September 6 - Baie-Comeau, Canada

We’re docked here today and the weather is still lovely, but I’m having a sea day in port.  I stopped here last year and there was nothing to speak of then and doesn’t look much different this year.

The locals decorated the dock for us.  They are getting ready for the fall you can see.

Yesterday we stopped again in Saguenay where we docked just last Saturday.  That’s where I tasted cheese and all things blueberries.  Instead this go round I walked into the little town, La Baie, looking for a shop I’d heard about where a woman does silk screen printing.  I found the place and bought a very pretty scarf.  I’m getting a world class collection, but they don’t take up much room and they weigh practically nothing.  I continued walking along what I think is the main street and came across a little place called Restaurant Opia.  On the board showing daily specials they listed Poutine, so I decided to go in and have lunch.  Poutine is a Canadian dish (primarily eaten here in Quebec) which consists of French fries topped with cheese curds and some kind of gravy.  It has never sounded very appealing to me since I don’t even like ketchup on my fries, but I’ve been determined to try it at least once while in Canada.

This is La Rue Victoria, the main street here in La Baie

The restaurant had a nice little balcony with a few tables so I sat out there and ordered a glass of some house sauvignon blanc and “poutine of smoked meat,” the daily special.  I was expecting something like pulled pork barbecue for smoked meat.  I was wrong.  What came was a bowl with French fries at the bottom, some cheese curds on top, and then basically undercooked (not crispy at all) bacon topped with a mustardy sauce which included some pickles, a few green onions and then a few pieces of lettuce to top it all off.  In fairness, it wasn’t awful; the pickles in mustard tasted really good.  The undercooked bacon, the very salty cheese curds and the poor soggy French fries buried far below left something to be desired.  The wine tasted very good and the balcony was pleasant.  Now that I’ve tried poutine my curiosity has been satisfied and I don’t have to do it again.

The balcony of the Restaurant Opia

Poutine of smoked meat. It looks pretty good but the taste was so-so.

The highlight of the lunch was my conversation with a lady who came and sat at the table across from mine.  This trip I seem to be meeting some really unusual characters.  Today it was 81-year-old Joanne from Montreal who was just visiting Saguenay for a few days.  Joanne told me she likes to travel a lot so we began talking about where her travels have taken her.  She said she’s ticking things off her bucket list and I must say her list is different from what mine would be if I had one.  Last year she spent four months in Peshawar, Pakistan.  I read lots of spy kinds of novels and Peshawar features frequently as a place where lots of bad guys from the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and other not so friendly groups hang out.  (Mind you, Joanne isn’t a Muslim as nearly as I can tell.)  Earlier this year she went on a tour that spent five days in Afghanistan and two weeks in Iran.  I asked her why she would want to go to those places and she said the former just so she could see it and the latter because she wanted to see the tombs of Xerxes and Darius the Great.  Next month she’s heading out to Beirut, Damascus and someplace in one of the Stans.  I told her she was a lot braver and more adventurous than I am but what I was really thinking was that she’s a little crazy.  Maybe she figures she’s 81 and she’s lived a good life so “what the heck” if something happens to her.   We said our goodbyes and I wished her well.

I got back to the ship in time for trivia (we didn’t do well today) and to get cleaned up for an ABBA sailaway party.  I think for the first time I can recall, John, our cruise director, didn’t have rain for an outdoor event he’d planned.  I’m not the biggest fan of ABBA (I can take a couple of their songs at a time, but not lots of them) but I get up and dance anyway because it always brings to mind my friend Helga who loved ABBA parties.  I dined in Solis, the alternative restaurant, with a new friend, Susan from Massachusetts, and then went to listen to some music and eventually dance a little more.  For the first time I successfully wore one of my new big  hand dyed silk scarves tossed over my shoulders and I felt very chic.  It was a fun day which I shall remember for a long time.

September 4 - My interesting cab rides

I mentioned in my last post that I had a couple of interesting cab rides and so I did.  From the lower city I rode to the hotel for tea with a cab driver named Sameer.  As I try to do usually, I sat in the front seat so I could have a conversation with him.  Doing this has afforded me the opportunity to get to know the perspectives of people from lots of different countries which I would never have  gotten otherwise. Just by happenstance the same cab driver was first in the taxi line when I finished with tea so we continued our conversation on the way back to the ship.

I asked Sameer where he was from and he told me originally from Afghanistan but he’s lived in Canada for 7 or 8 years and he’s married to a Canadian woman with whom he has a few kids.  I  asked if he still has family in Afghanistan and he said he did – a mother, some sisters, brothers and other extended relatives. I then asked how things were for them there.  His responses floored me.  He told me that things were good there now that the war is over and the Taliban have taken over.  Wow!  I asked what his mother and sisters thought about things now.  Sameer said that they know that things have to settle down and that life will be good because the old regime was corrupt (I can believe that) and that the Taliban are more honest and fair (really?).  As our conversation progressed he said his mother used to be a nurse and one sister an ultrasound technician, but they can’t do that now and that’s okay. The fact that women can’t go to high schools or universities is also okay with him. Sameer said that it will take time to really get sorted out, but that he is hopeful that in a few years  Afghanistan will evolve into a country like what he said is the most successful country in the southwest Asian area – Iran!  He proceeded to tell me what a model that country is in terms of every aspect of governance, economy, education and life in general.  I just listen in these conversations and don’t make any comments or voice opinions.  I have to confess that this time I was really floored.  I don’t think I’ve ever personally talked to someone who thinks like this man did.  I’m guessing his Canadian wife must be Muslim and must at least outwardly agree with him.  I can’t imagine a westernized Canadian woman would be able to relate to his thinking.  I do have to say, Sameer was very pleasant to me and treated me respectfully.

Anyway, I just had to write about this because it was a pretty eye-opening experience for me.  I’ve only read about Muslims who believe these things so to talk to one was very educational.

On this, our fourth day in total in Quebec, I’ve taken a day off.  I was pretty tired from yesterday’s activities and between last year’s stop here and this one I’ve seen quite a lot.  If I liked traveling on land by myself, Quebec would definitely be a city I’d consider spending a few days visiting.  Tomorrow we’re going back to Saguenay and in just a week and a half this cruise will be over.  The time has really gone by fast!

September 4 - Quebec City, la deuxième fois autour

Back in Quebec for two more beautiful days.  The weather has been absolutely glorious!  Once again we’re at the crummy port next to the grain elevators.  There was a big (!!!) Celebrity ship at the good port right next to downtown old Quebec.

On Wednesday, the 3rd, it was the day for my long-anticipated time to go to high tea in the famous Château Frontenac.  That’s the Fairmont hotel I posted pictures of the other day with its distinctive roofline and architecture.  I didn’t think traffic would be nearly as bad as the other day when we here, but I decided to leave lots of time.  I took a cab to the Petit Champlain, the historic neighborhood in the lower town of Old Quebec.  This is an area of cobblestone streets lined with cafés, art galleries, souvenir shops, handcrafted items and lots of gelaterias.  Looming over it is the escarpment atop which is the upper old city and the Chateau.

The streets here look so much like a village in France that , in fact, some movie scenes that were supposed to be in France were filmed here.  One of the shop clerks with whom I spoke told me that parts of the movie “Catch me if you can” were filmed here. On the wall of one of the buildings, the Hôtel du Vieux-Port is the Quebec City Mural spans more than 1000 square feet and depicts important figures, landmarks, and moments in the city’s history.  Peeking out from windows or standing on balconies in the mural are Samuel de Champlain and Louis XIV, who was king at the time of the city’s founding.  There are nuns and priests who were an integral part of the settlement. And of course, there are some kids playing hockey.

These next few photos are of the mural 

I’m not sure who he was supposed to be (he looked too modern to be Champlain) but there was a man walking around dressed in what looked like colonial garb talking to a group of tourists.  It reminded me of Colonial Williamsburg.  I walked in a few shops and bought a couple of small handcrafted things.  I was taken by some of the signs outside the stores.  There were lots of flower boxes on balconies and hanging baskets on building walls.  It’s a truly charming place.  Above everything I could see some of the Château Frontenac at the top of the cliff.

The mystery reenactor

A few street scenes in lower Vieux Quebec

a little park

This was kind of a startling shop name and sign!

Hign up on the escarpment

When I was ready to go to the upper city a café called a cab for me.  There is a funicular but when I went by it had a sign saying “fermez” and I didn’t see anyone around.  I’ll write more about this interesting cab ride later but first I want to tell about high tea.

The Château Frontenac is one of Canada’s grand railway hotels built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was the template for those magnificent buildings.  It was opened in 1893 and is now managed by Fairmont Hotels.  It stands atop the promontory  of Quebec and its design is derived from that of medieval châteaux in the Loire Valley of France.  It has steeply pitched roofs, gables and dormers, and circular and polygonal towers and turrets.  High tea is supposed to be an event here, so of course I had to try it.

I didn't take this photo but I wanted to show the intricate architecture so I lifted it from the net

I was a little early so after looking in a few of the shops in the shopping arcade I sat in a bar and had a very nice glass of a Canadian Riesling and had a good conversation with a couple from Toronto celebrating their 35th anniversary.  At 2 PM I took the elevator to a lower level (the Château has 18 floors)  to the Place Dufferin where tea is served.  My table was by the windows overlooking a promenade high above the St. Lawrence River.  A pianist was playing lovely music in the background and the chairs and carpet were all very plush.  Evidently when I booked this some time back I booked tea with a few wine pairings to be served.  I promised a couple of people I would describe the event so here goes.

The Place Dufferin tearoom

My table and view

First came a glass of non-alcoholic Japanese sparkling tea, which honestly tasted like a very light prosecco to me.  But then I’m not an oenophile. Next came a triple tier stand with sweets on the top, traditional cucumber and tomato, cheese and basil finger sandwiches in the middle and a smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich and goat cheese tart on the bottom. Next to that came a serving tray with a scone,  a kind of honey and maple pound cake and an absolutely divine hazelnut  cream tart. I was served a glass of French champagne made specifically for the Château.  Oh, I forgot to mention tea.  There is a menu with perhaps 20 different teas. I chose one specially made for the hotel, a black tea flavored with maple and blueberry.  It was exquisite with just the faintest hint of maple and a more prominent blueberry aroma.  After the champagne came a glass of Spanish white rioja, which was a very nice dry and crisp wine. There was way too much food and I couldn’t try everything despite purposely skipping breakfast and lunch.  The waitress asked if I would like the leftovers boxed up to take with me.  Maybe I should have, but I didn’t.  There’s so much food here on the ship it just didn’t make sense to me.

Just to prove I was here.

It was a lovely experience and if I come back here I would do it again.  It’s definitely not a cheap event, but between the view, the food and wine, and the ambiance it was as the commercial says “priceless.”

After settling up I went to the entrance of the hotel and the doorman summoned me the next taxi in line to take me back to the ship.  That driver just happened to be the same one who brought me here from the lower town.  I’ll write more about him and my conversations with him in my next post.  For now I have a few other things to do and I have to get up and stretch my legs a little.  À bientôt.

September 2 - Montréal, Quebec, Canada

After a lovely sailaway yesterday evening from Quebec  City we made our way up the St. Lawrence to Montréal. It was a beautiful night on the river with a half moon casting its shimmering light on the water. Montreal was the end of a segment of the  cruise so there were lots of people getting off and a whole new group coming on, all of them needing to learn the rules of the road.

After the rush of people disembarking I decided to go ashore and walk up to the Place d’Armes and the Basilica de Nôtre-Dame. It was another lovely, sunny day and we docked very close to the old part of the city. Samuel de Champlain founded a fur trading post in the location in 1611. The actual settlement of Montreal didn’t come until 1642 when a group of colonists arrived from France. It remained a French colony until 1760 when the British captured it, not long after capturing Quebec.  In the Treaty of Paris concluding the Seven Years War, the entire colony was ceded to Britain.  

During the American Revolution General Benedict Arnold invaded Quebec on behalf of the Continental Congress and in fact captured Montreal in November, 1775.  Following negotiations for prisoner exchanges and in the face of an impending British attack, Montreal was abandoned.  That’s a very abbreviated version of some of the city’s history.

Montreal is the second largest city in Canada.  The metropolitan area has a population of more than four million. French is the official language, but more than 50% of the population is bilingual speaking both French and English.  Until the 1970s it was the commercial capital of Canada only then being surpassed by Toronto.  It has hosted the Summer Olympics and has a rich cultural and sports scene.

The Basilica of Nôtre-Dame is a magnificent structure in the Gothic Revival style.  Unfortunately, one of the two towers is shrouded in tarps because renovation work is being done.  That doesn’t make for really good photos.  Inside the basilica the vaulted ceilings are painted in deep blue and decorated with golden stars.  The walls are decorated in rich tones of blue, red, purple and both gold and silver. The organ in the loft above the entrance dates to 1891.  The stained-glass windows depict scenes from the history of Montreal rather than biblical scenes.  It is a stunningly beautiful church.  I can only imagine what it must be like to be there when the organ is playing and a choir singing.

The main entrance to the Basilica

The Nave of the Basilica

Main Altar

Look at the beautiful columns and detail of the galleries above

The organ I would have loved to hear played

After leaving the Basilica I walked around a little in the Place d’Armes just outside the building. In the center of the square is a statue of Paul de Chomedey, the founder of Montreal.  There are trees and benches around the square and of course a number of street musicians.  I sat for a while and watched people, one of my absolute favorite pastimes.  I walked down a few of the streets around the Place but I didn’t see much of interest.  One shop did have a lot of unique things but they were all from Nepal, not this part of the world.  Eventually I walked back to the ship to cool off because it had gotten quite hot in the sun.   So that was my day in Montreal.  Tomorrow and the next day we’ll be back in Quebec.  It will be déjà vu all over again in the words of Yogi Berra.   

The founder of Montreal

Street signs on one of the nearby side streets

A street musician (he didn't sound very good!)

September 1 - Quebec City

Hard to believe it’s September. Where has the year gone?  Today we’re docked in the industrial port of Quebec City.  We arrived here yesterday and stayed overnight.  It’s a holiday here in Canada too.  The weather has been gorgeous both yesterday and today so the city is packed with people taking advantage of the long weekend and the lovely weather.

I was here for a day last year when I sailed on the Quest.  Then it was just past prime fall colors; this year the leaves haven’t even begun to turn.  I’ll recap a little of the history of the place. (Who knows it may come up in a trivia question.)  Quebec was founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer. (Yes, Jamestown is one year older!) Jacques Cartier had established a fort near here in 1541 but it was abandoned less than a year later because of the harsh weather conditions and the resistance by the indigenous people to the intruders. Some twenty years after the city was founded British privateers captured it during the Anglo-French war (the English and French fought lots of wars against each other).  When a settlement was negotiated for that war, King Charles I of England agreed to return the land to the French in exchange for the French king paying his wife’s dowry. In the years that followed Quebec was the headquarters for raids against the British colonies in New England.  The British tried unsuccessfully to capture the city in 1690.  Then in September 1759 the British mounted another attack after a long siege and in the battle on the Plain of Abraham, British General James Wolfe defeated French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm. Both generals lost their lives as a result of the battle; Wolfe died on the day of the fight and Montcalm the next day of wounds sustained.  Four years later at the conclusion of the French and Indian War (AKA the Seven Years’ War), France ceded Quebec and New France to Britain.

Interestingly, Old Quebec has the only remaining fortified city walls north of Mexico.  On the heights above the old city the British built a fortress, the Citadelle, not for protection from the French or from Indians, but from Americans, we rebels to the south.  During our Revolution there were attacks against the city in the hope that Canadian provinces might join the Continental Congress.  Obviously they were unsuccessful.

Enough history.  I took a short tour yesterday afternoon to fill some time.  (I’ll be back here again on September 3 and 4 so I should do something.)  As I already mentioned, the city is packed with holiday crowds.  The old part of the city which is mainly down in the lower areas has narrow streets and reminds me very much of many European cities.  For some reason which I can’t wrap my head around, there are streets that are not a great deal wider than a couple of car widths, but parking is permitted on both sides of the street.  Our bus driver had nerves of steel to navigate them, especially when he had to make a turn.  We drove from the pier up to the upper part of the city in chaotic traffic.  Along the way we saw some of the old walls and a couple of the old gates which allowed entry into Quebec.  

We arrived at our first stop, the Citadelle, which is perched atop the cliffs overlooking the St. Lawrence River.  As I mentioned this fortress was originally built to forestall an American attack, but it was built after the last time the Americans tried to take the city.  It housed a British force until 1871 and today it is still an active Canadian military facility.  At the entrance to the fortress there are two sentries wearing the same kind of bearskin cap worn by the guards at Buckingham Palace.  The guards are just as stoic; they almost look like mannequins because they don’t even appear to blink.   We had a separate guide for the tour of the Citadelle and specifically the secondary residence of the Governor General of Canada.  I’m convinced he was training for Olympic speed trials because he galloped ahead.  My knees no longer let me gallop and besides I wanted to take pictures of the things I was seeing inside the fort’s walls.  I had a hard time persuading our guide from the bus that I wasn’t a national security threat and that all I really wanted to do was take some photos, sit and enjoy the fresh beautiful air and sunshine and watch the stoic guards.  She finally agreed and I did just that.  When my fellow travelers came out of the residence they told me that there was basically a mutiny by the group because the fortress guide was intent on giving detailed explanations of each and every photo and item in the rooms they visited.  Essentially the group just told him “we’re done, let’s go.”  It didn’t sound like I missed much, plus I got to take some nice pictures.

Entrance to the Citadelle

One of the guards from Le Royal 22ie Regiment

It was a warm day and these guys need to be kept hydrated.

The former powder magazine inside the fort.  

The flags on the fort's central green represent the 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada

"Je me souviens" (I remember) is the motto of Quebec. The roof in the background is the roof of the iconic Chateau Frontenac, a great hotel in the city

Our next stop was a drive through the plain of Abraham where the battle I wrote about earlier was fought.  It’s now a park with some sports fields, a running path and some beautiful gardens. Next to it is a museum containing artifacts from the city’s history.  On a beautiful day like this one there were lots of people strolling and on one of the sports fields a group of men were playing American football.  

Gardens on the Plain of Abraham. That's a statue of Ste. Joan d'Ar

Next we drove through the insane traffic to catch some glimpses of the lower city.  I tried taking a photo from my seat looking out at the street ahead in the hopes I could capture a sense of how crazy it was.  Again, our driver was a fearless guy to contend with this.  We passed the iconic hotel Chateau Frontenac, which when I come back in a few days I have a reservation to have afternoon tea there.  It’s supposed to be the thing to do.  Hopefully when I get back the crowds  will be gone because I would love to walk on some of the little streets lined with cafés and shops.  Another couple and I have talked about possibly having dinner ashore since we’ll be here overnight again.  We’ll have to see if we can figure that out because where we’re docked taxis can’t come and the shuttle bus stops running at 6 PM.

It;s hard to see, but if you try you can see the line of cars .  The streets were crazy.

These next few are the old town in lower Quebec City.  It looks like a typical French town.

We had a dance party on deck last night.  I got up and did dance a little. I’m being quite protective of my joints because my one knee was replaced a long time ago and I know it’s getting past its expiration date.  I don’t want to have to do that again.  Anyway, I can bob around with the best of them.  I went to bed late and didn’t make it to breakfast again.  Actually that’s probably a good thing because anyone who has been on a cruise knows that it’s very easy to eat too much.  

It's September 1, Labor Day, and we were still here in Quebec.  Today I had a sea day in port. I’ll be back here in two days so why not.  This evening I dined with Paige and Greg from Hawaii, Lisa and Ernie from Seattle, and the three members of the Trio, Chris, Melody, and Theo.  We dined outside in the Colonnade and it was a gorgeous night.  As we sailed away from Quebec on our way up the St. Lawrence we had a great view of the city from the water.  The dominant feature of the city is the Chateau Frontenac, which I think looks absolutely beautiful.  I can't wait to have tea there in two days.

I guess that’s all for now.  A bientôt!