Canadian Capitals 6/19/19 (Montreal to Quebec City)



Our drive started at 8:30am and on the way out of town, we passed the Olympic Stadium used for the 1976 Summer Olympics.  It was nicknamed "The Big O" partially due to the construction of the roof which proved to be a poor choice for the climate of Montreal.  The roof has been repaired and replaced so many times that the locals now refer to the stadium as "The Big Owe".  The stadium has the largest seating capacity in Canada, but is now used mostly for really large events (concerts, monster truck shows) as Montreal does not currently have a baseball or football team calling Montreal home.  There are usually only a dozen or so events there annually.

We made our morning break stop at Chez Dany.  Primarily a restaurant, it has a display that traces the evolution of maple sugar production in a separate "sugar shack".  We started our visit by sampling Maple taffy.  Maple taffy is made by boiling maple sap past the point of maple syrup, but less than the temperature needed for maple butter or sugar.  The liquid is then poured onto a bed of ice (or snow) into a little well.  As it cools, a wooden stick (like a popsicle stick) is used to pick up the taffy which can then be eaten like a Slo-Poke (like a lollypop).  Maple production is very important to the economy of Canada.  After a short demonstration on the tapping of maple trees and cooking of the sap, we enjoyed a cup of coffee and, you guessed it, maple cookies.

Pressing on, we drove for about two hours until we turned off the highway for lunch.  The Manor Montmorency sits next to the Montmorency Falls.  These falls are higher that Niagara Falls and, following lunch, we would have an opportunity to view them from many angles.  We were seated in an upstairs room for lunch where we had a salad followed by a choice of three entrees and a small dessert.

Heading outside, a local guide joined our group and we made a slow walk up the falls learning the history of the manor and the adjacent falls.  Following a little free time to view the falls from the top, we retraced our steps to the manor, then boarded a cable car which took us to the base of the falls where our tour guide finished the tour.  Our bus was waiting for us, and we continued onward to Quebec City.

Arriving at the hotel about 3:30pm, we made our way to our room.  This was a bit of a challenge as the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac is quite beautiful and stately, but it is also HUGE.  We walked down several long corridors and around a few corners before locating our room only one room from the end of a very long hall.  (We had the next to the last room on a long hallway in our last hotel also!).  Mary has determined it is around 250 steps from our room to the elevators making it easy to get in those 10,000 steps a day!

We had an option to use our included dinner tonight or tomorrow night and we also had a choice of restaurants, Champlain or SAM's, the first being very formal and taking almost 2 &1/2 hours to dine.  We opted for SAM's which is the more casual venue.  We both opted to eat light and enjoyed the onion soup.  Mary had the beet salad and Bonnie ordered the five cheese plate.  We had been warned that the portions were large, but suffice it to say that we will be having cheese again tomorrow night for dinner.

CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO SEE TODAY'S PICTURES (Double click on any picture to make the image larger, then scroll from one picture to the next)

Pictures 6/19/19


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bluegrass to Blue Ridge 5-6-21 (Knoxville Zoo-Not)

Image
We packed up the car and departed the cabin this morning, heading to Knoxville, about an hour drive away.  Although we enjoyed the cabin and the view, I was very happy when we made the drive down the mountain road one last time.   We made a reservation at a hotel across from the airport as Maura & Amelia will be Boston bound on a 7am flight tomorrow morning.  That left most of the day available for seeing Knoxville and, since children of all ages enjoy the zoo, we set our sights on Lions, Tigers & Bears. As we pulled into the parking lot, Mary stated she wanted to grab her camera; that’s when we had an oh-oh moment…the camera bag was still hanging on the back of the chair in the dining room IN THE CABIN.  We dropped Maura & Amelia at the entrance to the zoo and made our way back to Pigeon Forge.  By the time we returned to Knoxville, there was not much left for the others to see at the zoo, so we just waited in the car. Once at the hotel, we enjoyed the pool, a quick
Read more

Yellowstone 8/12/18 (Jackson Hole to Yellowstone)

This morning we split into two groups referred to as floaters and shoppers.  The floaters, the majority of the group, signed up for the optional float trip down the Snake River; the shoppers had a free morning to relax or wander around Jackson Hole.  We opted for the float trip. We headed out in the bus, but then transferred to three vans towing our rafts.  Our guide, Zach, drove us up river, where we doned our life vests.  The  rafts were launched and we climbed aboard, literally.    Getting in and out of the raft was the hardest part of the trip.  Zach, expertly guided the raft pointing out wildlife and scenery of interest.  We just sat back and enjoyed the view and as we peacefully floated along.  Although a little hazy, the trip provided the best view of the Grand Tetons.  We also saw people fly fishing or at least trying the sport.  Zach pointed several eagles And their nest, a mother and baby raccoon and some moose antlers.  The raft ahead of us was delighted by having a moose
Read more

Canadian Capital 6/18/19 (Old Montreal)

We started this morning with our group picture.  Walking across the street from the hotel to the Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, we lined up on the steps, smiled a few times and we were done. This morning we are off to the Old Montreal walking tour with a few food tastings thrown in.  Since the streets in the old area are pretty narrow, Guy dropped us off on the outskirts where we broke into four groups, each with a local guide.  Old Montreal was first settled in 1624 by the French as Fort Ville-Marie.  Many structures date back to that era of New France.  This is where the cruise ship docks are now located. Our guide told us about many of the buildings we passed and how their uses have changed over time. We saw the original Molson factory.  Molson has a long history in Montreal dating back to 1786.  As the city grew in size due to immigration, many of the new arrivals brought communicable diseases which threatened the water supply. The original brewery was started and flouris
Read more