Rafaël Freynet

Franco-Albertan by adoption Raphaël Freynet arrives in Toronto with his two cousins and musicians in tow. A coffee lover, he starts his visit with a good cup of fresh, fair trade coffee at Merchants of Green Coffee in the east end of the city. The trio then enjoyed a frisbee at HTO Park, on the edge of the urban beach just a few blocks from the hustle and bustle of downtown. In between four musical performances of songs from the singer-songwriter's album 'Le monde à voir' and his new repertoire, the cousins set sail on Lake Ontario aboard the Kajama, a sailing boat built in Germany in 1930. Raphaël took advantage of the quietness of the trip to talk about the challenges of writing in French, a more complex language than English, which sets the bar higher for French-speaking writers, who, according to Raphaël, are more concerned with the quality of their lyrics. The trio ended the day as they often do, gathered around a good beer, this time at Bar Volo on Yonge Street.