CURRENT MISSION

Travel from home :)

ABOUT ME

Joe and I met in university and now live in Aylmer, a cute, cute little town technically belonging to Gatineau, a Quebecois city right across the river from Ottawa. We just moved into a small but cozy apartment that we can't wait to share with couchsurfers from all over the world (although just having moved in means there is still an unfortunate lack of wall decorations).

PHILOSOPHY

Enjoying the little daily pleasures of life and going for big, big dreams every once in a while.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Aylmer is adorable and fairly quiet. We live close to the little downtown that has everything we need: a great French bakery, nice coffee and tea places, a couple restaurants and a pub that has the best selection of beers we've ever seen. We also live about a 20-min drive from a large natural park (where we often go on weekends). If you are looking for a break from rushed cities but still want to be able to access Ottawa fairly quickly (buses stop right in front of our building), then you have found the right couch!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I (Amélie) had my first experience with couchsurfing in 2008 while crossing Canada with a friend. Since then, I have been hosted in other places (mostly in Europe, but also in Canada and the USA) and couchsurfing has always been amongst the best memories I have from my trip. I love meeting local people wherever I go and can't conceive traveling otherwise. I have also hosted a few couchsurfers one summer at my dad's place in France and we had a blast!
Joe is familiar with the concept and knows aaaaall about my experiences, but has never had the chance to try it for himself. This will be a first for him! Someday we are both hoping to be able to take some time off and travel all over the world, but for now we are stuck at home, so hosting is not just a great way to share our place; it's a way to travel from home by meeting amazing people :)

Interests

WE.LOVE.FOOD.
And also music (jazz, classical, anything) and hiking. Joe plays guitar, I play the piano and we are both heavily involved in a great Ottawa choir. Every weekend we also try to be outdoors and go for a long walk or a hike in the Gatineau Park. We can't wait until we can invest in some camping equipment and hit the road for a couple of days at once.
We also just started to take salsa classes.

• dining
• beer
• coffee
• pub crawls
• traveling
• investing
• music
• jazz
• guitar
• piano
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• camping

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Joe likes what I call "deep" movies (on our first date, he chose "Elephant Man"....) and I know I tend to be tempted by lighter stuff. We also have a long list of shows we enjoy even though we don't have a TV / don't want one.
Music: Anything. Everything. Joe's favourite band is Ween. I worship Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald.
Books: Again, everything. Joe has a pretty impressive number of history books. One of my own personal favourites is a coffee table book I found in a gift shop somewhere made of really boring American postcards from the 50s.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Everytime we cross the Champlain Bridge into Ottawa, I swear there is something gorgeous to see: an amazing sunset, a little island popping out of the fog, you name it. Seriously, Ottawa is beautiful :)

Teach, Learn, Share

Nothing will make us happier than teaching us a new language or new recipe, or heck - making us discover something about Ottawa we didn't know (we're new here!).

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States

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