Montreal--Last Day !!!

Rain today after 4 days of sunshine.  The rain was too heavy to take a stroll in, so we got in our car to see Montreal from the streets.  Our first "drive by" was the 1976 Olympic venues.  Impressive even in the rain.  We headed to "Old Montreal" located on the water.  We visited a museum, which was housed in former firehouse, showcasing the history of Montreal.  Early in our trip, I asked the question about why the colonists north of Maine did not join the efforts to break away from the British crown.  I did find part of the answer in this museum.  In the spring of 1776, Ben Franklin was sent by the men meeting in Philadelphia to Montreal to try and convince Montreal and Quebec to join with the other colonies and be part of the rebellion.  Although these colonists were not happy with the British either, they chose not to join with their compatriots to the south and Ben Franklin came home empty handed.

Old Montreal is bigger than Old Quebec and is a working part of the city, unlike Old Quebec which was mostly a place for tourists.  But there were still lots of tourists on the wet streets and no place to park, so we left and found an Irish pub for a late lunch.

One of the special things about Montreal is the network of biking trails and bikes available for rent for $5 for 24 hours.  There are many bikes ready for riding all around the city.  If it hadn't been raining, we would have rented them ourselves.

Tomorrow we head back to the USA.  After 25 days in Canada we have gotten a much better perspective on our neighbors to our north.  Each province has its own personality, just like each state in the US.  Although we share much of the same historical development, Canada is its own country and has its own identity.  The picture below shows only one of the differences between us.

Thanks for following us.  We enjoyed knowing you were there every night when we went to bed!

Diane

We have now come to an end to a wonderful, post retirement, 3+ week trip together. The best thing we said tonight is that we don't have to go back to work tomorrow! We have enjoyed our time together and enjoyed learning more about our neighbors to the North. 

We are now ready to begin our long trek down to Virgina Beach, and begin our new life together. Thanks for all your comments and thoughts as we have proceeded along our journey.

Joe

 

Montreal

We drove the three hours from Quebec to Montreal, enjoying more of the St. Lawrence River valley.  We checked into our hotel in downtown Montreal--the Hotel Maritime and have a lovely room on the executive floor.  This was the warmest day we have had so far--85 degrees.

A major landmark in Montreal is Mont Royal--not really a mountain but a hill which dominates the city.  Mont Royal is where the Iroqouis had their settlement and where Jean Cartier came and named it Mont Royal, from which the city's name is derived. We decided to check it out for ourselves.  Our hotel was about a 15 minute walk to the park and then there was a 30 minute walk to the top.  Needless to say we were wishing for some the of the Newfoundland cold we had earlier in our trip. But the hike was worth the huffing and puffing in the heat.  The view of the city was magnificent.

We rewarded our efforts by treating ourselves to a fine French meal at a restaurant with outside dining near our hotel.  The food and the night were perfect--along with the ever present dessert, this time Napoleons.  Diets will have to come when we get to Virginia!

Quebec day 3

Our day began at Subway for breakfast.  We have eaten at a lot of different subways in our travels.  Also at a number of Tim Horton's.  Our next stop was the Museum of the French in North America.  This museum presented the influence and importance of the French on the continent.  It was an interesting perspective at times.  One statement was made about how the First Nations (as the Canadians call the Native Americans) were very helpful to the French and allowed them to be successful.  I wondered what the peoples of the First Nations would say if they were telling the story.

This museum had a whole floor devoted to the women of the Augustinian order who came to Quebec to minister to the health of the native people and developed the first hospital for all people in Quebec.  This was the first museum I have been to where a whole floor was devoted to women.  All I could think to say was "You go girls!"

The museum was located on the property of the first seminary in New France and the first French speaking university--Laval.  We had an hour long tour of the property.  The tour is given in the language of the first people to show up in the morning.  We were the first ones there so the tour was in English, not French.

After a lunch in the sun, we headed to the last museum of our day--the Museum of Civilization.  After viewing an exhibit on the peoples of the First Nations and one on the way God is perceived differently in the world, we had had our fill of museums and headed back to the hotel to rest our feet and our heads!

Diane

We have enjoyed Quebec and believe it to be one of the prettiest cities in North America. We would recommend it to anyone.
It was also to get a French perspective on the importance of the French is the discovery and colonization of the entire North American continent.  According to the sources, St. Louis, Missouri was named by the French, as it was the half way point between New Orleans and Quebec. It was named after King Louis. We didn't know that.

Anyway, on tomorrow to our last stop of the trip in Canada - Montreal.

Quebec day 2

The weather was great again this morning so we decided to take advantage of the blue skies and take a cruise of the St.Lawrence river to get a different view of the city and learn more about the role of the river in the life of the city.  Quebec is a major port involved in transporting grain from the western provinces of Canada to other parts of the world. 

After the cruise we had lunch ala fresco, enjoying the people and the sunshine.

Old Quebec is made up of upper and lower sections.  To get the the lower section you can walk or talk a funnicular.  We chose the easy route!

This lower part of the town is where Samuel Champlain first came to this area in 1608.  A museum exists to explain the life of the people starting in 1608.  In the 1970s there was an effort made to restore this section of the city, which resulted in much excavation of artifacts from the past 400 years.  We spent an about hour and a half learning more about this.

The streets of Quebec are filled with performers trying to entertain the many tourists with their talents--musicians, jugglers, and people who paint themselves in metallic colors and then say they will move for money!

Diane

Quebec

If you could order weather, today would be a day you would order--75 degrees and blue sky as far as the eye could see.  Perfect for our two hour drive to Quebec following the St. Lawrence river.  The river valley was wide and lush with farms fields like a patch-work of varied shades of green and amber dappled with silos and church steeples.

We started our visit here with a stop at Battlefield Park where the British defeated the French in 1759, the beginning of the end of New France in North America.  Quebec is filled with outdoor restaurants and cafes and we were more hungry than interested in more Canadian history so we joined the rest of Quebec and found a place to eat and enjoy the sunshine.  We could get fat in Quebec.  Last night at dinner and today at lunch a dessert was included in the price.  We figured we had paid for the food, so we might as well eat it!

We checked into our hotel, The Clarendon, which is one of the oldest hotels in the old walled city of Quebec and very charming. No more dorm rooms for us.  I am looking forward to 400 count sheets and plush towels!!

We walked the old city starting with a visit to Notre Dame Basilica, as beautiful as any cathedral in Europe.  Old Quebec is a charming place which makes you think you are in Paris.

Diane

It was a great ralaxing day for both Diane and I. Quebec in a truly beautiful city, and the French language gives it the European aura. The weather was perfect, and we now know where all the tourists are.

We had debated whether to either start or end our trip with two major North American cities/ We had just returned from Hong Kong and several large Chinese cities, and were yearning for something different. Now after almost 2 and 1/2 weeks in more rural areas, we are excited to be back to the wonderful richness and diversity of an urban area. Quebec is the place.

We are learning much more about French Canadian history. Its interesting to note that even though the British Army, with some help from their American colonists defeated the French back in the 1700s at the famous Battle of the Plains of Abraham here in Quebec, today French is the predominant (and official) language of Quebec. Although the British won, they let the Catholic Church stay on as a predominant social and governmental structure, and the French Canadian Catholic kids muliplied much faster than their English Protestant contemporaries. So-today in Quebec, we have many more Catholics than Protestants, and the Catholic church controlled the schools, the social services, and many other things until as late 1970. One of the ironies of faith, politics, and warfare.

So much for today's history lesson.

Joe

Heading NorthWest

We woke up to rain, but it was a driving day so the rain didn't bother us much.  We left Prince Edward Island with the goal of getting to Quebec Province.  The drive took us through more forests and valleys in New Brunswick.  Not much population and no real reason to take stop and take pictures, although I was tempted by road signs to see the world's largest axe, the world's longest covered bridge and a potato museum.  I resisted the call of those sirens and kept on driving. 

About an hour before the end of our drive we crossed into Quebec.  We gained two things--the hour we lost when we came east and the need to brush up on my college French.  In New Brunswick all of the signs are in French and English, in Nova Scotia they are in Gaelic and English, in Quebec they are only in French!  We feel we have really come to a foreign country.  Up until now we have been in a place north of the US where they sometimes speak funny.  Now we are in foreign territory.

We are spending the night in Riviere du Loup on the St. Lawrence River.  We had dinner at the French restaurant and it was the best meal we have had since we left.  No more fish and chips--foreign countries do have their benefits!

Diane

After Diane and I sent the blog yesterday, we went for a walk around the main area and waterfront of Charlottetown. In the process we learned a little more about Canadian history by reading the various historical descriptions that were displayed around town.  The reason for this emphasis on Canadian history in C-town is that it was the location in 1864 of the signing of the document that the started the process for the federation of the various British colonies remaining in North America after the 1776 Declaration of Independence and revolution that led to the establishment of the US.

So-here's some more history that at least Diane and I don't remember reading in our US history books.
 In 1864, while the US was in the last year of the US Civil War, there arose fear within the British colonies of America the the USA would attempt to gain control of many of these colonies (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) and maybe Montreal and Quebec after the civil war was over. So-the Maritime Colonies (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edwards Island) decided to meet in Charlottetown to begin discussing some kind of consolidation of these three colonies to protect themselves from a grab by the US. Then  the additional colony of Upper and Lower Canada (the name for what would eventually become the additional Canadian provinces of Quebec (primarily French speaking) and Ontario (English speaking) asked if they could join the discussions as well.
 These discussions in Charlottetown eventually led to an agreement to develop a centralized government loyal to England, with separate assemblies in each of the provinces. By 1866, the British government agreed to their move and created the North American Act, which provided independence to the new country of Canada, and made them part of the British Commonwealth. They were joined later by British Columbia, and others, until in 1949, Newfoundland and Labrador became the last province to become part of Canada.

There's a lot more to the story, but this is enough for tonight.

We thought that this was interesting and wanted to share it with you.

Joe

P.S.  There will be a test on Canadian history at the end of this blog (just kidding, Diane)     

Prince Edward Island 2

Today we drove to the other side of the island, about 25 miles, to rent some bikes and ride along the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  We rode for about two and a half hours and had a bald eagle swoop right by us and tips his wings in honor of seeing U.S. citizens (not really, but it sounds good).  We also saw some blue herons.  PEI is very flat so the ride was not strenuous or hard.

The weather was perfect--78 degrees and partly cloudy skies.  We made a picnic lunch and took our camping chairs to the beach and just sat and read and enjoyed the water.  I am amazed at how few people were on the beach.  This has to be one of the warmer days they have had this summer and it is the middle of August.  We enjoyed the quiet, however, and didn't complain.

We are enjoying our last day "on the far reaches" before we actually start heading back toward the good ole USA. Charlottetown actually has a busy airport, and has non-stop flights from NYC and Boston, as well as other major Canadian cities. I guess this is like the Martha's vineyard of Canada.

Our bike ride was great in that it allowed us to finally stretch our muscles after many days of sitting in the car. I had a super bike, as it was for tall people, and rode well. I think we went about a total of 15-20 miles round trip. So-a relaxing few hours on the beach was a good post exercise activity.

Tomorrow we head Northwest into Quebec. We don't think we can get all the way to Quebec City, so we are looking for someplace in between to stop.
  
We also are scheduled to go over the one huge bridge, which connects Prince Edward Island to the mainland. That should be fun.

On the historical front, it was this province, and in Charlottetown where Canada's Articles of Confederation, were signed way back in 1864, when we in the US were in the midst of our own Civil War. So, this city and this province take great pride in being key to the beginning of Canada. Cool, huh?

Onward to Quebec!

Prince Edward Island

Today we drove 140 miles to Caribou, Nova Scotia to take the car ferry to Prince Edward Island.  This is our third ferry so far; however, this one was only 75 minutes, but we only went 14 miles!  True to Canadian Maritime culture, there was more music on this ferry.  We drove about 75 more miles to Charlottetown, the capital.  This is the first place where we have seen more significant evidence of wealth.  Charlottetown has many beautiful waterfront homes and has put a significant amount of resources into making the waterfront attractive and pleasing to tourists.  The geography here is much different from what we have experiences thus far--very flat and full of farms.

We checked into our dorm room at the University of Prince Edward Island which is much like the others, but we do have a semi-private bath--so no trips down the hall in the dark.  Although there were some PEI entertainment opportunities in town, we were both a bit weary of being tourists, so we went to the movies and pretended we were just regular Canadians out for the night.  We saw The Help, which was quite good!  Oh yes--last night's music turned out to be some very good jazz--a welcome break from seafaring songs!

Diane

Our son Scott asked if the picture of the bald eagle shown in yesterday's blog was taken by Diane. Scott it was.  We were driving along the Cabot Trail, when I just caught a glimpse of what I thought was an eagle in a tree. So we backed up, and there it was, sitting in a tree about 20 feet from our car. So Diane snapped a few pictures, and on one the eagle turned its head to its left, and that is the picture we used.

Later in the day, we drove by a moose, chomping the grass and twigs on the side of the road.  That's where we got that one. One the boat, we have been able to see what we thought were a few whales, and dolphins, and tonight, when we were walking around this campus here on Prince Edward island, a fox walked right by us at about 30 feet away. So-wildlife is all around us.

For those of you who have not seen The Help yet, both Diane and I recommend it. Diane also read the book, and says the movie followed the book closely, and she liked both the movie and the book.

Prince Edward Island university campus is very large, and quite nice. It has several buildings under construction, as most of the other campuses we have stayed also do. The rooms are quite adequate, but there is a unique student odor that permeates these walls. Ah well, we get what we pay for.

Chalottetown is a very quaint city, and one of the best we have seen so far, although I still like Halifax the best. The geography of this island is much like the finger lakes, although it is much flatter. There is much farming here, more so than we have seen elsewhere.

The weather both yesterday and today has been super, and today reached 80 degrees. What a welcome feeling after a solid 10 days of rain and cold.

Tomorrow we will try some biking, and just wander around the island, and then on Tuesday it is off again to our final province Quebec.

Joe 

Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail

We awoke this morning and thought we had been transported to Florida overnight!!  There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the expected temperature was in the 70s.  We spent the night back at the University of Cape Breton.  The young student at the desk even remembered us from our stay before we headed to Newfoundland.

Our goal today was to drive the Cabot Trail (about 175 miles), which we did.  Most guide books say this is one of the best drives in the world and they weren't wrong.  The combination of lush green forests and the blue sea of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the other made for some spectacular scenery.  We saw a bald eagle and a moose too!

We are staying at the Normaway Inn which is on a 250 acre property surrounded by hills and forest.  The original inn was built in 1928, but we are staying in one of the cottages.  Joe is reading his book on a swing on the front porch as I write this entry.  The dining room is noted for serving wonderful country gourmet meals (or that's what their promotions say) and we will be eating here tonight.  They also have a red barn (shades of Keuka) in which they have concerts in the summer.  So we will be spending our second Saturday night at a concert.  This region was settled mainly by the Scots, so the music should be a reflection of that heritage.  I don't think we will be singing the Ode to Newfoundland or other newfie songs tonight.  You'll have to wait for our entry tomorrow to find out!

Diane

Newfoundland Reflections on the ship heading west

Diane and I are now on a car ferry from Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland to Sydney, Nova Scotia. It's a 6 hour ride on a huge ship, the day is very foggy, and there is a folk singer named Joe Fahey, singing Newfie folk songs. So-its a great time to reflect on this remarkable island that we have just spent the last 6 days visiting.

Some thoughts:

    - The island's history is a mixture of English and Irish heritage. It didn't become a part of Canada until 1949.

    - It is integrally bound to Labrador, and the Canadian province is actually called "Newfoundland and Labrador."

    - It is an island that has had its share of internal turmoil, that has reflected the turmoil that has existed   between Protestant England and Catholic Ireland since the middle ages. Yet the island has come together to be highly unified and independent. Even Canada has struggled with this island's independence.

    - When Newfoundland and Labrador made the decision to consolidate with Canada in 1949, Canada had to agree to provide education, postal services, roads, and electricity to everyone on the islands. However, there were very small fishing villages in small coves all along its coasts. This quickly proved to be too costly for the Canada federal government to support. Therefore in the 1960s the government made a very controversial decision to move the people from the smallest villages on the coasts to the small offshore islands.

     This was a really controversial decision and even today (50 years later) it is the subject of folk songs which protest this national governmental decision.  It shows how independent these people are.

Joe

Another newfie custom tied to their musical heritage is an instrument called the ugly stick.  The ugly stick is created by taking a pole and adding a mop on top and a rubber boot on the bottom and attaching different household items to the pole that will make noise when the stick is "played."

When we started to do some research for our trip, we studied the geography of Canada.  Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories.  As Joe analyzed the Canadian map, he was intrigued by a territory called Nunavut.  He was intrigued by this northern area and even suggested we go there!  We didn't get there, but we did see a license plate from there!

Joe was also interested in taking a ferry to Labrador and then driving to Quebec from there.  We checked it out and found out doing so meant traveling miles and miles on a gravel road.  Neither of us were quite up for all of that bumping and we didn't think our car was either!

About half way through the ferry ride, the fog lifted and the clouds moved on and sun and blue sky appeared.  It was almost like a miracle and God was personally sharing the sunshine with us  I hadn't realized how much I had missed being bathed in sunlight.  Newfoundland was wonderful, but it certainly was wet and grey.  The weather forecast for the next few days does not call for rain, so we looking forward to experiencing this delight!

Diane

Gros Morne 2

We woke up to more rain and cold weather, but this didn't stop us.  We had booked a 10 am boat tour of Bonne Bay and headed to the harbor.  The two and a half hour tour told us about the multi-varied geology which lead to the park being named a UNESCO site.  We didn't see any whales, but the ship did come with a pirate.

We saw more of the Newfloundland coast and continued to appreciate the role of the sea in the lives of Newfoundlanders.

Joe had mentioned in an earlier entry about Screech, which is the local rum.  The Newfoundlanders have a ceremony to allow visitors to become natives called "Screeching in."  Today we were screeched in.  This involves reciting a variety of statements in the Newfoundland dialect, kissing a cod and then downing a shot of screech.  So we are both now Newfies.  But I guess Joe was one already via his great-grandparents.

After lunch we took a hike to the head of a lake that was once a fiord but now was a fresh water lake due to the geological changes that had closed the mouth of the fiord to the sea.  This lake was an ultra-oliogotrophic lake (a new word for me).  This means it had very little aquatic life, plant or animal.  It is also one of the cleanest lakes in the world.  You could take a boat ride on this lake, but we had exhausted our desires for boat rides at this time and we just hiked the trail back.

Diane

Diane just about covered everything for today. So I will discuss a little about tomorrow. Due to the forecast of more rain and cold weather tomorrow, we have decided to cut our time here by one day. We are going to leave here about 5:30AM tomorrow morning and drive about 5 hours to the port in the southwest of Newfoundland where we will board the ferry about 10:30 for a 6 hour ferry ride back to Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Although the wather has not been what we had wanted, it has really not slowed us down much. I really like this island, and would like to return some day.

Oh, one neat thing today. We got a chance to see our first two moose at a distance of about a quarter of a mile. they are huge animals. This provincial park actually has 5,000 of them in the park (NL has more than 120,000 across the island) Moose are not native to this island, but 4 were brought here in the 1800s to increase the meat supply, and now have grown to the current herd size. they are actually becoming a national problem, as they eat too much trees and foilage. The government now allows 5,000 hunting licenses per year to begin to reduce the size of the herd.

We have enjoyed ourselves in this Canadian province and are looking forward to more to come.

Joe