History and Charm in Quebec

My good friend Diane whom I have known for many years (worked with her at the Department of Energy) was telling me one time about a trip she had taken to San Francisco with two other friends. A bit jealous, I said I'd like to take a trip with her. She suggested Quebec, and we made that happen. We spent six days in Quebec City and Montreal in May. We had wonderful weather, only rain part of one day.

We took separate routes and met at the airport in Quebec City on Tuesday. I had stopovers in Dulles and Toronto, both of which were beautiful and efficient. The only glitch was that I had to be escorted back into baggage claim at Toronto because I didn’t know I had to pick up my bag there. But I still had time for a delicious tom yum soup. Getting to our hotel was seamless; we were chatting so much that we weren't really noticing our surroundings.

Our hotel, the Clarendon, which dates from 1870, was right in the heart of Vieux Quebec (the old city). The lobby was elegant though the room was like most any hotel room in America. After doing some unpacking, we were off for a walk through the old town. It isn’t very large, so we were on streets repeatedly. 

The Clarendon Hotel

The pretty front door of the Clarendon

The Clarendon lobby

Diane in our room

Right across from our hotel was the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral which has pews made of wood from Windsor Forest. It’s modeled on London’s St Martin’s in the Fields—simple, not very large, and unprepossessing from the outside. At that time it wasn’t open, but later it was so we popped in.

Holy Trinity Cathedral

The streets were really inviting, full of shops and restaurants in the old buildings. We soon realized that it was a very charming city. We strolled along Terrasse Dufferin, a boardwalk along the cliff above the lower town with views of the St Lawrence River and the mountains beyond.

Colorful roof on Rue Ste Anne

Street musician who was pretty good

Looking down Terrasse Dufferin

Diane observing the scene on the terrasse

Looking toward the St Lawrence and the mountains beyond

Looking down to the lower town

We walked as far as La Citadelle de Quebec, the old fort on a hill overlooking the river, important in the history of Canada. We started to walk up, but that particular walkway was really really steep. When we came back down, there were younger (!) people there ready to take my hand so I wouldn’t fall.

View of La Citadelle from the Terrasse

The citadel dominates the skyline, but so does the huge Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, now a luxury hotel sitting between the citadel and the Place d’Armes. When you are down in the lower town looking back up, it is Fairmont that you see. We went in, of course, just to see what it was like. Elegant and spacious. 

Statue of Ste Anne in Place d'Armes

The imposing Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac behind Place d'Armes

Closer view of Le Chateau

Lobby of Le Chateau

Fun shop in Le Chateau

Continuing our walk, we passed the Basilique Notre Dame de Quebec, the Catholic cathedral. It also was not huge (though certainly much more decorated than Holy Trinity) and not open. We came back there later also to go inside.

Basilique Notre Dame de Quebec

Steeple of Notre Dame

Just across the street was the city hall, the Hotel de Ville. They had the most gorgeous deep pink tulips in several beds around the building, a color I don’t think I had seen before.

Hotel de Ville

Pretty sky over Hotel de Ville

Beautiful tulips in an unusual color

Relaxing at lunch on the grounds of the Hotel de Ville

By this time, we were thirsty and hungry. We picked a restaurant Batinse on Rue St Jean just because it looked good. We liked it so much that we went back the next night—mostly so that Diane could get what I had the first night. The menu was very nouveau as was the décor. We saw that repeated in other restaurants in QC. The food we had there was really very good. My meal that night was a salmon dish served in a measuring cup. The salmon was in a cream sauce which included two little (quail?) eggs, and the sauce was in a flaky crust which trailed down the outside of the cup. Alongside it was a good salad, both of which were placed in a glass casserole dish. Unique. Diane’s shepherd pie was pretty also with the several inch thick crust sitting on top of the vegetables and meat. Dessert for both of us was a pudding served in a smaller measuring cup topped with a scoop of ice cream. On the bottom was a gooey delicious maple sauce. Quebec produces 70% of the world’s maple syrup, so it was everywhere on menus and in shops. I brought some back for my friend Carol who had taken me to the airport at 5AM.

Batinse restaurant

Pretty chair at Batinse; all of them were different

My pretty and delicious dinner

Since I had had a long day, I didn’t last long after we got back to our hotel. I showed Diane some pictures of the dress I will wear to Glenna’s wedding, and we got a first look at their engagement pictures. So Wednesday I was up at 6AM. We left about 8:00 to find some breakfast. We went back down Rue St Jean, but farther this time, to Trois Garcons. I had a breakfast poutine (potato cubes, egg, cheese curds, sausage and bacon in a hollandaise sauce) and hot chocolate. It was way too much food but delicious.

The previous day in our wanderings we had stopped in the Information Center to find out about getting to Montmorency Falls. So after breakfast we continued down Rue St Jean to catch the 800 bus to Les Chutes de Montmorency. The trip was about 40 minutes, so we saw a lot of the town, particularly lots of residential areas. The oddest site, we thought, was that most of the yards were totally full of dandelions. We concluded that they just don’t care. Maybe they see them as flowers. Who knows?

Lots of dandelions

And more dandelions

Cool mural on a the side of a shop

At the end of the bus line was the entry to the falls. As soon as we walked a few feet down hill, we started to hear the roar of the falls. They were created by the Montmorency River plunging over a cliff on its way to meet the St Lawrence River. These falls are actually about 100 feet taller than Niagara Falls, just not as wide. It was all foam and steam. You could just feel the power. I remarked that I hoped they captured this energy for electricity generation. They used to, but now the electricity comes from a large hydro-electric power station not far upstream.

First look at Les Chutes de Montmorency

Now you can see the foamy water

A suspension bridge goes from one side to the other right at the top of the falls. We walked across, constantly looking down. It is really mesmerizing to watch that never-ending rush of water.

View from the suspension bridge

I love seeing moving water and the beautiful patterns it makes

Close-up of the falling water

Rushing down the cliff

All foam and mist

Diane on bridge

Betty on bridge

We walked on a path through a little woods to get a view of the falls from the front. There were about 20 flights of steps down to the bottom, so we decided not to do that. Instead we walked back and across the bridge again to catch the bus back to town.

Some of the 20 flights of stairs down to the bottom of the falls

The bridge from our viewpoint at the top of the stairs

Logs shorn of their bark collected at the bottom of the falls

Diane's video so you can hear the noise the falls make

Rainbow caused by the water

Looking back toward Quebec City

We just liked these clouds--maybe Casper the Ghost

Back on Rue St Jean, we walked under one of the gates of the old city walls, Porte St Jean. We also went into a few shops, including a chocolate shop to which we decided to return later.

Roofs of Vieux Quebec

Porte St Jean, in English for some odd reason

Part of the old city walls and Porte St Jean

Window of fabric shop

One of their pretty post boxes

On the way back to the hotel for a brief stop, we came across a nice sculpture etched into the façade of a building. Its message was: We are one; we are one people; we are the people of Quebec. Over and over they celebrated their diversity but unity.

Nous sommes un. We are one.

Nous sommes un peuple. We are one people.

Nous sommes le peuple du Quebec. We are the people of Quebec.

When we set out again, we noticed that the two cathedrals were open, our opportunity to go in. 

The pews of Holy Trinity made from Windsor Forest trees

Beautiful arches and ceiling in Holy Trinity

Pipes of the Holy Trinity organ 

The choir of Notre Dame was being restored, but they had put up a screen on which was painted a picture of the apse area. What a good idea.

Beautiful wood confessional in Notre Dame

Aisle of Notre Dame

Colorful stained glass of Notre Dame

Notre Dame's altar screen-to-be

Samuel de Champlain on his pedestal

In the exhibits there was an emphasis on Bishop Duval who was the first bishop of the church which itself was the first Catholic church in Canada, the oldest in the Americas north of the Spanish colonies in Florida and New Mexico. It was fostered by the very devout Samuel de Champlain. Champlain is the navigator, cartographer, soldier, explorer, geographer, diplomat and chronicler who is called the father of New France. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608.

By this time we were hungry. Diane scouted a place right across from the church called D’Orsay where I had a good asparagus soup and Caesar salad and Diane had spaghetti carbonara—even a glass of wine.

After lunch we continued our walk, this time taking a narrow walking street, Rue du Tresor. I suppose one time it had jewelry stores or banks, or wherever treasure would be, but now it houses a different kind of treasure. The street was filled with artists or their agents, selling watercolors and paintings of the town and its environs. Some of them were quite good. We listened for awhile to the spiel of one who was selling works made from copper etchings which were then water colored. We didn’t buy anything at this time.

Some of the vendors on Rue de Tresor

Metal sculpture in Place d'Armes 

Eventually we walked by a park above the river and spotted a steep street that took us down to the lower town. Diane saw some students sketching and struck up a conversation with them. They were with their architecture professor from Hampton University in Virginia and were tasked with devising a collective plan for modernizing the vibe of the lower town while keeping the charming old structures.

The lower town and Fairmont above

The area is pretty but very touristy. We didn’t make it all the way to the river because we were in the area where the ferry stops and couldn’t get too close. Looking at the map later, I saw that we should have walked up a few blocks to see more. The hill back up to the upper town was very steep—and I don’t do lots of steps very well. So we took the funiculaire which I wanted to do just for fun anyway.

The finuculaire from the lower town

The lower town from the top of the funiculaire

My meat pie and salad at Batinse

After resting in the room for awhile, we went back to Batinse for dinner where Diane had the salmon dish and I had a meat pie which contained potatoes and three kinds of meat. (Meat does seem to be big there.) There were three relishes to eat with it, and the dish needed them to relieve the intense taste. I had a nice Canadian red with it. Amazing what a variety of climates support the production of wine grapes. I was done in by then. My heart app said I walked 13,641 steps that day, 5.6 miles.







Thursday and my birthday! I actually forgot it was my birthday until I saw the date on my iPad. Today we decided to take a tour. First was a breakfast of bagel, cream cheese and hot chocolate (where my cup was refilled—never had that happen before). Then back to the Information Center to see what we could get. The three hour tours of Ile d’Orleans were full, so we chose a five-hour tour of the countryside. With the hour we had before the tour began, we walked streets we hadn’t been on before, seeing charming old residences, some of which are now small hotels.

Some of the old houses in VIeux Quebec

On the tour we met a couple from Vancouver and a lady from LA. The driver was a pretty good tour director also. The first stop was Les Chutes, but this time we saw it from the bottom. We walked along a path which brought us up close enough to feel the spray.

Les Chutes from the bottom

The next stop was the western end of Ile d’Orleans which is touted as an unspoiled look (if that is possible in a place where tourists come) at the countryside. I wouldn’t characterize what we saw that way, but then we didn’t see all of the island by any stretch. We did see a lot of quite old homes as well as expensive ones along the water, summering Americans apparently. We stopped at a chocolate shop where we got lunch (for me cauliflower soup, pasta salad and a muffin) which we ate on the bus. We drove through a small forest and then back onto the mainland.

One of the very old houses on Ile d'Orleans

Then we drove up the coast along the St Lawrence River (which is tidal!), first stopping at a copper shop. After a short lecture on how copper engraving is done which was quite interesting, we looked around the shop but didn't get anything. She explained that the design is drawn on the front of the object, and then most of the rest of the work is done on the back to produce the three-dimensionality. 

The next stop was a bakery in a 350-year old building. The property also included a root cellar and an outdoor oven. There we got a piece of good bread topped with maple butter which was yummy. We learned that maple butter isn’t butter at all. It is just pure maple syrup which has been cooked longer than regular syrup until it has the consistency of whipped butter.

The 350-year old root cellar

Some of the crutches
abandoned after
healings

Our last stop was Ste Anne de Beau-Pre, a beautiful, very large, highly decorated and colorful church which is a pilgrimage spot because of the healings that have occurred in that area.

Ste Anne is the mother of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is a beautiful church; even the undercroft was wonderful. Everything was immaculate; I thought that they must have an enormous staff.

Exterior of Ste Anne de Beau-Pre

Ste Anne over the central door

One set of bronze doors that
were built by the copper shop

Detail of one of the doors

More of the arches I love

Nave of Ste Anne de Beau-Pre

Gorgeous detail

View of the beautiful undercroft

One of the many school groups we saw on our trip

One interesting fact that the guide gave us was that Quebec means “narrowing of the river” which is what happens to the St Lawrence River there. It was also pointed out that many of the roofs in that area are curved up at the bottom--the better to get the snow off?

Curved Quebec roof

Me at my birthday dinner--note the interesting
placement of the water glasses

When we got back to Quebec City, we made a stop at the artists’ street and each got an artwork, in my case one of those made from the copper engraving which shows a scene from Vieux Quebec. I guess that was a birthday present to myself.

Dinner that night was Diane’s treat for my birthday where I had almost tartare tuna, frites and salad. She got me a surprise dessert of crème brulee which I love. Since this was our last night in QC, we had to go back to the chocolate shop even if I was full.

What a wonderful place! It is called Chocolato and, if it is not, should be franchised in the US. I know it would be a hit. You could get a cone, a cup of gelato or soft serve, a waffle, a brownie, a crepe or a piece of cheese, all served with one of about 20 toppings which were mostly some sort of chocolate but which also included salted caramel (Glenna’s favorite so I brought a can back for her and some “black” chocolate for JR and me) which hardened when it hit something cold. In addition, they offered fondue for one with strawberries or other fruit. I could only manage a cup of chocolate gelato with my favorite topping, black chocolate. The place was busy continuously while we were there. Now don’t you think a place like that would go in the US? What a nice birthday!

Toppings and sprinkles

Friday we left for Montreal. But first for, breakfast I had a ham, bacon, mushroom, and cheese omelet with potatoes, fruit and hot chocolate (but this time they didn’t offer a refill). Once again, too much. Today was rainy, icky and cold. Our train didn’t leave until 1:00, so I wanted to visit the Musee du Fort first. Diane preferred to get out of the weather, so I went in alone. A group of 33 school children were coming at 10:00 (we saw kids everywhere; May and June is their time for field trips), so I went in with them. 

Up front was a diorama of Quebec City and the surrounding area. Behind the diorama was a large screen on which was shown a 23-minute film about the founding of Quebec and the battles fought over it. Lights on the diorama came on when the movie was discussing an area, particularly during the battle scenes. The focal point was the battle between the troops of French general Montcalm and the invading troops of the English general Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham. I knew the name of that battle, but I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that it was there or even what it was about. Montcalm’s forces were coming along the river by night. They were able to get through the sentries because the French knew that supply ships were expected that night and hadn’t been told that they wouldn’t be coming after all. So the English scaled the steep cliffs over Quebec City and proceeded to the plains where they met the French who had eventually been alerted that it was English ships, not French supply ships that had come. The battle was only 20 minutes long. Both generals died as a result of injuries that night. There were subsequent battles, but this one was the seminal one that allowed the English to defeat the French, thus giving control of Canada to England though they let the French peoples of Quebec keep their language, lands and traditions—which they obviously maintain to this day.

Part of the diorama of Quebec City

The moderator (who had a very thick accent which meant I had to pay close attention whereas with most Quebecois it was hard to tell which was their native language, French or English) told the school kids that there would be a quiz after the film so they should pay attention. They were absolutely amazing—very attentive during the movie and totally absorbed in the quiz. We all had three buttons on our left armrest which we used to give our multiple choice answer—a, b or c. The kids cheered or groaned with each answer. Five prizes were given at the end. Note that I wasn’t one of the winners! That was a really fun and hopeful experience (or would have been the latter if it had happened in the US; I have my doubts).

On the way to the train station later, I asked the taxi driver to take us up to La Citadelle and past the Plains of Abraham. There are cannons from various wars on the perimeter of the battlefield, but otherwise the Plains are just a grassy field. That’s generally the case with other battlefields I’ve been to also. You have to have along someone like Glenna’s Dad Denny to fill you in on what went on; he really makes it come alive.

The plain Plains of Abraham

The train station, Gare du Palais, is 100 years old this year and quite beautiful. We had a few minutes to look around. The journey to Montreal was three hours and a bit and was very comfortable and pleasant. We ate our lunch and read as we observed the rather pretty countryside.

Exterior of the 100-year old Gare du Palais

The lobby of the station

Ceiling of the lobby

Detail of the mosaic in the ceiling showing the Canadian train routes

In Montreal we taxied to our hotel, Best Western’s Ville Marie in the downtown area. We soon set out to see what was within walking distance around us. We stopped in first to the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral, a respite amidst the hustle and bustle around it. It is noted for its gargoyles and beautiful stained glass windows.

Gargoyles on the exterior of Christ Church

More arches and a wooden ceiling

Kneelers on old pews

Stained glass window

Then we walked to Dorchester Square where there was a nice monument to those who fought with the South Africans in their wars.

Monument to those who fought in the South
African wars and more beautiful flowers

Across the street was Cathedrale Marie Reine du Monde (Mary, Queen of the World), a church that is modeled on St Peter’s in Rome (though much smaller) with its façade with numerous statues across the top, the large dome, the baldacchino over the altar and even a replica of the bronze St Peter. No Pieta though.

Cathedrale Marie Reine du Monde

Statues atop the front wall

Baldacchino over altar

Ceiling of crossing

Nave ceiling

St Peter with the keys to heaven

It was time to eat, so we found a restaurant inside a huge insurance building on the edge of Dorchester Square. The food was really quite good—grilled salmon, grilled vegetables, rice, salad, and wine with cake and tea for dessert for me. The odd thing about the area we were in was that about 99% of the people on the streets (and there were lots) were young. Maybe that was because it was Friday night. On the main street was also an entrance to the vast underground shopping and restaurant area, a part of which we saw.

Saturday we were up early for a breakfast down the street (a good banana chocolate crepe for me and a fruit crepe for Diane).

My pretty breakfast hot chocolate

Then it was down to Dorchester Square again to catch the Hop On Hop Off tour bus. We got a two day pass and decided to stay on for the whole trip the first time. The first stop was the outskirts of Vieux Montreal, their old city. 

Beautiful flowering tree on the outskirts of Vieux Montreal

Kid in seat in front of us on the bus

Next we passed the archaeological museum that we intended to visit the next day. We drove by Le Village, the gay community which was colorfully decorated with banners and strings of balls. After that it was the Latin Quarter. I thought the commentary about these two quarters was frankly patronizing though overall the guide was very good.

Gay banner in Le Village

Some of the colorful balls in Le Village

The next stop was the Quartier des Spectacles which is an area the city has set aside for large festivals to make it easier to control traffic and logistics—seems like a very good idea. It is all concrete, so they don’t have the problem of Washington’s Mall where they are constantly planting grass.

Nice mural on the side of a building

Another pretty mural

The House of Jazz--cool

All along the way we saw banners for the 375th anniversary of the founding of Montreal. 2017 is also the 150th anniversary of the union of the provinces and territories into the confederation of Canada. So they are celebrating.

One of the many banners celebrating
the 375th anniversary of Montreal this year

Then we passed the cultural quarter including the Musee des Beaux Arts which we intended to visit the next day also. Up on the hill we stopped at L’Oratoire Saint Joseph, an imposing site.

A Chihuly in the museum district

I liked this tire sculpture

Some nice half-timbered houses along our route

L'Oratoire St Joseph

Farther up the hill we came to overlooks where we got a great view of Montreal. Montreal’s name comes from this hill, Le Mont Royal (Royal Mount).  Along the way many private and government buildings were pointed out. In all, the effect was that Montreal is a big city with scattered interesting sites whereas just about everything you want to see in Quebec City is all in a quite small, walkable area. No question which one earns the charm award.

So there are dandelions in Montreal too

View of Montreal from Mont Royal

1976 Olympic stadium--cables between the roof and the tower allow
the roof to be opened

Bridge over the St Lawrence River

After the tour we returned to the hotel for a bit but were soon off on the 715 bus headed for Vieux Montreal. It was already 2:00, so the first order of business was to find some lunch (lasagna and salad for me).

Even the lasagne in this ordinary cafe
was pretty

Then I went through Chateau Ramezay while Diane read. The Chateau was built in 1705 and occupied by the first governor of New France, Claude de Ramezay, who was homesick for France and recreated a prosperous French home. Today it is a museum of early tools and artifacts of old Montreal with the upper floor interactive exhibits focusing on the upper classes and the lower floor that of the humbler colonists.

Cross-section of Chateau Ramezay

Cute leather child's shoes

Exterior of Chateau Ramezay

Beautiful paneling

After, we walked around the old streets and observed the Saturday doings of a big city.

Busy Saturday street, Rue St Paul

Back in the area of our hotel we walked through a bit more of the underground city. I wasn’t very hungry for dinner but still managed to have prime rib, grilled veg and wine (we are always offered two sizes of wine which makes sense to me). We were sitting next to a table of good looking young men who, we found out later, were celebrating a bachelor weekend. With Diane you talk to everyone!

Sunday was our last full day, so we started off early with a breakfast of yogurt, granola, and fruit for me—good.

My delicious and visually appealing breakfast

We sat in Dorchester Square just chatting while we waited for the Hop On Hop Bus to take us to Pointe a Calliere, the archaeological museum of Montreal. This Sunday was free museum day, so the lines were long. As we waited we chatted with a man from Haiti who was visiting a woman who was teaching in Montreal.

First we saw the very good film about the history of Montreal in a theater whose seats were set around a dig showing the foundations of early city buildings. It was obvious that they are very proud of their city.

Wall panel about Montreal's founding

Graves unearthed in the area of the theater

Part of the film on Montreal's hisotry

Model of the service of thanksgiving on
the founding of Montreal 

After the film we walked through the lower level seeing more building foundations and good panels about their history. We also proceeded through the old sewer system which was actually the small St Charles River into which the early settlers had thrown garbage until it was no longer a river. 

The one-time river which became a sewer

An offshoot of the main sewer line

Montreal is actually an island in the St Lawrence River though you don’t really get that sense since it is pretty large and you don’t see the water on both sides. The city was founded by a group of people who wanted to bring the Catholic religion to the peoples of what they now call the First Nations. In the Montreal area that meant Iroquois who over the space of 50 years disappeared from the region and they profess not to know why. There were skirmishes with them, so they may be closing their eyes to the reason.

Model of Iroquois village from Chateau Ramezay

We also walked on top of the foundations of Ville Marie Fort (Ville Marie being the original name of the settlement) on a glass floor so that we could see below. We agreed that this museum was a good one.

We walked a few blocks to Basilique Notre Dame de Montreal where we encountered another line even though this one wasn’t free. It was a beautiful day, and Montrealers were out in force. The basilica is a very ornately decorated place—lots of gold ornament. The apse was especially striking. The altar screen was shaped to look like the exterior of a cathedral with lots of towers with blue behind to simulate the sky. Beautiful effect. The stained glass and pulpit were suitably beautiful also.

Basilique Notre Dame from the rear

Line-up in to get in and plaza beyond

Front of Basilique

Spectacular altar screen

One more set of arches!

Diane and me in the nave

Our next stop was Chinatown. We picked a restaurant at random and hit a home run. We had wonton soup, spring roll, crispy salt and pepper shrimp, rice and vegetables—really good.

Chinatown street

Chinatown gate

I like to take all the means of public transportation in a city, so we took the metro (looks just like DC’s) three stops and then walked several blocks to the Musee des Beaux Arts. 

They had a huge Chagall exhibit with paintings, costumes, stained glass, etc. The wall text was really good, particularly about the early life of Chagall and the influences on him. Diane wanted to see more conventional art, so we looked elsewhere in the museum where we found some. The museum is one of a complex of buildings, so what she wanted was probably elsewhere, but by this time she (and I for sure) was tired. I was disappointed that they didn’t have any educational materials that I could take back to Glenna.

Banner for the Chagall exhibit

A fox costume for Aleko, one of many designed by Chagall

Angel with Palette, actually a self-portrait

The Tribe of Zebulon stained glass

It was only four blocks to the hotel, and by that time I was done.

A fun maze we saw on the way back to the hotel

We sat in the hotel bar with a glass of wine for about an hour ad then went back to the room to pack. Neither of us was very hungry after that big late lunch, so we just went down the street to our breakfast crepe place for an onion soup and Caesar salad which was only so-so—probably the most mediocre meal we had.

One observation I made was that there was a lot more smoking in Montreal than there was in Quebec City and than I see wherever I am in the States. (I know this sentence comes out of left field, but I wanted to get it in because it was surprising.)

On Monday we were up early and in a taxi shortly after 8:00 for the ride to the airport. Diane had to get to her gate, so we parted with assurances that it was a good trip. She is a very easy traveling companion, and I think I am too. Quebec had been on my bucket list—as much of the rest of Canada still is—so I was happy she suggested it.

I had wanted to carry my bag on with me, totally forgetting that I had fondue and maple syrup which were considered liquids. I wondered how I was going to hurt someone with maple syrup. But oh well! I had long waits all day—in Montreal before I left, a couple of hours in Philly and 5 hours in Charlotte. I read an entire Jeffrey Archer book and did puzzles. In Montreal I decided that I shouldn’t leave Quebec without pancakes and maple syrup which came with sausage, bacon and tea. The other two meals of the day were unmemorable except that in Charlotte a poutine was on the menu and I had a choice of 5 or 9 ounces of wine. I thought I was back in Quebec! I got home after being picked up by Rick just before midnight. Tired but happy.

The two traveling companions