Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle

DREAMSCAPES WINTER 2023/2024 44 T R A V E L G A L L E R Y A fter flying from Montreal to Martinique for more than a decade, Air Canada has announced its first-ever direct flight from Toronto to the French Caribbean island this winter. Starting Dec. 16, the five-hour non-stop flight departs on Saturday for capital Fort-de-France. Martinique is known for its French flair, Creole food and rum distilleries. It also boasts unspoiled beaches, volcanic peaks, rainforests, hiking trails and waterfalls. In fact the entire island has been designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. Aircanada.com LUC OLIVIER KMSKA H otel William Gray, hidden on a tiny street in the heart of Old Montreal, seamlessly fuses two heritage buildings with an eight- story glass tower. The result is an exciting blend of rich wood, stone, slate and concrete illuminated with black light fixtures or floor-to-ceiling windows and accented with bold local art. Hand your car keys to the valet and settle in for a relaxing stay. Grab a coffee from Café Olimpico next door to enjoy in the stylish Living Room or book a luxury spa treatment. For winter, WG's popular rooftop terrace has been transformed into a wonderland of cosy heated geodesic domes with sweeping views of the old town and the Grand Roue ferris wheel. Perfect for a sumptuous dinner or brunch. Hotelwilliamgray.com W e are obsessed. With footwear! Learn how shoes became objects of desire and how footwear designers became celebrities at the Bata Shoe Museum's newest exhibition, OBSESSED: How Shoes Became Objects of Desire. Highlights include a Louis Vuitton trunk from the 1900s with discreet compartments for 30 pairs of shoes, designer car shoes for women and a pair of 19 th century carriage shoes featuring ostrich feathers to trap the heat. Another pair reflects the craze for purple after a young chemist accidentally created a synthetic purple while trying to find a cure for malaria. The exhibit continues to April 2024. batashoemuseum.ca TERRASSE WILLIAM GRAY BATA SHOE MUSEUM/DARREN RIGO A fter 11 years of construction, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) is once again open to the public. The historic building has been renovated and paired with a pure white addi- tion to display modern works. The makeover creates 40 per cent more exhibition space for KMSKA's 8,400-piece collection, dating from the early 1300s. While its main collection of Flemish masters hails from Belgium and the Southern Netherlands, the museum also owns a number of international masterpieces. One wing is devoted to works by Belgian painter and printmaker James Ensor. Innovative touches include Radio Bart, where visitors take a seat in a mobile studio and discuss the paintings around them with a blind host. kmska.be/en

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