A perfect day, we thought, for a drive along the western Parkway alongside the Ottawa River, downtown to Byward Market. We'd had a break from the extreme heat and humidity followed by thunderstorms and yesterday peaked at 29-degrees, so why not a drive after our amble in the ravine?

The beautiful dark thoroughbred horses with the acclaimed RCMP musical ride were not in their paddocks as we passed the area, but there were countless small privately-owned planes parked on the expansive tarmac alongside the Aviation Museum, and later, when we were at the Byward Market, I looked up to see a colourful biplane overhead, tiny in the vast blue sky.

We passed 24 Sussex Drive, the Governor-General's residence, the large Brutalist-modern Department of Foreign Affairs, then the assorted Mid-East embassies, their white-stone exteriors cool-looking against the bright heat of the afternoon sun; the Royal Canadian Mint, the National Gallery, the Peacekeeping Monument and turned down toward Byward Market.

First stop was the magazine shop operated now by a handsome Somalian immigrant whose greeting smile was infectious and welcoming as always.

From there to our favourite cheese specialty shop. The array of colourful garden plants for sale, alongside booths crammed with irresistible baskets of local (and not) fruits and vegetables enticing us to come away with Niagara peaches, Quebec strawberries and local new potatoes.

A day of beautiful sights and smells, concluding with the entertaining pleasure of more of nature's light-and-sound shows, looking after the watering needs of our summer gardens.