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Leaving Norwich

Kayaking was wonderful. Quebec was wonderful. The Norwich Inn is charming and the Upper Valley is delightful. Every town or building seems to elicit the adjectives "cute" or "adorable." We have been searching for other adjectives. We saw the Queechee Gorge which was just plain amazing. We watched the stars come out from Monica's porch and reluctantly said good-bye after a delicious dinner.

Now it's on to Boston. Swan boats, here we come!

Headed Out

Dont know if Ill be able to get to a computer in Glen Sutton (still havent found the apostrophe on this keyboard). We leave Montreal this morning. Au Revoir.

More City, Less Walking

We hopped on a hop-on, hop-off double decker bus for a tour of parts of the city we had not yet seen. First stop, another church (cathedral, really). But oh my goodness, this one was amazing. Ive never seen anything like it, and Ive seen my share of European cathedrals. This was the Cathedral of Notre Dame and it was breathtaking. I will have to get pictures up to show this one - words will not do it justice.

Next stop, Old Montreal, where it was hard to believe we were not in Europe. Narrow, cobblestone streets, beautiful old buildings, lots of flowers everywhere. We had a great lunch and then hopped back on the bus. This time we rode for awhile before we got off at the Park on top of Mont Royal. A short walk took us to an incredible view of the city, and the weather was perfect.

We finished off our tour with a quick visit to the Musee de BeauxArtes, which surprisingly, was free! We walked back towards our apartment, finding a grocery store where we picked up a six-pack of Canadian beer (the same kind Suzanne and I enjoyed at lunch - Biere Boreale) and some salads.

Tonight we will watch Obama and McCain at Saddleback Church on CNN. And more Olympics, of course. Tomorrow we leave this great city for the Eastern Townships. Au Revoir.

Paninis and Iced Caps Are Better Here

We decided at dinner that we may have walked another ten miles yesterday. We rode the Metro to the Botanical Garden. Fortunately they had a free tram which we rode around until we decided to get off. We strolled the Japanese Garden, the Chinese Garden, the Alpine Garden, the Garden of Useful Plants, and the Flowering Brook Garden. Lunch was panini sandwiches on the patio, even though it had started to rain lightly. We found a table with an umbrella and discovered what paninis are supposed to taste like. Mmmm...

After lunch we walked through the exhibition greenhouses, and then got back on the Metro. Downtown we started in Dorchester Square, where I discovered what a difference it makes if you make an iced cap with cold espresso, add cold milk, and cold whipped cream. No ice, just yummy, not too sweet and just what my tired body needed. We walked on to explore two more churches. The Catholic one I called the fake St. Peters (I cant find either quotation marks or apostrophes on this French character keyboard). The cathedral was built as a one-quarter scale replica of St. Peters in Rome, right down to the Bernini altar canopy. Kind of weird. The Anglican one, St. George, was said to be the most beautiful church in Montreal. It was truly incredible, lots of wood, classic English Gothic.

We emerged from the church to see a crowd forming, a red carpet, TV crews, and thought we might be back in LA. This was outside the hockey center. Turns out Celine Dion was doing a show, returning to her homeland after her stint in Vegas. Apparently these Canadians adore her. We thought maybe Suzannes celebrity spotting abilities (already saw Samantha Ronson) would help us spot the star, but we decided we needed dinner and headed uptown.

Dinner was Greek, and then it was Olympics on TV. Today we are headed for Old Montreal but we are going to try for a tour bus to save our feet. Au Revoir.

Ten Miles Walking Plus a Bus and a Subway

Montreal is a wonderful city. At times it feels like one could be in London, Paris, Boston, or New York. French is heard everywhere, but everyone easily switches to English when they catch on that we are Americans. The parks are everywhere, with fountains, statues and beautiful gardens. The Metro is fast and efficient. The people are friendly and helpful. What more could one ask for in a city?

We started out on a walking tour. We then got on a bus and rode out to the Olympic Park, where we rode the funicular up to the top of the Olympic Tower. I remember seeing that image on the television so many times back in 1976. The view was magnificent. We rode the Metro back to downtown, walked up to see St. Patrick's Cathedral. After dinner, we took the long way back to our apartment and saw the Anglican Christchurch (with a red door, of course). We then decided we were in need of gelato, so it was another walk through the area we had seen in the morning. Filled with restaurants, bars and clubs, it had certainly come alive with the young hip crowd. Over gelato we decided that we had easily walked ten miles.

Au Revoir!

Bonjour from Montreal!

Had to switch the computer from French to English to write this post. Wow French is sure a beautiful language to listen to. Nice that everyone speaks English also, though. Our cab driver spoke five languages!

After a croissant for breakfast, we are off to explore this beautiful city. Had to laugh, we had dinner at a cafe called Coasters that served "Cuisine Californienne." Weather is beautiful, and we have a great apartment on the sixteenth floor and watched the moon rise over the city lights.

Au revoir!