Revolutionary History and Ciderweek

 26 October 2022

Today is our day to explore the Old City. We wanted to take the metro/subway at least once, so I found a bus that goes to the City Hall and we took the metro from there to the Old City. The metro has stainless steel cars so it is somehow noisier than Bart. And the name SEPTA sounds unfortunately rather like sepsis which is unfortunate.

We walked a few blocks to the Philadelphia Mint, something Barney was keenly interested in seeing. They had a terrific history exhibit that tracked major US event, the issuance of coinage, and the admission of states and pre-Revolutionary dates. The self-guided tour took us through the various stages of coin making, and along a long corridor which allowed us to look over the production floor. The machinery was fascinating, as well as the quality control, of course - flawed coins are “waffled” and then the metals recycled. We watched thousands of bright copper pennies and shiny quarters moving swiftly in the conveyor buckets toward the stamper, and at the end, one worker pressing 3” commemorative medals in a giant press. We spent about 2 hours on the 45-minute tour.

As we left the mint, it has clearly rained, though there was only a 20% chance of rain when we left so we decided not to bring our umbrellas. It was now only misting, and we found a nice bench under a tree behind the original Quaker meeting house to eat our lunch, leftovers from the delicious dinner Madeleine left for us on arrival. We walked on to the Liberty Bell center, which was fronted by the archaeological remains of the house that George Washington lived in with this family during his Presidency, when the government was headquartered here before DC. The signage and videos spoke to the enslaved servants he brought with him to Philadelphia, and two who escaped during their time here. In that era, slavery was ubiquitous, even in the North. The exhibits inside showed much of the history of the Liberty Bell, whose crack was first documented in 1846, and never rung since. There was also a Women’s Liberty Bell paid for by a a Philadelphia woman who was advocating for women’s rights, which toured the country. The Liberty Bell itself was a bit mundane … plain with very rough rim as if pieces had been chipped off over time.

Then across the street to Independence Hall. Tickets in hand we got into an earlier tour, and saw the two chambers which were the original state house and state courts of Pennsylvania, and is famous for being the place where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed. The chair at the head of the room is the same one from which George Washington presided. We also went to see the “Great Essentials” in the nearby building, where surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Articles of Confederation were displayed. It was interesting to realize that the Articles essentially created 13 small sovereign units with no central government, so after a dozen years, the former colonies were in chaos, thus the need for the Constitution, an entirely new document. I think this puts to rest the idea of States’ rights being a good thing. It did not work then, and it does not work now, witness the ridiculous and dangerous situation of every state deciding about a woman’s right to choose health care, creating a patchwork of laws all over the place. After this, we went to the old Congress Hall, and saw the original chambers for the House and Senate, again with the original chair of the presiders.

A walk through some nearby gardens was nice, except for running into nasty-smelling male ginkgo tree stuff which really does smell like vomit, surprising that these are planted in such nice gardens. A few roses were still blooming in the rose garden … amazing that these green spaces are still around in such a dense area. Then back to the metro, a quick stop at Whole Foods for some breakfast items, and back to the Airbnb.

We headed over to Madeleine’s apartment, and off to a restaurant called Elwood, for a Ciderweek dinner. Madeleine likes cider so this was going to be fun. It was a small place, and the makers of the ciders were there pouring, so enthusiastically explaining about the various varieties of apples, and how there have been 200+ years of apple cultivation in Pennsylvania. The area they are from is Adam’s County, they called it the “Sonoma of Pennsylvania apples.” The multi-course dinner was delicious, with the brown-butter trout on squash purée being a standout. Each diner received a special cider glass (we left these for Madeleine) and a jar of their apple butter - we left two of these for Madeleine and will take one to Susanne and Bruce.

Penn Museum and a lovely dinner

 25 October 2022

Having scoped out where to buy a transit pass - a pharmacy two blocks away - we head out for the day. This tiny street curves off the main Pennsylvania Avenue, is quiet and quite tiny, close to the art museums, and perfect for our needs.

We take the #49 directly to the Penn Museum and get some nice views of Philadelphia on the way, see the train station where we’ll go on Saturday, and just past the big football field is the Penn Museum. There is only one other person in the lobby, so it is quiet day. We are greeted by a giant red granite Egyptian Sphinx, weighing several tons, with carved hieroglyphics that look like they could have been carved yesterday. We head first to the Near East gallery, which covers the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, and nearby areas. The Penn Museum collections are primarily from the actual research expeditions of Museum staff and Penn faculty going back over 100 years. This gallery was recently renovated, and uses video screens to introduce each area where you can focus on a specific artifact, rather than lots of small things in cases with labels. The cuneiform writing tablets, the beautiful pottery, and seals are impressive, but the jewelry is astonishing. Gold, carnelian, Lapis lazuli, and more are in necklaces, bracelets, huge earring made of the thinnest gold, elaborate headdresses with gold leaves hanging from multi-c9ed beads, and more. While in the gallery, I see someone who looks familiar. It is Jeffrey Brown, the arts and culture reporter for the PBS NewsHour. His crew is here shooting a segment on the Benin bronzes and repatriation, and he recently did a segment on the Native American remains at the Hearst Museum in Berkeley. The Museum’s PR director comes over to us and asks if we would be willing to be filmed seeing the exhibit, and of course we said yes. We admired a display of jewelry woe the cameraman was nearby. Afterwards we spoke with Jeffrey Brown - we told him we are from the Bay Area to visit our daughter, a PhD student in Archaeology, and it turns out he is from Berkeley, and his daughter is a professor of Archaeology at Rice University in Houston! We had an interesting conversation about repatriation and noted how we liked his piece on the Hearst. What a thrill to meet him in person!

On to the Egyptian galleries, the core of the Museum. One huge room has many large scale works on pedestals, and the nearby smaller galleries go deeply into the world of mummies and preservation through the thousands of years of the ancient Egyptian culture. These older galleries are small and definitely need some improved signage. The newer Egyptian galleries, recently renovated, also feature wonderful artifacts including gorgeous sarcophagi, masks, jewelry, and more. A new gallery is for conservation which allows you to see the experts at work, and works awaiting conservation.

Downstairs to see the Benin bronzes, which are indeed masterworks, the revised exhibit shows the “object journey, where an artifact came from and how it got to the museum for many of the items. One case featuring a letter from a military guy who had stolen some items he felt were not worth money but were interesting, thinking of offering them to the Musem, and there they were.

After a quick lunch, we went to a exhibit on U2 spy planes and how their amazingly detail3 images can be used by archaeologists to document how thin*s looked, especially in the Middle East, during the 50s and 60. Then additional Egyptian galleries, and we peeked behind the curtain of the new Eastern Mediterranean gallery which is what Madeleine is working on. We also saw an amazing Carthaginian mosaic IN THE FLOOR where people could walk on it. How this was not protected I do not know, but it was stunning. It was time to head back to meet Madeleine for diner, so back to the #49 bus and close to the Airbnb.

Madeleine had scored a reservation on Vetri Cucina, the Chez Panisse of Philadelphia. We took a Lyft there and had a wonderful four-course dinner with amuse-bouche and palate cleaner, and Barney got 5e 22nd parings so w could taste those also. It was delicious, beautifully served, and introduced us to some interesting new flavors. We especially liked the scallop ravioli and the onion crepe and multi-meat tortellini. 

We headed back to Madeleine’s apartment and got to see her place for the first time. It is so nice and cozy, filled with the artwork she has collected over the years, and she seems very settled there. We had a good chat about local politics and National issues, and saw a beautiful mosaic mural on a house. We walked back to our airbnb after a lovely first day in Philadelphia.

Off to Philadelphia!

 24 October 2022

We headed out about 8:15 for BART to the airport, got through TSA-Pre quickly (so grateful as lines were long), and out full flight headed out on time. We have gotten good at packing just the carry-on and backpack, so the transfer in Chicago went well, and we landed on time (though it was a bumpy ride). We took a Lyft to our airbnb as Madeleine suggested. She is so wonderful - she left us a warm piece of pork tenderloin in mustard sauce with carrots, a lovely salad and a few cookies, plus berries, milk, yogurt, and juice for breakfast. After a late dinner -10:30 in Philadelphia and 7:30 for us - we headed upstairs to sleep. The bed is one of those sleigh beds, rather high off the ground so I have to hike myself up, yet quite comfy. We’ll be ready for our day in Philadelphia tomorrow.

Rivière-Ouelle to Oakland

 Today is our big travel day, from rural Rivière-Ouelle back home to Oakland. After breakfast and a final cleanup, we go downstairs to the shop to give the owner the keys. I bought a nice pair of earrings for Madeleine, headed down the river road. It was about 90 minutes to Quebec-Ville, with a few drops of rain now and then. We found a nice spot on the river walk for a picnic lunch and watched some boats going by. It was a quiet peaceful spot yet only 20 minutes from downtown. On the way to dro to off the car, we found a little post office in a pharmacy so w could mail the postcards to family in the US. The return of the car went very smoothly … quite different than when the Hilton was the media center for the Pope’s visit a few days before, when it was filled with media and security.

We walked to the #11 bus and took it to the train station. We had plenty of time, and boarded the train for Montreal, and again there was some rain. At the Montreal station, our friend Matt picked us up with his partner Jacqueline. They had scoped out a restaurant near our budget airport hotel where we’d be for a grand total of of12 hours. The Italian restaurant was decent, great, but most important was having the time to talk and also to meet Jacqueline. It turned out that he knew the fellow with the beautiful dog who we met in Kamouraska, through public policy work … truly a small world. Back to the el, which was fill3 with kids staying there during a soccer tournament. For some reason, there was a security guard on the second floor at all hours, near the door …a little unusual. I tried to check in online, got Barney his seat but then the section was full and I could. Get a seat. After 30 minutes on some sort of chat with a person who kept saying she could not do anything and refused to get me to a supervisor, I called and got the same run around, except this time the person at least said I could fix it at the airport.

We rose early, had a simple breakfast downstairs (standard budget hotel style) and got a cab to the airport. We gave him a nice tip, and Barney pulled all the Canadian coins from his pocket and gave him those as well. Check-in was fine and security was smooth, but we were told we could not get my seat there, we had to do it in Newark. Grrr. We went through customs there, and we were so lucky to have the Global Entry cards. We went right through and on to our gate. The hundreds of other folks were in an hours-long line, about  100 per line and it snaked back and forth at least 12 times. I’ve never seen so many people running for their flights, it must have been a terrible backup. Relatively small plane, there was a bird strike so a bit of delay, otherwise fine, and we headed right for the United Club. The one in that part of the terminal was huge .. you could walk for five minutes end to end. We found a table, had some late lunch, and found some nice chairs to relax while we had a 4-hour layover.

Exactly 90 minutes before the flight we left the club for the gate to get my seat. 15 minutes later the agent showed up, I explained to him that when the flight time was changed my prior reserved seats were removed, and now my husband had a seat and I did not. He almost moved us to business class but instead moved someone else and we were back together in Premium economy or whatever it is called. It was a backed flight and they were offering cash to folks to take a later flight, we were already getting home late so did not want to delay further. The flight was fine (we stayed masked on both flights) arrived early, we got our stuff and got a Bart train home. Walking home in the dark we were both tired … it was more like 12:30am since we adjusted to East coast time. And it was a little sad walk in the door, no sweet doggies to greet us. We are still so sad thinking about the loss of Bucky and Anna. Tomorrow we are back to work, then unpack and do laundry. We are fortunate to have had the chance to take this wonderful trip, and stay healthy while traveling.

Rivière-Ouelle Day 3

Our last full day in Rivière-Ouelle and Kamouraska was planned to be for the Fil Rouge, the Red Circuit which included a specific mini-tour for the Levesque family.

One of the interesting things we both noticed is that, for many of the houses here, the front steps lead to grass or maybe gravel, never to a concrete walkway to the sidewalk or street. Is this because people now always enter from the back where they park their cars? It seems off to see a lovely front porch with steps that just lead to grass. And the driveways are often gravel or grass, not asphalt, making me wonder how they manage to plow them in the winters?

We head out on the circuit to St-Pâcome, where we encountered the beautiful Riviere Saumon, and a lovely old restored mill. There is a tree nearby which rustles so loudly in the wind!

We go to the outskirts of Rivière-Ouelle, and finally get to the huge area of land that belonged to Robert Levesque and a Jeanne Chevalier. Truly a shiver moment, to see that this enormous expanse of land was theirs and they farmed this using simple plows. Their land stretched all the way to the river, as was typical for these concessions of lands.

We had a tour of the Petite École by a young local woman. The school was active 1931-1965, built by local families, and used until the yellow school bushes meant centralizing students in larger schools. This one was grades 1-7, after which children either went to work or went to secondary schools. The second teacher at the school was actually a student when she was younger, with her older sister a teacher, and she herself became the new teacher at age 16! The teacher lived in two tiny rooms on the side of the schoolroom.

Then we went back to the Quai de La Chapelle and out to the wharf area. It was less dramatic than yesterday when a storm was coming in, but still quite windy. We had our picnic lunch at a nice table, where a small path had been cut through the shrubs for the table to ensure a good view. We stopped at the community center, formerly a church, to watch some short documentaries from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, by a local priest.

Finally, we continued on to Pocatiere, the last stop on their the circuit. We saw the large and imposing St Anne’s College, which was designed by Pierre Levesque, one of the largest buildings we’ve seen in the area.

Finally we went back to the Pointe de Rivière-Ouelle, right out where the Rivière-Ouelle meets the St. Lawrence River. We took a walk along the beach, marveling at the large waves and big wind, watching a dad and his son playing soccer on the beach. The driftwood was piled everywhere in artful arrangements by chance, and the grass undulated with the wind … it was quite beautiful.

Then back to the main part of Rivière-Ouelle for dinner. We went over to the school to see the photo exhibit, which had wonderful photos dating back to the 1880s of work and family and school life, truly interesting. We got the Levesque hat for Larry, and headed over to the tent. We saw folks leaving with large styrofoam containers which seemed odd, as we thought it would be dinner in the tent. No, it was indeed a takeout of barbecued chicken, so we lined up and got our two dinners and headed back to Kamouraska.

We decided to walk down to the river’s edge where we had walked two nights ago, and have dinner there. On the way, we walked along the same street which had the house with the four putting greens, and saw a man come out with a dog who seemed to be Atlas’s double. We said hello and how beautiful his dog was, he spoke English well and we had a great chat while he threw the ball to his dog, named Ulysses. His dog was very friendly, with light brown eyes like Atlas, and the same kind of coarse fur. The man said he was a Lab-golden retriever-husky mix, and he had the same curled tail like Atlas’, and the same friendly personality. It made us both a little sad. We asked him about the putting greens, and he said it was a par-3 course, with flags for Quebec, Canada, Ireland, and Barbados, where one of his ancestors was from. He asked if we wanted to see the house, as it was somewhat historic. We jumped at the chance, and walked into a beautifully restored house originally built in the 1880s by his great-great-grandparents. After a fire it was rebuilt per the original with a few changes. It still has a dumbwaiter inside, some historic furniture, and lots of historic photos. He said he did a lot of genealogy and offered to help with our research. He plays hockey during the winter and golf in the summer, he is a retired journalist who had lived and worked all over the world, as his wife was a diplomat. She seemed not surprised as he brought us into the house and introduced us. They had incredible views of the river, and the fact that it has been in the family a long time is so interesting. He noted that he was on the town council and the board of the Kamouraska Museum as a well. We finally parted as the mosquitos started biting. We went back to the gite and had our BBQ chicken dinner which was huge and delicious, with plenty of leftovers for our travel lunch tomorrow.we packed up and got ready to leave in the morning.

Rivière-Ouelle Day 2

 After a leisurely breakfast, the Barney weekend special, we get ready for a big day at the 350th in Rivière-Ouelle. We went into the town hall Quonset hut which was now packed with artisans and representatives of the various family associations. We had a good time speaking French and English with the two older men at the Levesque table and scoped out the art. We went over to the large tent, called a chapiteau in French, as we had bought tickets for the lunch. One of the fellows we saw at the Levesque table came over and introduced us to two other older fellows, both Anglophone Levesques, one who lived in Maine, one in Canada. Both were surprised that we had come all the way from California for the event, and I mentioned the connection to Lynne Levesque and her book. They were very nice and welcoming. There were remarks and a short film about the connection to Hautot-St-Sulpice, a small town in Normandie where many of the early settlers came from. After a squash soup, there was a bacon-wrapped chicken roulade with haricot verts and carrots and tiny potatoes, and I think the vegetables were local as we had seen lots of haricot verts in the small grocery. We chatted with some other folks - most people here switch fairly easily to English, though I always speak French first and try to do only that, but I do get stuck with not hearing things quickly enough to understand and respond. A spice cake with fresh berrries finished the lunch, and it was a really nice meal.

The big event for us was Lynne Levesque’s lecture. In my earlier correspondence she had mentioned having a translation, which we were grateful for. She wore a simple costume similar to what Jeanne Chevalier would have worn, and a man named Jaques had a costume similar to the Seigneur, her third husband (who we later learned was her real-life partner). They enacted the lecture as a conversation between the two, giving history and anecdotes that explained their lives. The English translation was 12 pages so we were very glad to have it, as a 75-minute presentation in French would have been a bit tough. There were other Anglophones in the audience as well. After the lecture we had a nice chat (after she finished signing books, I had forgotten mine at the gite), she told us how she spent a sabbatical in Normandie and eventually decided to stay there, and now lives in Dieppe. We learned a lot, and they did a great job bringing this history to life.

After the lecture, we visited the cemetery next door and took photos of the marker for Jeanne and Robert. Back to the town hall, we did our registration for the Levesaque Association, bought some lovely photo cards of the area to send to the family, and a nice red tote bag with the Levesque “coat of arms.” Outside we watched a blacksmith demonstration, and I bought a small ceramic bowl from one of the women who was demonstrating pottery-making.

We decided to drive out to the quai, saw more 350s on many homes and barns, and noticed it was starting to cloud over. We passed fields with huge rolled bales of hay just like in an Impressionist painting, and arrived at the quai where it felt 20 degrees cooler and windy. The views of the water and the mountain beyond were magnificent and dramatic. We decided to drive along the water then to Kamouraska, stopping to enjoy the views. We had a nice dinner at the main fish restaurant t and fresh fish vendor, salmon torte for me, fish and chips for Barney, and the local Boreal beer. We stopped at La Fee Gourmand chocolate shop, which was recommended by Josee who owns the gite, and got some cookies for dessert and some chocolates for Madeleine. Back at the gite, I caught up on my notes and got ready for the Circuit Rouge and the Levesque markers to be explored tomorrow.

Rivière-Ouelle Day 1

 Wednesday the 27th of July. We are up early to pack and get the rental car. Luckily the #11 is running again, although with diversions because of the Papal visit, and we got to the Hilton near the Parlement Building, got our little Toyota Corolla, and swung back to Quai Andre, We got some nice sandwiches at the coffee cafe (jambon and cheese for Barney, smoked salmon for me), loaded up the car, and were off. Doubling back through town near the river's edge, I continue to be amazed by the lack of traffic virtually everywhere, even in tourist areas. We get to the main highway and drive for over an hour before connecting to the road that goes to Rivière-Ouelle. We have entered the countryside, with large areas of farms punctuated by stands of trees, and hills to the right (south). We eventually got onto a much smaller road, and entered the village, which was a few buildings and very spread out, and every other house had some sort of 350th decoration out front. We continued to the end of the road where Rivière-Ouelle connected up to the St. Lawrence River, which was huge and magnificent. We pulled off the road to take photos. Heading back, we see the signs for the 350th and park at the church. We went in and took some photos… it was rebuilt in the early 20s after a fire, and the ceiling is painted white with lovely gold insets. Then we went into the huge Quonset hut that is the community hall, as various vendors were setting up. We saw models of the three different bridges over the past 300 years, and spoke to a fellow at the Levesque table, who told us to come back the next day to join the Association Levesque.

We returned to the car, and drove up to Kamouraska where we are staying. We found a small market to get a few things, and checked into our Airbnb/gite, which is lovely and looks out at the river. It was still quite warm and muggy. After settling in, we walked about 15 minutes from our gite to the “center” of Kamouraska along the riverfront which was lovely. We had dinner at the Grand Ourse, or the Big Dipper in the US; our dinner of sandwiches and local beer was fine, nothing special, and we had a nice walk back. We read for a while and I organized my notes for the start of events the next day, including the heritage connection to Robert Levesque and Jeanne Chevalier, as I had a feeling someone might ask about this.

Quebec-Ville Day 2

 This was a busy, packed day! Tuesday the 26th of July. Quebec-Ville was about 5-7 degrees cooler than Montreal so a bit more comfortable. We arose early and decided to head first to the Cathedral, then to the Musée, then we would see what was next. We took the funicular up, which was nice, but voila, the Cathedral was closed for the week! We thought this might have to do with the arrival of the Pope the next day, who was in Canada for apologies and discussions with First Nation peoples. Everywhere in the upper town there were barricades along the sidewalks for this event. Across the street from the Cathedral was the Christmas shop, so we went in and found some commemorative ornaments to take home, and one for Larry as well. It was obviously very popular with tourists, as one of the staff spoke to one person in French, to Barney in English, and to another person in what I think was Mandarin. We decided we needed a snack and found a little bakery-cafe and got a jambon-bechamel croissant, and we sat on the nearby retaining wall of a different church to refresh.  We then walked to the luthier shop Madeleine had recommended. As soon as we walked in the smell of wood and varnish was wonderful, and the small front area was filled with violins, violas, cellos, and contrabasses. The owner was very nice, said all of the instruments were by other makers, his were done by special order and there were none in the shop. We admired his work, and then took a walk to I think rue St-Paul and headed for the Musem via the bus #11. 

 

The Musée National des beaux arts is near the River but west of the old town area. The entry was very modern, and the museum itself spanned five buildings, connected underground. We first head to the top floor for the Inuit art as Madeleine suggested, and it was incredible. The works expressed Inuit values of community, family, connection to nature, shamans and spirits, and more. Using indigenous materials such as whale vertebrae, soapstone, ivory and more, there were dancing musk ox, a walrus playing a drum, families fishing, shamans transforming into animals. One of the most stunning pieces was a polar bear sculpture, doubled as if looking at his reflection. Truly worth the visit and we learned a lot. There was an outdoor sculpture terrace nearby. Before we went out, we saw a large bee struggling, exhausted, against the window. Barney picked it up with the museum map and brought it outside where it flew instantly. There were several hives on the terrace, so we were glad to help it out the door.

Time for lunch at the museum cafe, run by a local chef. Barney had a lamb burger and I had a quinoa bowl with shredded duck and strawberries, and we both had some of each other’s as well, plus a créme brûlée that was delicious. We were by the window with a nice view outside … the sky began to be very overcast so we thought it might rain. We crossed over underground, and saw an exhibit of one Inuit artist whose works were amazing - I remembered one large whale vertebrae called “The Sacred Owl Bringing Clarity from Confusion,” every inch covered with human and animal and bird images all intertwined. We then went to the permanent collection, which has themes like becoming, creating, rebelling, imagining, and the works were roughly from 1700-1980. We were struck by the late 19th-early 20th century work of Canadian artists, clearly influenced by Impressionists, some of whom had trained in France. One artist, William Clapp, had works that were quite beautiful, early  Monet-like, and while born in Montreal, it turned out that he died in Oakland, I will have to find out more about him.

 

Then we decided to go to The Citadel, the large military fort on the river edge. I checked the website, it was 4:30, the last tour was at 5:00, and the map said it would take us 25 minutes to walk there, so off we went along George VI Avenue very fast. On the way we saw the huge stage set up we that for a concert, but then realized it was where the Pope would be speaking the next day. Several entries to the Citdel were thus blocked but at last we hurried in, and got tickets for the last tour. Our guide was named Yolanda and she asked that we call her by her nickname “Yo.” She gave a wonderful tour of the active military base and the home of the Canadian 22nd, which had distinguished itself in many battles beginning in WWI, with names of battles on the various buildings. Built after the war of 1812, the citadel itself was never attacked, and the river side was 300’ above the water and well-protected. The Governor-General was in residence for the Papal visit, the first-ever Indigenous woman in the role.

 

Everywhere were preparations for the Pope’s visit, including the cancellation of many busses, so we walked back down the hill. We freshened up after a fairly warm day and changed clothes. We walked again to the funicular and went to the upper town, and we had dinner reservations at Restaurant aux Anciens Canadiens, in the oldest house in Quebec-Ville. The restaurant attracted many tourists, and the prix fixe meal was incredibly filling. This was my second meat pie in two days, the Tortiere was huge and I could not finish it, and neither of us had room for the included dessert. Usually we split an appetizer, each order a main, and then split a dessert. Servings in Quebec are clearly large we now realize. As we walked home to the port in the lower town, we met an Indian family who asked if they were going the right direction to get to the Cathedral, we told them it was closed, and then they told us they were so glad to be there for Pope’s visit, clearly excited. This was going to be a very big deal for Quebec-Ville, which last had a Papal visit in 1984. After a very long day with a lot of walking, we were ready to pack and depart the next morning

Quebec-Ville Day 1

 We awoke late and had our breakfast. We discovered had bought some nice coffee beans but there was no coffee grinder so we used the old coffee. We spent some time figuring out the day, as it rained off and on in the morning. We decided to head to the train station to get metro tickets, which was difficult, the guy there told us to cross the street, go to rue Saint-Joseph and there would be a tabac where we could buy tickets. But there was no such street and no tabac and we got hot and thirsty, grrrr. We looked on the website and found that the bus station, right behind the train station, sold tickets, we went there and got the 20-ticket package which would last us this trip. The place was literally 50 feet from the guy who had given us the wrong directions. We both thought about how Madeleine would have really chewed him out for that.

We headed for the bus stop a few blocks away, and had a nice ride to the Parliament building for our tour, something Madeleine had encouraged us to do. We arrived a bit early, walked around the magnificent building and through the gardens, went through security and joined the tour.It was fascinating, incorporating the stolidly French- affiliation feel of the people of Quebec and how they wanted to preserve their French heritage. Somehow they incorporated the French, British, Irish, and Scottish ancestry of the people in a new coat of arms and the parliament. While the red maple leaf symbolizes Canada, the green maple leaf symbolizes French Canada. After the tour, we walked to Saint-Paul street to the Museum of Chocolate, really a second storefront next to a chocolate shop. It has a quite well-done set of exhibits about the origins of chocolate, its transformation into a staple of European society, and its popularity today. Of course, we bought some chocolates and enjoyed some delicious chocolate ice cream at a table outside. We also stopped at a store to get some laundry detergent, but everything was big plastic jugs and pods of 16 we would have had to dump. Then we saw a bar of laundry soap for $1.69 and that was it.

We continued going north, went up the original city stone walls, walked down a sweet little street called rue Saint-Louis, until it started getting crowded and suddenly we realized we were at Chateau Frontenac, the huge and expensive hotel at the top of the hill of the upper town. It is indeed huge and beautiful, but I could not believe they could build such a huge edifice, were there that many wealthy people traveling here years ago? We walked down to Dufferin Terrace with its spectacular views of the whole harbor, and walked a bit past the funicular and down a staircase, to a place with a huge historical mural, and then on rue Saint-Paul with crowds at restaurants until we were near our loft. We were tired but had a good day. We made a reservation for dinner at a restaurant in the oldest building in Quebec-Ville for tomorrow evening. This evening, we walked a few blocks to the Antiquaire Buffet that served traditional  Québécois dishes. I had a meat pie with salad and vegetables, Barney had veal meatballs in brown gravy with mashed potatoes and vegetables and salad, and we split a nice bottle of Merlot. We were both too full for dessert, so we walked along the waterfront, and watched the Aurora Borealis light show on the old grain elevators across from our loft light up in green, purple, and yellow, quite spectacular. It was nice being close to the water, and away from the busy tourist areas we saw today. We headed to bed for a big day tomorrow

Exploring Montreal Day 2, and to Quebec-Ville

 Sunday the 24th of August. We go up early to get to the Basilica by 8:30am to hear the organ before 9:am Mass. We were rewarded with some lovely Bach etudes, and stayed for the whole Mass, as the music consisted of the organ, the cantor, and the congregation, no chorus. It was really nice and contemplative, the first time I have been to a Mass in more than two years.

Back to the hotel for a nice conversation with Madeleine. She was glad we had checked out some of the recommendations, and she offered a few more for Quebec-Ville which we will enjoy checking out. We packed up and left our bags at the front desk, and headed out to the Musée des Beaux Artes, another 6 blocks of the walk, ride three stops and walk 6 blocks. We were quite hot by the time we reached the museum, which was gratefully nice and cool. We grabbed the last two sandwiches in the tiny cafe, post-lunch so there was little to choose from. We saw an interesting mix of work of the late 19th and early 20th century from the permanent collection, from Fragonard to Picasso. There were many paintings by some of the lesser-known luminaries of the era, many of whose names I remembered from my college class on early 20th century painters. One beautiful painting by Tissot called October was gorgeous, as well as a wood sculpture called Always! Never! of a young woman kissing a skeleton, who may have been taking her life away or who might have been the dead lover she was reuniting with.

Another long, hot walk back, we got some sandwiches for the train ride at the Depanneur across the street (painted green and very popular), and headed off the the Place d’Armes metro again. Two stops to the gard central, and about a mile walk underground to the actual train station. We got there quite early, hada long wait, and the loading was very smooth. Our seats were fine, we had our sandwiches, read and enjoyed the scenery, after threatening rain for days, it finally actually started raining about an hour from Quebec-Ville.

We arrived 30 minutes early to a downpour. It seemed almost everyone on the train was expecting to take the bus, so suddenly everyone was looking for a cab or car hire. Lyft did not work here, so I called Uber (which I have always disliked but gritted my teeth) waited 10 minutes to get a driver but no one confirmed, and someone had called a taxi company and asked them to send many cabs, which they did. We got a cab for the very short ride to the Airbnb, had a bit of drama getting in but finally got inside. The place was quite nice for two, but we needed things for breakfast. I looked for a grocery nearby on Google and found Le Marche de Emma an 11-minute walk, “mostly flat.” It has stopped raining mostly, and the walk turned out to be quite uphill, through a narrow back alley, up a rickety staircase to a rampart where there were two large black cannons, and then up more hilly streets. We finally got to the market, hot, wet, and tired. The woman there was quite nice, we got our breakfast things, and downhill was definitely easier, except now it was really pouring. We made it back and relaxed a bit before heading to bed after a long day of walking and traveling.

Exploring Montreal Day 1

 After we checked into our hotel last night, on rue St-Paul, we discovered it was the nightlife center of the area of Vieux Montreal. Big crowds were outside our three large windows (with a tiny balcony you could look out from, but too small to sit on), and when I leaned out people began calling to me from the street below! It was very active until about 1am, when at least two cars had a little sideshow a half-block away. We were so tired after a day of travel that we went right back to sleep.

In the morning, after a light breakfast downstairs, we headed out. It was already quite warm, over 80 degrees at 10am and humid. We walked along the waterfront, which had plenty of runners and cyclists, and found our way to a small island next to the locks of the old canal. Nearby on a peninsula were a number of huge - 7 stories at least - grain elevators and storage warehouses from the earlier shipping era, covered with graffiti. We walked around a bit, and met a nice National Defense officer who answered some questions; when a couple guys in wetsuits walked up from nowhere, we realized they were probably doing some exercises, and we walked back to the mainland. We saw a nice little farmer’s market by the Madison des Éclusièrs, the house of the lock keepers, which was now a nice cafe. We enjoyed our walk, but it was getting hot and time for somewhere cool.

Next stop: the Basilica de Notre-Dame, one of the largest churches in North America, a beautiful neo-Gothic church inspired by St-Chapelle in Paris. The ceiling did indeed have the golden stars on a deep blue background, and the painted columns with gold patterns. All the stained glass told the early history of Montreal rather than the usual Biblical saints, and there were statues of the many Canadian saints as well. It was cool, not too crowded, and very peaceful. I lit a candle for all of our ancestors and relatives who have gone. 

Time for lunch … we walked to the Musée Archaeologique et Historique de Montréal, which told the story of the city’s founding, and had a nice rooftop cafe with a great view of the river. Barney had eggs Benedict and I had a tomato burrata salad that was delicious. It was a terrific small museum, built on top of the original fort and the residence of the famous Louis-Hector de Callière, the first governor of Montreal who brokered a historic peace treaty among the 32 tribes in the larger area. The underground area also had one of Montreal's original sewers you could walk through. There was a fascinating history with the names of each of the 49 founders of Montreal, some with names, some unknown. A woman named Jeanne Mance was presented in several areas as the co-founder of Montreal and its first Administrator and nurse; rarely are women given credit for this kind of activity, so it was rather cool to see how she was recognized here and in a statue on the Place d’Armes and other locations. The exhibit showing the symbols of each of the chiefs of the 32 tribes was moving, it turns out the Potawatomi were signators also! We saw the exhibit of the 17, 18, and 19th century history, as power shifted from the French to the British to a mix. We also saw a nice traveling exhibit about the Vikings, lots of including an interactive about building one of those large Viking raiding boats, which starts with cutting down 500 pine trees, shearing 700 sheep for wool for the sails, getting 600 horse tails to weaves the lines, forge 3 tons of iron rivets, and much more. Their jewelry was stunning … intricate trefoil pins, fine twisted bracelets, and necklaces of silver and gold, and all kinds of jewelry made of beads from all over the world from the Viking trade routes which spanned Portugal to the Black Sea to Greenland to Russia - plus, they melted ancient Roman mosaics to make colored glass beads.

Back to the hotel in the late afternoon- it was over 90 and definitely humid - and changed our clothes for dinner. We had a reservation at Péché, a place Madeleine had recommended. We walked to the metro - 6 blocks and very warm. A special summer offer made it free to use all downtown stations. We rode out to Sherbrooke, and walked six blocks to the restaurant. In what I think was a gentrifying area, there were lots of interesting international cuisine restaurants and at least three tattoo places on the walk. Because of the heat, there were lots of bare legs, shoulders, arms, and midriffs, and we certainly saw a lot of tattoos on this part of the trip. 

Dinner was wonderful. Excellent food, wonderful service, good wines … we started with two very different gin cocktails, Aviation and something else I do not recall, and both were delicious. We shared a panzanella to start, which had the fluffiest feta I’ve ever had - it turns out they used one of those stainless steel apparatuses that whips cream to whip the cheese. Barney had a hangar steak which was perfect with pommes frites that we shared and a side salad. I had a steamed cod that was melt-in-your mouth delicate with a light sauce and caviar on top, served with green LePuy lentils and kale chips. We had a lovely chocolate torte to share, with whipped cream and raspberries, and were well fortified for the walk back to the metro. Still very warm out - maybe 82 and humid - it was nice to get back to the hotel and the cooler air. We were lucky enough to see the Cité Memoire, an art installation from a few years ago that told stories of the history of Montreal. It turns out that the alley next to our hotel was the quai of foundlings, where Marguerite d’Youville of the Sisters of Charity cared for abandoned children and young unwed mothers. The projection showed her picking up abandoned children, laid before by their mothers  who had fled, and one particularly beautiful part showed several of the mothers in an emotional dance which ended with them as ending to the heavens. There were similar installations throughout the city, but this one was right next to us, and a crowd gathered to watch. The late night sideshow of cars returned, and it was a busy Saturday night outside, but we slept well.

After three years, a trip … to Quebec!

Our last vacation was in June 2019 … to Rome, Naples, and Sicily, a wonderful experience. Then came Covid, and traveling was shut down, as well as working in an office, dining out, and more. More than 1 million Americans died from covid and millions more worldwide. All of our lives were upended. Barney and I both got Covid in January 2022, his mild, mine rather rough. And now fully vaccinated and double-boostered, we are on our first vacation in three years (besides going to the cabin in Groveland).

After our usual late-night packing rush, we arose at 4:30am to take a 6:30 BART train. All was going well until we got to BART, and heard that the Berkeley Hills tunnel was closed due to … something not good. It turned out to be closed between Orinda and Rockridge, so eventually a train rolled into Rockridge from MacArthur and turned around to head to SFO, whew, only 30 minutes late! Luckily we had left super early because of expected long delays at security. We got to SFO just before 8:00am (our flight was at 10:45am) and breezed through security, another whew! A family behind us in security saw my Fairyland t-shirt and told us how much they like Fairyland which was great to hear. After coffees and a bit of strolling, we headed to our gate and loaded onto the plane. We sprang for economy premium seats which were surprisingly spacious, and seated at the bulkhead we had lots of room. I had though we’d need to being a lunch so we did pack one,  and to our surprise they served a rather nice lunch and later a snack. We even had a bit of a nap after only 4-1/2 hours of sleep.

Then the pilot announced we’d be “holding” in the air and landing would be delayed 10 minutes. As we had only 45 minutes between flight this was a concern. The flight attendant told us where our gate would be and said the agent knew there were people coming from our flight. 10 minutes became 20 and then 30 as planes were being moved around on the ground and we could not get to the gate. Having almost de-stressed from a difficult week, I started to stress out about missing the flight, the last one today to Montreal. The flight staff made an announcement about letting people with short connections out first, which was nice but we had only 2 minutes before the doors to the next flight would close. Yikes! We got there, the next gate and down one flight, only to find the doors closed. I pleaded with the agent that we had just landed and run there, she was waiting for the other agent to come, and the other agent finally did and we ran on board. We were the last ones on, the flight attendant helped us find space for our carryons, thank goodness we are traveling light and did not check bags!

Settled in our seats with a big sigh of relief - really big - we could relax and hope that all would go well on the last leg of the trip.