Illumi – Current Event
The following blog post celebrates illumi , a current event in Laval Quebec, that runs until April 17th.
The Story of our trip to illumi
I work at a factory that supplies another factory with parts. That factory has been having problems securing enough microchips, which means my factory had to shut down. As the shift lead broke the news that there was no work for the next five days, everyone was silent and stoic. It is hard to pay the bills when there is no work to be done. The only person who relished this news was me.
Yes, I have bills to pay, but time is more important. Time to spend with the wife. Time to go out and explore. Time to share our experiences with everyone.
As we left the meeting, I resumed my job and began calculating the times and distances I needed to travel; I had something in mind for this impromptu five-day holiday. Of course, time goes impossibly slow when there is something to do, and you are stuck doing another thing. It was agonizing having to finish my shift for the day.
When I got home, I broke the news to my missus that I was not working again for the next five days. This hasn’t been the first time that there has been no work. It has only happened once that I actually put a full week of work in months. I asked her if she was interested in a trip.
“Can we afford this?” was her concern.
“Can we afford not too!” was my thought. I daren’t say that but instead assured her that I had made enough money this week to pay the bills and we would be fine.
With her blessing, I hopped onto my computer and began to put thought to paper. I have basically memorized the thousands of places we have been and the thousands more we still have to visit, but it is harder to come up with an itinerary without Google on my screen.
I worked frantically on a plan; there was an idea to leave that very night. I could not find enough to do for Charlene to miss a day of work. From the end of Christmas to the first flowers of spring, it is challenging to plan a day, let alone a week trip anywhere. So many places are closed for the season, and those that are open, have significantly reduced hours. I was hoping to have a nice long 4-day trek but was only able to do two and a half days.
I confirmed with my spouse that it was possible to have a good trip and that it would all happen right after she finished work the next day. I then began booking hotels, booking tickets, planning routes, times to get from one place to another, and even found parking locations for the harder-to-get-to spots on our adventure.
illumi Was our Trip Grand Finale
I like to have a grand finale on a multi-day trip. Illumi was that grand finale.
On our final night, we started our drive to Illumi. It can be seen from a distance, and it is hard to surprise the wife where we are going when it lights up everything. There were two options available for us when visiting Illumi. First is by car. Tickets can be bought for a carload of people. Cars would slowly follow a path through the park. The second option is to walk in. There are over 3-kilometres of walking. If that was just walking in the city, that would take about a half-hour to travel, but because there are so many lights, we knew we would be in there for a long time. We chose, and we always choose, the walking option. It allows for more time. More experiences. More pictures. More exploration. More everything.
There were parking attendants that helped us find a spot to leave the vehicle. We left the car and started to walk the four blocks to the event. We were well dressed for this winter night, and we had to be. On this evening, there was a weather phenomenon called “flash freeze”. In the time that it took us to walk to the main gate, it had already dropped a few degrees, and the weatherman said it would be dropping faster as time progressed. Add the wind, and it was chilly. The weather did not deter anyone from seeing the vast displays of lights. Hundreds of people were already there, and the crowds were growing. I was already impressed with what I was able to see from the side of the road, and we, like everyone else, were very eager to start our tour.
Illumi boasts “19 wonderful universes”. They are proud that most of what we got to see is all new. Being our first time, this fact made no difference; it was all spectacular. They even encouraged kids to send in their drawings, and there is one section where those drawing are converted to lighted displays. That would be something special to come in and see your own child’s drawing come to life. There are so many things to look at, and most importantly, it doesn’t look crowded. Each section is crafted in a way to draw the eye to each display. Every universe is laid out in its own area, and if we were in a car, we could tune the radio to a different station to hear the music associated with it.
Illumi impressed us. Impressed us large!
Illumi puts all other light displays to shame.
This one area had more lights than all the other areas we have seen in the past four years. COMBINED!
Although I initially thought the entry fee was high, we definitely got our money’s worth by the end. I am happy I could take us to this spot since I have wanted to go for the past couple of years. Nothing can compare to the well-crafted, well-spaced, well-thought-out displays that make up Illumi. Each area is beautiful.
The best part is the entrance and exit crisscross, so if we wanted to go through it again, we could; a bonus for going by foot.
THE GIANT DINOSAUR STORY
I would crouch down to take this picture; I thought it would be an interesting angle. As I am on one knee in the snow, a small girl, no more than four years old, came running up to me and was very excited about the dinosaurs and that I was about to be eaten by this raptor. With her big brown eyes, a huge smile on her face, she expresses in the clearest, most articulate of French that I have ever heard and approved of what I was doing. I do not know French, but I knew this child was ecstatic being here in the dinosaur section of Illumi. I would smile back. She, and everyone else, was having the time of her life.
MORE ABOUT illumi
Illumi is running until mid-April. Parking is free if you are walking.
They even have a time for you to bring your dog! No other place has a “Dog Night”.
