Saturday June 18, 2022

Montreal to Quebec City

I woke up to no voice.  I've had a scratchy throat for a couple of days, and the loud music in the Japanese restaurant last night that I had to yell over all evening did not do my voice any good.

This morning it is ten degrees and raining.  We walked to McDonalds for a nice cheap breakfast, and were picked up by our driver at 11:15 to go to the train station.  The train left at 1:10, 25 minutes late.  We are no longer surprised by the late departures and arrivals of public transportation.

I didn't take any photos on the 5 hour train trip as 1) I was not sitting by the window and 2) there was nothing outstanding to photograph.

Our room at the Hotel Frontenac.  Tiniest bathroom so far, not counting train bathrooms, but more than made up for by the rest of the room and the view.

The view from our tower window.  The St. Lawrence and the Governor's Promenade boardwalk on the left, the brown building with the green roof is the American Consulate, and the Montcalm/Wolfe memorial on the right.

Lévi across the river.

We walked along the Governor’s Promenade which is 310 steps up to the Citadel.  You can see the colourful rooftops of the Lower Town on the left.

We walked around the top of the Citadel.

And then the sun came out.

The oldest building in Quebec City, built in 1675.

A beautiful sunset that seemed to go on forever.

Friday June 17, 2022

Montreal

After all the rain yesterday we woke up to a blue sky morning.  We were able to wear shorts today for only the second time since we left home.  We met Brad's sister Gail and her friend Debbie at 10, went for crepes, and walked around the old town together.

After a quick snack and glass of wine to tide us over, it was time for our walking tour from 2 – 5 pm with Robbie, who was amazing.  We learned too much to write here about Montreal history and architecture, so I will let my photos do the talking.

Maisonneuve, the founder of Montreal in 1642.

Inside the old Bank of Montreal building.

A fun satirical sculpture of a stereotypical French woman.  She is facing away from another statue across the square of a typical Englishman holding a pug.  The dogs want to play with each other while the people turn up their noses at each other.  It is a commentary on the relationship between the French and the English - they may not always agree, but they find a way to get along.

Detail on Notre Dame Basilica.

Molson's had a bank - the building still stands.

Beautiful detail on the building before it was CIBC.

This was a street that has been completely glassed in between the buildings.  It keeps the workers warm and dry in the winter.  The light grey brick on the ground with the darker brick on either side shows where the old city wall used to be.

Another old bank building, I forget which bank.  Montreal was the banking centre of Canada before Toronto took over.  The space up the stairs at the back has been converted into a cooperative café with meeting rooms available to use.  They have kept the original décor, right down to the teller's wickets and the beautiful tables and lamps that you used to fill out your deposit slips on.

Another beautiful building.

Old fire hall.

Robbie took us up to the top of the museum, where there is a grand view of the old town and the waterfront.

A museum, followed by a photo of the plaque showing who has occupied the building since 1705.  The museum has been the occupant since 1895.

Colourful street.

We went for drinks with Sonya, Lisa and Glen, then we all ate great quantities of Japanese food.  In case I haven't said, Sonya is from New York City and Lisa & Glen are from San Diego.  We are all on the train to Halifax together, and have been gradually hanging out more as the trip progresses.

Thursday June 16, 2022

We were able to have a more leisurely morning today.  Breakfast, packed and walked across the street to Union Station to catch the 11:30 train to Montreal.

We were sitting in the middle of our car with 2 seats facing forward and 2 backward with a table in between.

We just got settled when we were asked to move since it was just the 2 of us, so that a family could sit together.  We could hear small children behind us, so we said of course!  It turns out, the family that HAD to sit together have 2 kids in their late teens/early 20’s.  Meanwhile, the 2 small children we ended up sitting back-to-back with, with their dad across the aisle from them and their mom one seat further back, were as good as gold on their own.  At least by moving we didn’t have to sit facing strangers, making conversation.  It was nice to just be by ourselves.

Meanwhile, I thought I was having multiple hot flashes, as I was slowly getting warmer and warmer.  Three hours into the trip they announced that the air conditioning wasn’t working, and because we are directly behind the engine it adds to the heat, plus it’s 27 feels like 37 outside with the humidity.  They did their best to keep us hydrated with cold water, but we were sweating pretty freely.  And I didn’t wear shorts because I thought it might be too chilly on the train…

Some scenery, mostly farms along the tracks.

All that heat and humidity turned into stormy weather as we rolled into Montreal.

We got picked up by a driver who drove us to our hotel in a downpour.  We got changed then walked a couple of blocks in the still pouring rain to our fancy French dinner at the Restaurant Bonaparte.

Brad's appetizer of foie gras.

My chicken with Brie - gorgeous presentation!

On our walk back to the hotel after dinner, luckily the rain had completely stopped.  We decided to do a loop down to the river and back.

Then back to our hotel.  The F1 Grand Prix is on Saturday so there are chequered flags everywhere.  A lot of store windows are decorated with racing themes and there are a lot of high end cars and tourists in town.