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2011-06-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

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Locals hope to cash in on royal visit.

2011-06-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

Locals hope to cash in on royal visit0

FIRST POSTED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 4:52:31 EDT PM

Moulin de Provence owner Claude Bonnet, left, and chef Yann Leguennec show off the giant treat they prepared for the royal visit. The maple sugar and chocolate treat is actually the second one they made — the first collapsed due to the humidity Tuesday. They stayed up all night to create this one and are planning a third just in case. DOUG HEMPSTEAD/QMI AGENCY

U.S. President Barack Obama made them world famous.

Now, the staff at Le Moulin de Provence are hoping Prince William and Kate will follow suit and stop by the Byward Market bakery, where a massive red 80-kg caramel cookie is on display.

“We’re making some cookies for the royals,” said manager Alice Gonzalez.

Caramel chocolate, caramel chocolate pistachio, and caramel white chocolate treats are being prepared for the big visit.

Tourists flock to the bakery daily, Gonzalez said, and for Canada Day weekend they’re hoping to attract “as many as we can.”

The bakery set the bar high after Obama’s impromptu visit in February 2009.

Poster-sized pictures of the smiling president are still prominently displayed around the shop, with Obama’s “I love this country!” quote in block letters hawking maple leaf-shaped shortbread “Obama cookies” while news footage of the visit plays in a constant loop inside.

Meanwhile, plenty of other area businesses are hoping to cash in on the royal visit.

Area hotels are offering discount packages to entice tourists, and travel agencies are advertising cheap flights to every city along the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s route.

The Lord Elgin Hotel is inviting the public on Canada Day to sample a huge wedding cake created in honour of the couple; the Fairmont Chateau Laurier’s traditional afternoon tea — with a special royal twist — is already sold out on Canada Day and a British-themed garden party will be held in the Currency Museum’s outdoor plaza at the corner of Bank and Sparks.

But it was fun, not profit, that motivated Judith Yaworsky to create an online cookbook that launched last week as a special wedding gift to the future King and Queen.

“Really, I think it’s just a nice gesture,” said Yaworsky, an Ottawa-based communications consultant and lifelong royal watcher. “I was one of the two billion people who watched their wedding, and about four days later, with the eyes of the world on them, there’s a picture Kate with the shopping cart getting the groceries.

“Now we have this worldwide family who loves this couple, and as a gift, why don’t we share our favourite recipes with them? And that was how it was born.”

Recipes have been coming in from across the country and as far away as India. And that’s before the website’s worldwide launch on June 30, the day Will and Kate arrive in Ottawa.

After recouping her $2,000 out-of-pocket expenses, Yaworsky said the net proceeds of any advertising revenue will go to charity.

“It’s for personal satisfaction,” she said. “Here are two very nice young people who, for the rest off their lives are going to live in a fishbowl. For me, they represent the tradition and the stability of the royal family. Like any family gathering, food is in focus, and food is a way to show love.”

View the cookbook or contribute your own recipes at willandkateskitchen.com.

— With files from Kelly Roche

ottawa's weather

2011-06-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

CURRENT CONDITIONS

UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 7:20:00 EDT PM

16°C

Overcast

Dew Point:	12°C	Humidity:	77 %
Wind:	NW 30 km/h	Pressure:	101.1 kPA

SHORT TERM FORECAST

UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 7:06:00 EDT PM

	THIS EVENING	TONIGHT	THURSDAY MORNING	THURSDAY AFTERNOON

Forecast	Cloudy with sunny breaks	Variable cloudiness	Sunny	Mainly sunny
Temp.	16°C	14°C	16°C	25°C
Dew Point	12°C	10°C	10°C	13°C
Wind	W 20 km/h	W 15 km/h	W 15 km/h	NW 15 km/h
P.O.P.	40%	40%	10%	20%

LONG TERM FORECAST

UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 7:07:00 EDT PM

	THURSDAY, JUN 30	FRIDAY, JUL 1	SATURDAY, JUL 2	SUNDAY, JUL 3

Forecast	Sunny	Mainly sunny	Mainly sunny	Isolated showers
High	25°C	27°C	29°C	29°C
Low	14°C	15°C	16°C	20°C
P.O.P	20%	10%	20%	40%

ALMANAC

Sunrise	Sunset	Normal Low	Normal High	Record Low	Record High
5:16am	8:55pm	13°C	24°C	6.1°C in 1972	32.2°C in 1971

Take a Royal Trip

2011-06-29T17:27:00.000-07:00

Take a royal road trip0

BY KATE SCHWASS-BUECKERT ,QMI AGENCY

FIRST POSTED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 11:36:39 EDT AM

Prince William and Kate's North American Tour

IMAGE: 1 OF 12

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge will make their first official international tour as a couple in Canada and the United States this July. They will stop in a number of Canadian cities and visit Los Angeles before returning to England. (Anwar Hussein/WENN.com)

If you want to take a royally inspired road trip this summer, it's going to cost you more than $4,000 if you pull out all the stops, or a little more than $1,500 if you do it on the cheap.

That includes gas, accommodations and admission into some of the sights the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will take in during their eight-day tour - but not the taxes or food.

A BMO survey found Canadians rank affordability as "the No. 1 factor determining their summer cation plans this year," customer communications and marketing vice president Su McVey said in a release.

"Of course, not everyone has access to a royal budget."

The BMO report said following the royal tour itinerary, covering all 9,969.6 km Will and Kate are set to travel in Canada, would require 1,760 litres of gas in the average car. The trip in an Aston Martin would cost you $2,200 in gas, while a trip in a Toyota Prius would cost $593.

When it comes to where to stay, not everyone can be guests at Rideau Hall, where Prince William and Duchess Kate will be staying when they're in the nation's capital. So you'll need two nights in an Ottawa hotel, then one in Quebec City, one in Charlottetown, three in Yellowknife and one in Calgary.

To stay in the most expensive spots - which includes the Blachford Lake Lodge in the Northwest Territories - would cost a couple $2,660 for the entire trip. But if you opt for the cheapest hotels, budget about $798 for accommodations.

For those who want to visit the same sites as Kate and William, admission costs will run about $109. That includes admission for two into the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Canadian War Museum, Green Gables in P.E.I., the P.E.I. National Park and the Calgary Stampede.

The good news, though, is that Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill and a tour of Rideau Hall are both free.

A road trip could give Canadians a chance to rediscover their own backyard, and it's also appeared to inspire others to see our country.

Dalia Blumenthal of CheapFlights.ca says numbers of travellers from the U.S. are up, and it could be due to the royal visit.

"Maybe the U.K. got its fill of the royals with the wedding or know they can see them at home as, right now, Cheapflights is seeing a bigger climb in searches from the U.S. than from the U.K. This is always a popular time for travel to Canada, so maybe it's not all royal fever, but the numbers for U.S. travellers searching on Canada destinations are the highest we've seen this year and has been climbing steadily since Will and Kate took their vows in April," she said.

FACTBOX

Hotels:

Ottawa - 2 nights - Fairmont Chateau Laurier: $199, Embassy West: $99

Quebec City - 1 night - Hilton Quebec: $250, Hotel Motel Le Chateauguay: $61

Charlottetown - 1 night - Delta Prince Edward: $249, Sherwood Inn and Motel: $79

Yellowknife - 3 nights - Super 8: $152, Capital Suites: $125 (or if you stayed at the Blachford Lake Lodge, where they'll be visiting, it's $1,135 for a cabin + $399 for the extra day $1,534)

Calgary - 1 night - Kensington Riverside Inn: $229, Ramada: $85

Events:

Ottawa

Canada Day: free

Canadian Citizenship Ceremony @ Canadian Museum of Civilization: $12 per person

Canadian War Museum: $12 per person

P.E.I

Green Gables: $7.80 per person

Dalvay-by-the-Sea/P.E.I. National Park: $7.80 per person

Alberta

Calgary Stampede: $15 per person

Fuel:

Total mileage: 9969.6 km

Estimated fuel needs: 1,760 litres of gas

Estimated fuel costs (based on current fuel prices): between $2,200 (Aston Martin) and $593 (Toyota Prius)