding planner was speachless and not quick enough to point this out to him. I actually prefer seeing this side of a person before we sign a contract. as a matter of fact, sometimes we will just have no vacancy for them if we are lucky enough to catch a groomzilla in action.

Well this is just another day as the "Mad" Innkeeper...

What a great trip!

well here we are in the desert on a dry lake bed. It is amazing how water can cut through rock. I know this is sand stone but still it is amazing how water will always find a way to travel. The next photo is of us in Tuscan. we were able to get around quite well because Steven my son gave us a GPS for xmas that I used on this trip. I will never travel without it! imagine Phoenix, 6 lane highways, US's 5th largest city and I drove everywhere no problem.

these photos were taking at sunrise from our bedroom balcony at the Canyon Villa Inn. What a view we had with the desert as our back yard. Bell Rock was one of the mountains in the backround. It was a pleasure travelling with Francois and Claudette, if you did not guess, Francois is Gerry's brother. We had lots of fun as you can see in the last photo where Claudette and Gerry were constantly fighting for their seatbelts! we had many a good laugh and look forward to another trip soon.

Rene's Restaurant review

Well last night as I mentioned we were off to try Rene's restaurant in Sedona. The Canyon Villa Inn had recommended this french restaurant since I wanted some familiar food for a change.

The restaurant overlooks a closed in courtyard and you have the choice to eat inside or out. Since the temperature in January is around 40 degrees we opted to eat inside. The dinning room is formal as it should be with quite an extensive menu and wine list. I found the cost of both comparable to what we would pay at home but would have liked to see a table d'hote menu as well as an a la carte menu.

Beginners were around 13$, salads and soups 10$ and main courses were 35$ to 45$ on average. The wild salmon was popular at our table and I took the rack of lamb which is a house specialty. It was carved at the table and I was surprised to see the size of the half rack. I have never seen one so big! I was afraid that perhaps I was eating mouton instead of lamb. anyhow I can assure you that this lamb was on it's way to being full grown.

It was very tender and the first bite was overpowering which led me to believe that perhaps I was right about eating mouton until I realised that it was the mashed potatoes with the blue cheese that had the strong taste. The lamb was actually very, very good and with the mango chutney it was quite delicious. The only complaint I would have would be that the vegetables had gone very cold by the time my plate was served. Otherwise they were cooked to perfection and since as a restaurateur I often eat my food cold because of many interruptions at the inn, I did not really mind it.

The waiter was very nice and efficient. He actually recommended a wine to us that was at least 10$ less than the wine I had chosen. It was Riesling from Oregon that I had never heard of. I chose a glass of Zinfandel with my lamb while the others had the fruity Riesling.

Ok, What did I learn from this experience? well to begin with, I love blue cheese but not in my potatoes when eating such a fine cut of meat that has a fairly mild taste. I would have gone with herbs instead. I also will make sure that when I visit a table in the dinning room that I visit all the tables. The chef came out and went to a few tables but avoided ours which is a shame since I had made the comment about the vegetables. Oh well at least I have first hand experience of seeing what it feels like to be overlooked in the dinning room.

Would I return to this restaurant? Absolutely! what we experienced on a Monday night must not represent the best that this restaurant has to offer. It is often a night to experience new menus, the Chef is often off and the staff is minimal. Overall I had a very nice evening.

well until next time!!!

Sedona here we come!

Well we have finally arrived in Sedona. I am visiting my sister in law who lives in Phoenix and just decided that we should visit a Select registry Inn while in the area. We try to do this when we are traveling. There is nothing nicer that being able to compare our adventures and also see how other inn keepers greet their guests and what fun amenities they may have found that guests appreciate.

We are staying at the Canyon Villa Inn and will be dinning at Rene's Restaurant. I will get back to you with our review of dinner. So far we have not really sampled much except a seafood restaurant in Scottsdale and a Mexican restaurant is Tuscan. Tonight will be a french restaurant, since we cannot seem to appreciate Mexican cuisine, no matter how it is prepared.

The Canyon Villa Inn is truly a beautiful inn with the desert as it's backyard. I would highly recommend it. I managed to visit all of the members of Select registry today and found that this one suits our tastes best. Make sure that the next time you visit Auberge des Gallant, that you pick up your free copy of the select Registry guide book. You will then be able to enjoy the same kind of comfort that our Inn offers all over North America.

well I am off now, see you later!

Special Valentine's dinner and dancing

Join us for this very special event on Saturday January 16th, 2008. We will be opening the Maple pavillon for a special Valentine dinner with dancing.

We will have the Garry Moffat trio playing from 7h00 to 11h00 while you dine and dance to music from the past. If you recognise the name, you are obviously an old fan of April Wine! Garry was the drummer.

Seating is limited so reservations are a must. We also have a special Valentine's package including a room, dinner and brunch the next day at a cost of 330$ for two.

We look forward to seeing you!

Wedding Salon, Saturday January 26th!

Saturday January 26th from 10h00 to 4h00, we will be holding our annual wedding salon. This is the perfect day to visit us if you are planning a wedding or reception this year or next year.

Starting at The Maple pavillion we will have all our wedding suppliers on site to answer your questions. Let them help you make your wedding be a dream come true! Photographers, musicians, wedding celebrants, florists, and many more await your visit.

Thomas and Mario have new wines for you to taste, Sonia from the Spa has mineral make up which as all the new rage, Neil has stuffed quail for you to consider as a main course and Michel will have wedding cakes to taste.

Conclusion, this is a day not to be missed! we cannot wait to see you!

Notre Salon des Mariées!

Samedi le 26 janvier 2008, nous ouvrirons nos portes toute grandes pour vous recevoir!
Encore une fois cette année nous avons invité nos fournisseurs, musiciens, photographes, célébrants, fleuristes, limosines, chef et autres à se déplacer pour vous rencontrer sous un seul toit.

Si vous planifiez un évenement cette année ou l'an prochain, cette journée vous permettra de visiter nos salles, chambres, pavillon de l'érable et Spa. Julie notre planificatrice mariage sera sur place ainsi que Thomas et Mario qui vous ferons découvrir nos nouveaux vins.

La journée débute à 10h00 au Pavillon de l'Érable et continue à l'Auberge des Gallant.

Nous avons hâte de vous rencontrer!