Showing posts with label Quebec. Show all posts

29 Days North: What We Learned about Canada

1.  Canada is vast.  Yes, we were aware before our trip that Canada is larger in land area than the U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii).  But in 29 days, driving 3,600 miles in the country, we barely scratched the surface. 
Yes, we visited five of the ten provinces but saw only a thin slice of Ontario (1 1/2 times the size of Texas) and a tiny sliver of Quebec (more than twice the size of Texas).

2. Canada looks like the U.S. If an American were dropped into the middle of a midsize Canadian city, it might take a while for him to realize he wasn't in the U.S. The local shoppoing center offers familiar fare: Wal-Mart, Staples, Michaels, Best Buy, Hallmark, Sears, and others. Lunch is available at Wendy's, Burger King, KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Subway or DQ.
Autos are about the same makes and models one finds in the States.  Roads bear similar markings and signage, and architectural styles look familiar.  Currency is similar-- the dollar, quarter, dime, nickel and penny.  Coins are even of similar size and color.  People look mostly the same, except that Canada lacks the ethnic diversity one finds in the U.S.  Since 90% of Canadians live within 160 miles of the United States, it's not surprising that so many similarities exist between our cultures.

3.  Canada is different from the U.S.  In the month we spent with our neighbors to the north, we were consistently treated with courtesy and respect.  Not once did we encounter the churlish, ill-mannered employees we see so often in U.S. businesses.  Bon Qui Qui does not live in Canada.

Language provides another striking difference.  Canada is officially a bilingual country and in the parts of eastern and central Canada we visited (except Prince Edward Island), we were as likely to hear French spoken as English.  Any time we were initially addressed in French, when we responded in English, the hotel desk clerk or restaurant server or retail clerk immediately shifted into flawless English.  Because the country has two official languages, school children are taught both languages from an early age. 
The parts of Canada that we visited are much more environmentally conscious than most of the U.S.  Litter doesn't appear to be nearly as pervasive, and recycling efforts are much more intense and consistent.

And lest we imply that all Canadian retail businesses stem from U.S. parent corporations, there are many Canadian chain stores and restaurants.  Tim Horton's, a fast-food cross between Dunkin' Doughnuts and Subway, is ubitiquous in central and eastern Canada and has made inroads in some parts of northeastern U.S. 

On the whole, we found the parts of Canada that we visited were more... well, more relaxed than the U.S.  We saw evidence of only one traffic accident and it was an encounter with a moose.  When one watches the news on television or reads the local newspaper, reports are not so focused on crime as in the U.S.  And as we noted in an earlier post, there isn't nearly the intense emphasis on security as one finds in the States.

The most surprising difference was the difference in the numbers of Canada geese.  Although they are greatly in evidence in the U.S., we saw very few in Canada.  Taxes are significantly higher in Canada, as are government services (particularly health care).  And much more often than in the U.S., Canadians will end a sentence with "...eh?"
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Day 53: Bowmanville, ON
Exhaustion caught up with us today and we decided to spend a lazy morning mostly hanging out in the hotel in the little town of Bowmanville.  After a tasty lunch at the Village Inn, a local pub, we enjoyed a rainy afternoon napping, reading and swimming (Ken).

As we've traveled in the last weeks, we've been collecting a group of photos we call Where's Ken?  Like the children's book Where's Waldo? the object of the game is to locate Ken in the photo.  (Clicking on the photo will enlarge it and make your search much easier. Then click the back arrow to get back to the blog.)
Wellington Street, Ottawa

Old Quebec


Notre Dame, Trois Rivieres

Old Montreal

Parliament Hill, Otttawa

Now you see how difficult Ken can be to keep up with, but he makes it so worth the effort! Tomorrow we'll end our time in Canada and head back to the good old U.S. of A.

Daily Stats
Miles driven:  enough to get lunch
Miles walked:  nah
Letterboxes:  not today
Minutes napping:  93
Yawns:  48
Sighs:  52
High temp:  72° F (per hotel room thermostat)
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Day 50:  Montreal, QC to Ottawa, ON
Our day in Montreal began with two goals to accomplish before we left the city-- find a letterbox and plant a letterbox. Having suffered through weekday traffic in the city, this morning's empty streets were refreshing.

After investigating (and rejecting) the Montreal Forum, a former hockey arena, as a possible place to plant a letterbox, we drove to Vieux-Montréal (Old Montreal), the historic district between the St. Lawrence River and downtown Montreal. 
Cobblestone streets made for a very bumpy ride, so we quickly found a place to park and set out on foot to seek a letterbox near the river. Having found the box, we wandered around the historic district, enjoying window shopping at the many galleries, boutiques, and souvenir shops.
In the heart of the district, we found Marché Bonsecours (Bonsecours Market), built in 1847 as a public market and recognized as a Canadian heritage building.  The Québec Crafts Council has its headquarters here, and the Marché houses 15 boutiques featuring a myriad of “made in Québec” creations: crafts, fashions, accessories, jewelery, and more.
Looking for a place for lunch before leaving Old Montreal, we stumbled upon Forget Cafe and Bistro in the basement of Bonsecours Market. We were lured by the kindness and charm of the maitre d' who stood at the sidewalk entrance dispensing parking advice, tourist information, and general good will. Our lunches were simple but delicious and attractively presented, not easy to forget.  And by the way, we learned that Forget (Fer-ZHAY) is the family name of the bistro's owners.
We still needed a place to plant our letterbox.  The stamp for the box was the logo of the Montreal hockey team, always exciting to watch when we followed the Atlanta Flames.  In fact, we watched Montreal win the Stanley Cup championship (for the 18th time) on our wedding night.  Inspired by letterboxes honoring baseball greats that we found in New York last month, Ken suggested we plant the box near the grave of Montreal's most beloved hockey player, Maurice "Rocket" Richard.
Thanks to the power of the internet, we were able to locate the cemetery and Richard's impressive memorial.  Nearby was the perfect tree to shelter what became our tribute to the first hockey player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season.  We called the box "Remembering the Rocket."
In the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery, we saw many beautiful sculptures, none more moving than this extraordinary weeping angel.  The original Angel of Grief was sculpted in 1894 by William Wetmore Story to serve as the grave stone for his wife and himself in Rome.  Many copies and replicas have been inspired by the elegance and majesty of his work.

Having achieved our Montreal goals, we headed off to Ottawa for an overnight and a day in Canada's capitol city.


Best Use for an Old Parking Meter
Daily Stats
Miles driven:  149
Letterboxes:  1 F, 1 P
High temp:  86° F
Art galleries:  143
Boutiques:  189
Souvenir shops:  98
Sidewalk cafes:  241
Gravestones:  43,916

Trip Stats (first 50 days)
Miles driven:  6,552
States visited:  13
Provinces visited:  5
Countries:  2
Letterboxes:  170 F, 9 P
Notepads to tally daily stats:  57

More Photos from Today
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Day 49:  Montreal, QC
When Montreal played host to the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, numerous new facilities were built for the events. Many were constructed in the area now known as Parc Olympique (Olympic Park). A major highlight of the park is the 575-ft. Montreal Tower which was incorporated into the base of the Olympic Stadium.
Currently the stadium, which once housed Montreal's now defunct professional baseball team, has no main tenant. With a history of financial and structural problems, it is known locally as "The Big O" (for its doughnut shape) or "The Big Owe" (because of its astronomical cost to build).
Opposite Olympic Park, we visited the internationally recognized Montreal Botanical Garden (Jardin botanique de Montréal),which showcases more than 22,000 varieties of plants. The rose garden alone contains more than 10,000 plants. The gardens cover 180 acres.
St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal is the largest church in Canada. Commanding the top of Mount Royal, the city's highest hill, the oratory is one of the world's largest basilicas. Construction began in 1904 and it took six architects and 63 years to complete. Included in the basilica's impressive facilities are a carillon originally built for the Eiffel Tower, two elevators, three banks of escalators, acres of free parking and a restaurant supervised by a full-time French chef.
Behind St. Joseph himself, the star of the oratory is the man whose dream inspired this magnificent cathedral-- a semiliterate French-Canadian orphan turned priest who was known as "Brother André, the miracle man of Mount Royal." A humble man who suffered from chronic illness, it was said that he had miraculous healing power, reportedly curing as many as 15,000 crippled, blind and dying pilgrims a year. The oratory was constructed on the site of a simple wooden chapel Brother Andre built to receive visitors who came to him for healing.

When he died in 1937, at the age of 91, half a million people filed past his bier, and Brother André was put up for sainthood, which was approved earlier this year, with formal canonization scheduled for October. Millions of pilgrims visit his marble tomb in the basilica each year. When we were exploring the cathedral today, we saw a sign on the elevator indicating that the 4th floor was the site of "Coeur du'Frere Andre."

We had just been discussing Sacré Coeur (Sacred Heart) Cathedral, which is built atop Montmarte, the highest point in Paris, so the meaning of the French word was at the forefront of our minds. Surely, we thought, this would be an exhibit about the building of the cathedral, the figurative "heart of Brother André." We soon discovered that were wrong.
At the time of Brother André’s death, the Archbishop of Montreal suggested reviving a little-known custom of the Middle Ages. In medieval France and Italy, when people of note passed away their hearts were often removed from their bodies before burial and preserved as a token of admiration or recognition. Brother Andre's heart, preserved in an urn filled with a formalin solution, is on display in the basilica near a life-size diorama depicting scenes from his life.

In a peculiar crime in 1973, the heart was stolen from the oratory. After the church refused to pay a $50,000 ransom demand, the heart was thought lost until the following year when an anonymous tipster notified police of its location in a storage locker. The heart was recovered and replaced in the basilica.  Such fascinating things we learn when we travel.
 
Daily Stats
Miles driven:  34
Miles walked:  4.75
High temp:  86° F (That'll teach us to whine about 77!)
School kids visiting Olympic Park:  493 (It's field trip season.)
Napping school bus drivers:  7
Flowers:  572,912
Steps to top of cathedral:  285
Human hearts:  1
Brake usages in stop 'n' go Montreal traffic:  912
 
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Day 48:  Quebec, QC to Montreal, QC
As we drove along the St. Lawrence River toward Montreal this morning, we spotted a massive steeple across the river. Our subsequent investigation led us to the Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap (Shrine of Our Lady of the Cape) in the city of Trois Rivieres. Each year thousands of believers make a pilgrimage to this church, Canada's national shrine to the Virgin Mary.
The original 1659 wooden chapel at this location was replaced by the first stone parish church in 1720. Known as the Old Shrine, this 18th century building is home to a Madonna considered miraculous since 1888 when her eyes were said by witnesses to have been momentarily animated.
Inaugurated in 1964, the newest basilica has a modernistic octagonal sanctuary that seats 1,600. Its dome rises 125 feet, and extensive stained glass windows depict local history as well as biblical narratives. Also included in the building are facilities to support the shrine's active programming-- offices, classrooms, a restaurant, gift shop, and a theater.
Adhering to our commitment to roads less traveled, we avoided the freeway from Quebec to Montreal and drove on smaller roads. One of these was Highway 138, which follows portions of Chemin du Roy (King's Road) built from 1731 to 1737 along the northern bank of the St. Lawrence.
Prior to the construction of King's Road, land travel between Montreal and Quebec City involved negotiating a series of farm roads. Once the direct link was completed, the journey took "only" four to six days.

As we approached Montreal, our first large city in weeks, we had an immediate reminder of why we've tried to stay off the beaten path.  Traffic was thick, patience was short, and, ooh là là , those Montreal drivers!  Though our French dictionary indicates that "Arret" (as seen on a red octagonal street sign) means "Stop," for many Montreal drivers, the translation appears to be "Pause." 
Lane darting is a basic driving strategy, and turn signals are optional.  If an exit ramp with only one lane appears to need with two, drivers just form two lanes anyway and try to browbeat others into compliance with their impromptu rules.  No doubt Atlanta drivers are just as capricious and have often justifiably been characterized as among the rudest in the U.S., but we've just been away from the urban scene long enough to really notice it.  Tomorrow we'll get down to seeing some of the Montreal sights and looking for a few letterboxes planted here and everything will look better.

On most days as we travel, we learn something that surprises us. Today we were astonished by a semitruck we saw on the highway with this logo on the side.  Painted next to this was the name of a department store we've seen in every Canadian city of significant size that we've visited-- The Bay (in Quebec, la Baie).  We had no idea this chain of stores was related to a company we all learned about in elementary school and never imagined that the company still existed.  The Hudson's Bay Company, we discovered, is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world.  Though the company once had vast holdings in North America and acted as the de facto government in large areas, the only part of the company still operating is its department stores, carrying on a tradition begun with trading posts established across North America before George Washington was born.

Daily Stats
Miles driven:  220
High temp:  77° F (ugh!)
Traffic jams:  6
Stalls in women's washroom at Notre-Dame-du-Cap:  25
Stained glass panels:  2,402
Volunteers planting flowers at church:  18
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Day 47: Quebec, QC
After catching up on some neglected planning and organizing this morning, we arrived in downtown Quebec around noon, just in time to enjoy a delicious lunch at Pub D'Orsay in upper town.  Walking along the hilly cobbled lanes of Vieux-Québec (Old Quebec) almost fooled us into thinking we were in France.  French architecture is dominant, signs are in French, and outdoor cafes abound.
This afternoon the city was filled with tourists, as we expected since we are now well into June and the summer vacation season. What we didn't anticipate is that the city was also overrun with groups of school children from 10-year-olds to teens.
In certain areas, like small pocket parks, the kids were covering almost every square inch.  Frequently we saw middle school age kids roaming around on their own in small groups with no chaperone in sight.  Hopefully they all made their way back to the buses and home when day was done.
Shops and restaurants and boutiques of every stripe contribute to the colorful atmosphere of the district, where a few streets have been closed to all but pedestrian traffic.  On most streets in Old Quebec, flowerboxes and hanging baskets were overflowing with colorful blossoms.

In our wandering, we inadvertently ended up exiting to the lower town.  By the time we realized we needed to move up the embankment to reach the area where we had parked our car, we were so far down that the only option was the Cap Blanc stairway.
Québec City's longest staircase, the Cap Blanc was built out of wood in 1868 for use by the workers of the Cap-Blanc district to walk to work in munitions factories.  The stairs have been rebuilt many times, because they are bolted onto a rock wall subject to rockslides. Today the stairway includes a number of landings to give users a chance to catch their breath, and at 400 steps, you need it.

Daily Stats
Miles driven:  15
Miles walked:  4.5
Schoolchildren:  14,256
Frazzled teachers:  317
Horse-drawn carriages:  76
Souvenir shops:  59
Quebec flags:  9,361
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Day 46:  Quebec City, QC
About three miles downriver from Quebec City, Île d'Orléans (Orleans Island) is an island in the St. Lawrence River.  At 21 miles long and 8 miles wide, the island makes you quickly forget you're in the middle of a river.  Île d'Orléans is divided into six municipalities. 
One of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, the island attracted settlers with its fertile soil.  By 1685, there were 1,205 mostly French inhabitants on the island.  Known today as the "Garden of Quebec", the island provides nearby Quebec City with fresh produce such as seasonal fruit and vegetables, cereals, maple products, and farm produce.

Tourism has also become a growing industry on the island, and it is a popular destination for day trippers and bicyclists.  In addition to the vineyards, cideries, and fruit stands where one can buy products of the island, numerous restaurants and inns dot the landscape.
With more than 600 buildings classified or recognized as heritage property, history is around every corner on the island. We had a wonderful lunch from locally grown produce today at Le Moulin de Saint-Laurent, which is housed in an old flour mill dating back to 1720.

Leaving this idyllic spot behind, we drove over to visit nearby Montmorency Falls. At 275 high and 150 feet wide, the falls are 98 feet higher than Niagara Falls.  The falls are at the mouth of the Montmorency River where it drops over a cliff into the Saint Lawrence River near Orleans Island. 
A set of staircases takes visitors to the base of the falls, and a suspension footbridge over the crest of the falls provides a spectacular view.  We planted a letterbox in the falls park.

Daily Stats
Miles driven: 90
Letterboxes:  1 F + 1 P
Orleans Island stats:
  Chocolateries: 1
  Fromageries:  1
  Cideries:  4
  Sugar Shacks:  4
  Vineyards:  5
  Residents:  7,000
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Day 45:  Presque Isle, ME to Quebec City, QC
Along the border of Maine, New Brunswick and Quebec is an area along the Saint John River valley known as Madawaska.  Long ago when only the native peoples lived in the area, they named it Madawaska, the land of the porcupines.  Then French fur traders arrived and set up a trading post in Madawaska.
When the Acadians, French settlers in Nova Scotia, were forcibly deported by the British military in 1755, some made their way to the Madawaska area and built their homes along the banks of the Saint John.  A short while later, at the close of the eighteenth century, French-Canadian colonists from Quebec came to Madawaska and also settled to farm the lowlands. Families joined together into one hard-working community living contentedly on either side of the river. 

In 1842, after an extended border dispute, a treaty was devised making the Saint John River the border between the United States and Britain's North American colonies, which later became Canada.  And so, with a single stroke of the pen, thousands of family members were split into two different nations.  But the border has not separated the huge extended families ranging through the valley.
In the town of Madawaska, Maine, the Acadian Cross is a memorial to the Acadian pioneers who settled in the area.  A grove of trees planted in honor of the pioneer families borders the perimeter of the memorial park.
Each tree is designated with a marker indicating the family for whom the tree is planted.
The town treasures its Acadian heritage, and banners in the design of the Acadian flag decorate Main Street, joined today by U.S. flags in honor of the American celebration of Flag Day.

Another celebration was underway in Madawaska, ME, today by some motorcycle riders.  When we visited the town's Four Corners Park in search of a letterbox, we met Bob from Texas who is participating with a friend in the Motorcycling Association's USA Four Corners Tour for long distance touring riders.
Four towns are designated as the most northeast (Madawaska, ME), northwest (Blaine, WA), southeast (Key West, FL) and southwest (San Ysidro, CA) in the continental U.S.  The challenge of the event is to complete a visit to all four corners of the U.S. on a motorcycle within 21 days, regardless of inclement weather, need for mechanical repairs, sleeping, dining, or any other issue which may arise.  Bob, a proud member of the Iron Butt Association, has done this tour before.  In fact, he has ridden his motorcycle more than 400,000 miles and hopes to make it to one million.  He even rode his bike from Texas to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, north of the Arctic Circle.  He and his friend were taking the obligatory photos in the park before they took off for their last corner, Key West.

In Sainte Basile, New Brunswick, just across the border from Madawaska, Maine, we stopped at a local cemetery to-- yes, to look for a letterbox.  The box is located at the foundation of a chapel in the corner of this cemetery which dates back to the eighteenth century.  When we arrived, two local brothers and their friend were busily caulking and repairing the little chapel.
Because stealth is one of the cornerstones of letterboxing conventions, we were not able to search for the box. However, we did enjoy a conversation and visit with the brothers, who had built the chapel themselves and whose English speaking skills were much better than our French.  They have many ancestors and relatives in the cemetery, and this is a labor of love for them.  A few years ago, their extended family held a reunion in Sainte Basile and celebrated mass in the little chapel.  We also learned from them that the people on the Canadian side of the Republic of Madawaska do not consider themselves Acadians but Brayon since they have ancestors from both Acadia and Quebec. 

A very interesting day and we made it to Quebec City around 6 p.m.

Daily Stats
Miles driven:  294
High temp:  67 ° F
Letterboxes:  5 (+ 1 hitchhiker)
Cheap gas:  $2.999/gallon! (in Maine)
Dead moose:  1 (victim of encounter with truck)
Long distance motorcyclists:  3
Rusty farm implements:  763
Time zone:  Eastern
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