Tuesday, June 7: Feeling slightly better this morning, we're up and on our way at 8am. We've got 300+ miles to Montreal on what turns out to be the most boring drive in the history of the world. We also break our record for filling the car with gas: $78.20--the equivalent of $4.75 per gallon. We are happy to find our apartment without any trouble, get settled in (thanks to the owner's son Shawn who was here to greet us) and head out to find the nearest grocery store and then the subway station so we can get our OPUS passes for unlimited travel on the buses and subways. The bad news, it's good from Monday thru Sunday; the good news: we can renew it on Monday (for our last day in Montreal) and use it in Quebec City. Since we've got our passes we do a little bus riding looking mostly for potential places to eat. We find a Chinese place (which we try tonight) and an Argentinean place that looks good. Since neither of us is feeling 100% yet, we'll relax for the evening. Helene (the apartment owner) stops by about 8:30 to make sure we are settled in and to see if we have any questions. She brings along "Mr. K." her bouvier d'flanders, the dog who barked at us from below when we went out on our little balcony shortly after we arrived.

Montreal Metro map

Wednesday, June 8: It's our first full day in Montreal and at 8:30am it's already hot and humid. Looks like the first "shorts" day since.... can't remember when. We are going to walk the old city of Montreal (Vieux Montreal), with it's sites, old stone buildings, shops and cafes. We slept great last night, perhaps the most comfortable bed of our trip so far (and that's going a long way when we think about how good the bed in the Toronto apartment was). We are both feeling better, though Rick is still not 100% and skips breakfast. He still has that weak stomach, but is otherwise feeling much better.

Since we had our trial run yesterday, we think we're pros at dealing with the
Banque de Montreal
Carriages at Place d"Armes Montreal Metro. It's much like the Paris Metro. There are four lines (green, orange, yellow, and blue). We are the last stop on the northeast end of the blue line (Saint Michel). The bus is across the street and gets us to the Saint Michel station in less than 5 minutes. We will transfer onto the orange line at station Jean-Talon. The signs and walkways between the lines are color- coded. We take the orange train in the direction of Cote-Vertu (the end station on each line indicates the direction of the train) and get off at Place-d'Armes. Coming up from the subway to the street level, we get a little mixed up and wind up walking all around the big Palais de Congre building to find the street we're looking for. Once we've gotten properly oriented, we find the Banque de Montreal which is partially hidden by some construction in the Place d'Armes in front of it. The old bank building has big green marble columns in front and a golden frieze above the entrance. This is a convenient first stop, as we need to hit the ATM. Across the Place d'Armes from the Banque de Montreal is Basilique Notre Dame de Montreal. On the outside, it's not nearly as impressive as its namesake Basilica in Paris, but the interior makes up for it. It's impossible to describe, so we'll let some photos do the work. The main altar and the wedding chapel are most impressive, the latter made completely from rare linden wood. We thought the Basilica in St. Louis was pretty impressive, and this one is at least its equal.

Basilique Notre Dame de Montreal	Altar	Not a spiral staircase	Altar	Wedding chapel

Back on the Rue de Notre Dame, we pass the Vieux Palais de Justice and a little bit further come to the top of the Place Jacques-Cartier. Rory picks up the familiar accent of a group of Aussies. We impress them with our knowledge of
Old stone house
Pedestrian street their country, our love of Footy (Australian Rules Football for those of you who haven't read our Australia journals) and even sing them the team song for the Fremantle Dockers. Across the street (behind us) is the Hotel de Ville which has served as the official city hall since 1878. Looking south from here, we see the center of the old city and the view of the Port of Montreal. Place Jacques-Cartier is lined on both sides with trendy cafes and bistros. About two thirds of the way down we come to Rue Ste-Therese. On the northwest corner we find Lucien, who sells photographs of the old city. We have one of his photos in our guest room in Columbia--Rory bought it when she was in Montreal in the mid '90s. We consider buying another one, but decide to think about it. We wander the old cobble-stoned, pedestrian streets for a while, waiting till after the noon rush to have lunch. About 1:15, we pick a place on the Place Jacques-Cartier. While we're sitting there, a couple of the Aussies pass by and we shout out: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" to which they reply "Oy, oy, oy." This is a traditional greeting among Aussies; we have no idea why, nor do any of the Aussies we know. The hostess at the bistro wants to know if we're from Australia, and we educate her quickly about some common Aussie expressions so she'll be able to attract their business in the future.

After lunch, we continue our walk through the old part of the city by walking back up the hill to the Hotel de Ville and then on to the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-
Place Jacques-Cartier
Hotel de Ville
City Hall Bon-Secours (what's with all these hyphens?).This is the original site of this chapel built in 1675, but the present building dates "only" from 1773. From here we pass the Marche Bonsecours with it massive, silver-colored dome. Completed in 1847, it was first home to the Parliament of United Canada, then served as Montreal's city hall. It was restored in 1992 for the city's 350th birthday celebration and now serves as an upscale retail market. Not able to pass up a good shopping opportunity, in we go! After browsing several shops, Rick points out a raincoat that Rory might like. After deliberating for a while, she decides to buy it. While we're waiting to complete the transaction, Rick notices a woman trying on a navy dress and comments to Rory how good it looks on this woman. Then the woman tries the same dress in dark red. This one looks even better and Rick, as only Rick can, tells her how good she looks in it and that she should definitely buy it. Once we're outside again, Rick can't help wondering
Chapelle Notre-Dame-
de-Bon-Secours
Marche Bonsecours whether the woman bought the dress, so he goes back inside. The woman is still trying on dresses and Rick calls out: "Buy the red one!" She says to come look at the colorful print one she's wearing and the others she's tried. Rick tells her that the one she has on really doesn't do much for her but that she looks smashing in the red one. To the delight of the sales girl, the woman agrees, and buys it. Rick and Rory chuckle about this all the way to a little cafe called "La Creme de la Creme" which happens to be the subject of one of Lucien's photos that we both liked. This is a convenient excuse to stop for a drink and watch the people--a very French thing to do. (You know, of course, that they speak French in Quebec. Unlike Ontario, where everything is in English and French, in Quebec, things are written only in French. Hence the feeling you're in Paris.) We watch a woman try to parallel park next to the bistro, which, after 5 tries, she manages to accomplish.

Cafe La Creme de la Creme

By now it's after 5:30, the shops are beginning to close, rush hour is beginning, and it looks like a thunder storm is brewing. We're thinking it might be good to get back to the apartment. Retracing our trip from this morning, we get off the bus at the Rue Beaubien stop. Rory goes to the grocery store for some soup, while Rick heads back to the apartment with our day's purchases. Just as Rory gets back, the sky opens up. We're in for the night, in time for Rick to watch his Boston Bruins in game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup finals.

All the towels in the apartment are new. When Rick finishes his shower and dries off, he finds he's covered with "new towel lint" and looks, as Rory says, like a big black bear. Another shower gets rid of most of the lint, but now there are no bath or hand towels. He makes do with a couple of dish towels and Rory spends the rest of the night washing and drying towels.

Thursday, June 9: At 9:30, it's sunny; at 9:45, it's raining hard.
Lamborghini
Check this guy's highlights The best thing to do is wait out the weather, have a little breakfast, take it a little easy. By 10:30, the sun's out again and by 11:30, we're on our way to downtown Montreal. Of course, we manage to forget the umbrella that's sitting under the front seat of the car. [Turns out, we won't need it.....] We are going to take the "downtown walk". Our subway route is the same as yesterday, except we will go two stations farther on the orange line to Bonaventure station. We begin the walk at the Boulevard Rene Levesque. The boulevard divides two parks: Place du Canada and Square Dorchester. On the north end of the park is the Tourist Office. We go in looking for information about the International Percussion Festival which we think begins on Sunday. We also want as much information as we can get about Quebec City and the old city of Quebec. Two of the most helpful ladies provide the answers to all out questions and all the maps and brochures we need. As for the percussion festival, it doesn't start until NEXT month. Upon leaving the Tourist Office we walk up Rue Peel to see why there are tents out on the street and why it's closed off to traffic. Then we realize, this is Gran Prix week in Montreal; the race goes off on Sunday. In the meantime, there are all kinds of exhibits and sponsor booths along a two block section of Rue Peel and also on Rue Crescent four blocks to the west. Rue Peel is lined with Lamborghinis, dozens of them in all colors. We'll check out Rue Crescent later today to see what's up there. We retrace our tracks back to Boul. Rene Levesque to visit the Basilique- Cathedrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde. (What's a nice Jewish boy from NYC doing visiting all these Catholic churches.....?) This one is unique because it is modeled after St. Peter's in the Vatican, albeit at 1/4 the size. Compared to the other bascilicas we've seen, the interior isn't as impressive.

Exterior	Interior	Bishop's tomb	Altar

We are heading to McGill University so Rick can add to his collection of university t-shirts. Along the way, we'll pass several landmarks including the Place Ville-Marie, designed by I. M. Pei; Rue St. Catherine, a major shopping street; the Cathedrale Christ Church (we don't go in this one); the original Hudson Bay Trading Company, now known by its French name "The Baie", and the Rue Sherbrooke (the widest boulevard in Montreal).

But the main attraction for us along this walk is "The Illuminated Crowd" an eggnog-colored, polyester resin sculpture done in 1955 by Raymond Mason. This work captures the faces of a life-sized crowd of figures in a slew of emotional states: illumination, hope, hilarity, irritation, fear, violence, and "the flow of man's emotion through space" as it says on the descriptive plaque at the base. To Rick it is a sculpture that suggests an Ayn Rand novel, especially the facial expressions.

Just down the street, we stop for lunch (it's almost 3pm). Rick's stomach still isn't 100%, but he's hungry enough for a burger; which satisfies us both. Back up the street we stroll through the main gate of McGill University, which like many urban schools, is an oasis of green rolling hills in the midst of the frenetic pace of the city. We find the bookstore easy enough for Rick's t-shirt and chat with a young economics student about the education experience at McGill. The university has 35,000 students and is one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Tuition runs about $3500-4000 per year for in-Province (Quebec) residents; about double that for other Canadians. There are many international students here, including lots of Americans. A US student will pay slightly more than a non-resident of Quebec, still a lot less than most top universities at home.

McGill from downtown	Main gate	Campus building

Our stop at McGill is the last of our planned walking itinerary. We're almost to Rue Crescent, so we're off to see what Gran Prix week has in store for us there. We find a lot more activity including product demonstrations, samples of various beverages, and a few opportunities to get directly involved. Rick gets into a race car and has his picture taken with a number of small groups of young women who are pitching different products. Rory tries her hand at the old carnival "ring the bell by wielding a sledge hammer" game. She's the only woman who even tries, but alas, doesn't ring the bell. She gets a pair of promtional sunglasses for her efforts. It's looking like we might get some rain, so rather than take a chance on getting wet finding our way back to a Metro station, we settle in at an Irish Pub with covered outdoor seating. We have a couple of beers and Rory has a stab at dinner. (Rick's stomach says "no thank you"). Just as we're finishing it starts to rain lightly. Having already determined that the nearest Metro station is only two blocks away, we take the chance that we can make it there before getting wet. In fact, we make it all the way back to the apartment before any more rain falls. Today was the end of the 4th week of our odyssey.

Pedestrians rule	The Great Tonno Panini	Have at it.	LG girls & friend

Friday, June 10: It's cooler and less humid today--a perfect day for strolling through downtown Montreal neighborhoods, taking in the sights, sounds,
Commercial shoot
Rue Prince Albert
townhouses and smells. We're not really in a hurry, so rather than begin our walk at the beginning, we decide to start at the end and walk the route in reverse. We won't be going as far on the Metro, getting off at Sherbrooke station, and walking through Square Saint Louis, a beautiful park surrounded by old townhouses with tons of character. At the west end of the park there's a filming going on-- probably a commercial. A bride and groom are standing together and for some reason, a bucket of water is being thrown at the bride. The director doesn't seem to be satisfied with the first couple of takes. In the meantime, the "bride's" gown is being soaked and she is getting cold. She could do quite well in a wet-wedding gown contest, thank you very much. We continue out of the park onto Rue Prince Albert, a pedestrian way lined with restaurants and clubs. This was a mainly Greek area of town and many of the restaurants have Greek names. More recently Latinos and Asians have added culinary diversity to the area's offerings.

At the end of Rue Prince Albert, we turn right onto Boulevard St. Laurent.
Schwartz's Deli
(note the line)
Briskets of beef This street divides the city of Montreal in half from north to south, so that the east half is on the right, and the west half on the left. This part of the street is pedestrian-only and there are many vendors selling what various vendors sell. There are also shops, restaurants, clubs, and various other services offered here. We are heading to Schwartz's Deli for lunch. Rick is feeling better, and what better way to celebrate than with one of Schwartz's world famous smoked meat sandwiches (another name for corned beef). We are amused to see that due to the law that all signs must be in French, the sign over Schwartz's reads: "Charcuterie Hebraique de Montreal". The place has been open since 1908. We have read that there will be a line to get into the small establishment, and sure enough, there's a line out the door. We don't wait long because we are willing to sit at the counter. We order our sandwiches with a side of pickle for Rick and olives for Rory. Rick gets the added treat (for him) of a Cott black cherry soda. We really enjoy our sandwiches, Rick vowing to come back for another one before we leave.

After lunch we continue our walk up Boul. St Laurent. In one of the shops, the salesgirl tells us about the festival that will take over Avenue
Cool fire station
Avenue du Mont Royal festival
(Olympic Tower in background) du Mont Royal later this afternoon and that we should go. We think maybe we will. Next we turn right on Avenue Duluth, then right again onto Rue St. Denis, a major shopping street. We also explore some of the side streets and find ourselves back on Rue St. Denis where a cold lemon granite provides some needed refreshment. We decide to visit the Montreal Holocaust Memorial which requires us to walk up to the Mont Royal Metro station. Before going down to the station we realize that the festival/street market that we were told about has already begun. We'll do the Lolocaust Memorial another day.) There's live music, street vendors selling all types of food, clothing, housewares, leather goods, shoes (soooo many shoes), sunglasses, well, you get my drift. What's amazing is that about 2 miles of Rue du Mont Royal has been closed to traffic. It's even tough for vehicles to get across this street. No one seems to care. There are people everywhere: couples, teenagers, young families, tourists, locals, and about every kind of dog you can think of. The vendors are extremely friendly and willing to bargain. Along the street we see a vendor selling ball caps. He's wearing an orange Clemson hat of all things. Rick tells the man that if takes off the hat and puts on a garnet and black Nike hat (he didn't have one from USC), that he will buy a hat from him. Rory explains the rivalry, the man gets a good laugh and sells a hat!. Before we're finished, we will have walked almost the whole length of the street in BOTH directions. You have to realize what a shopper Rory is! We'll have a light dinner here; it's the first time in the last four days that Rick will feel like eating three meals. We share a pizza and a salad and complete the trek, ending up at the Mont Royal metro station that we started at almost five hours ago.

Saturday, June 11:
Canadiens captains' wall
In goal.... It's chilly and very cloudy; looks like rain. Instead of planning an outdoor day at Parc Mont Royal, we'll try the Montreal Canadiens Hall of Fame. Rick isn't an avid hockey fan any more and certainly not a Canadiens fan (he's seen them break his Boston Bruins' hearts too many times); this is a franchise to hockey what the Yankees are to baseball, what the Packers are to football, and what the Celtics and Lakers are to basketball. In other words, there's a lot of history here, but he won't be buying any souvenirs. Rory, being the good sport, goes along with this plan. The metro leaves us off at Lucien-L'Allier station and it's a short walk through the plaza built in 1999, commemorating 100 years of Canadiens hockey, with statues of Rocket Richard, Jean Beliveau, Guy LaFleur, and Howie Morenz. The exhibits are quite well done. Rick especially enjoys sitting in a goal net during a staged celebration of a game winning goal and the locker room, with the jerseys of many great Canadiens players hanging there. There's also a good film in panorama about the history of the team. Rick tries to
Locker room
All living Canadiens
100th anniversary 1999 explain some of the basics as well as some of the nuances of the game and the team's history to Rory. She is most interested in the evolution of the uniforms and the equipment. He regrets that he didn't take her to the Hockey Hall of Fame while we were in Toronto, thinking she wouldn't be interested.

From the Hall of Fame, we take the train to the Lionel-Groulx station to find the Atwater Market. This is one of the biggest markets in Montreal with many stall selling meats, cheeses, wines, bakery products, vegetables....in other words "a MARKET". We haven't eaten any lunch and it's almost 4pm. We're trying to figure out whether we can just get a sandwich or a light lunch here. The place is crowded and the signs are of course all in French. There is one counter that has salads displayed like in an American supermarket deli counter. Even though we try not to, we have to communicate in English and fortunately the young woman behind the counter is very helpful. From the market we walk the length of Boulevard Notre Dame all the way back to Vieux Montreal (the old city) where a rest for a drink is in order. Rick tries a Boreale Noire on the waitress' recommendation. He detects a hint of coffee and chocolate and is delighted upon reading the back label to find that he is right. After about a half an hour, we're back wandering the streets passing several bistros that might work for dinner, but we aren't hungry. It's only been 2 1/2 hours since we ate. The weather is getting colder and we don't want to get caught in any rain that might come along. Instead of waiting around here until we're hungry, we take the Metro back to Saint Michel, stop in the local grocery store for some bread and wine (to go along with the cheese and fruit we already have). We'll relax over these later tonight.

Sunday, June 12: Looks like another day like yesterday; only moreso. We are going to visit the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Museum. We'll be taking the blue Metro line from one end (Saint Michel) to the other (Snowdon), the sitching onto the orange line for one stop to Cote Ste. Catherine. It's a few
The Memorial Room
Montreal Holocaust Memorial Museum
Eternal flame and monument block walk and we arrive just as it starts to rain. This museum tells the story of Jewish communities before, during, and after tbe Holocaust through life stories of Montrealers who survived through their personal testimony, belongings, and archival material. The museum sensitizes visitors to the destruction caused by prejudice, racism, and anti-semitism while promoting the respect for diversity and tolerance. What makes this museum so interesting is its focus on the human spirit and the importance of family and community as major factors in the will to survive unbelievable atrocities and cruelty. It focuses on the survivors and their experiences, rather than just the awfulness of the Holocaust. We will spend more than three hours watching archival film, listening to the accounts of many survivors, and examining historical material. When we've finished the self-guided experience we come to the Memorial Room. It is "dedicated to the memory of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. The words 'We are the heirs' engraved on one wall encourage each of us to pass on the history and to stay vigilant when confronted with anti-semitism, racism, and intolerance in all their forms. In the center of the room, a column from the Warsaw synagogue, destroyed by during the uprising of the ghetto, supports an urn containing ashes from people killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau. On the walls one can read, on one side, the names of all the cities where Jewish communities were persecuted in Europe and North Africa; and on the other one, the names of concentration camps, death camps,and mass shooting sites. Six, candles recall the six million Jewish victims whereas the eternal flame represents the continuity of life and hope." As we leave, we realize that these atrocities continue in many parts of the world; often ignored as the Holocaust was until the end of the war. The acts of bullying we read about in the news today are really nothing more than the seeds which, if allowed to grow, can result in similar fates for thousands and thousands of innocent victims.

It's pouring as we leave the museum, but within about 10 minutes it stops and we walk back to the Metro and then to find somewhere for lunch.. After lunch at the corner of Avenue Mont Royal and Rue St. Denis, we get a handful of samples of a new chocolate candy that Hershey is distributing. They are the size of extra large M&Ms, but much more chocolatey. They're really good and we hope they'll be sold in the States.

We are going to Parc Mont Royal to the Tam Tams, which attracts as many as a few hundred drummers who congregate around the statue of Sir George Etienne Cartier near the intersection of Avenue du Parc and Rur Rachel. The only qualification is that you have some instrument you can bang on. Unfortunately, the rain has kept away all but a few hardy souls and their tom tom, conga, and bongo drums. Rick had brought along his sticks, but there really is no opportunity for him to participate. So we walk back to the Mont Royal station and head back to the apartment. At the Saint Michel we add another day to our OPUS card so we're set for our last day in Montreal. As we exit the station, it's really raining hard and we will finally get a little wet before we board the bus and get back to the apartment. Surprisingly, the sun comes out around 7pm. Tonight we are going back to the Chinese restaurant where we ate the first night we were here.

Monday, June 13: Not nice weather again today; cold, but at least no rain. We've done all the things on our Montreal list, so we're going downtown for lunch. Rick went out to find a post office so we could mail out a deposit on an apartment in the DC area for July 17-19. As usual we got a late start (would you believe noon?). Somehow we managed to spend almost five hours just roaming around. Nice big lunch means light dinner in the apartment. Packing and leaving for Quebec City in the morning.

Rory & friends

Tuesday, June 14: It figures that after 4 days of clouds and cold, getaway day from Montreal would be sunny. We have only about 250k to drive (about 150 miles). After visiting with Helene (who owns the apartment) and get our security deposit back, we're on our way at 9am. The first part of the drive is on Hwy 40 which is like an interstate. About half way to Quebec City we turn off on Rte 138 which takes us right along the St. Lawrence River and through several charming little towns. Around 12:30 we stop for lunch at the Pub Alfred, where we are treated quite well and enjoy a nice lunch. The place is the choice of a seniors biking club. They are all eating outside dressed in their red, black, yellow and white "team" jerseys. They are having a great time and we enjoy their laughter even though we don't talk to any of them. After lunch, Rick calls our contact in Quebec City to let her know that we will be arriving at our apartment at 2:00. We're only a few minutes late, having missed the turn onto Rue St. Pierre (a one-way street), where the apartment is located. We find the street blocked by a big crane, so Rick parks and walks half a block to the apartment. Michelle is waiting for him, takes him up (three flights of stairs) to the apartment, gives him the keys and the card for the parking lot, and explains how everything works. It's quite a nice studio apartment fully equipped and perfectly located in the oldest part of the city, but away from the main tourist area. Rick goes back to the car and we get get around the crane by coming down the street the other way. We unload the car, hauling a minimum of stuff up to the apartment. When we're settled in, we drive the car to the parking lot and head up the hill into the Old City.

The old city is dominated by the Hotel Frontenac, a castle-like structure
Hotel Chateau Frontenac
Nelson J. Peters & friends which sits on top of the hill overlooking the St. Lawrence. Rick stayed here almost 30 years ago. We're looking for the Tourist Office, which we find at the Place d'Armes without too much trouble. We're just going to wander this afternoon, since it's almost 4pm and sightsee tomorrow. On our way out of the Tourist Office, we encounter a young man selling his first novel: "The Great Canadian Novel by Nelson J. Peters". This is the full title of the book and the young man is, in fact, Nelson J. Peters. He explains that there was already a book entitled "The Great Canadian Novel" so he just added "by Nelson J. Peters" to the title to avoid copyright infringement. We spent some time talking with him and his girlfriend/editor. We wondered why he was trying to sell his book in French Canada where they mostly read French books. We suggested he might have good luck in Toronto downtown on Yonge Street across from the Eaton Center. He seemed to think this was a good idea and thought he might just try it since he had friends there. We asked what his back up plan
In the shadows of the
Chateau Frontenac was in case his career as a novelist didn't pay the bills. He told us he was going to law school just in case. (oh yeah,Rory bought the book.) A little further on, Rory detected an Aussie accent. Rick did the "Aussie,
Bistro along Le Petite Champlain Aussie, Aussie" routine, and got back the expected "Oy, Oy, Oy". These folks were from Queensland and were surprised we knew where Rockhampton and Mackay were, let alone been there. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping on the Marche Champlain at the base of the hill. We passed a restaurant offering a three course dinner for two including wine for C$79.95 with no menu restrictions. Seemed like a good deal to us so after shopping we went back and had quite a nice dinner. It stays light here until past 8:30 and it was warm enough to eat outside. Satisfied on all levels, we returned to our apartment just after 9pm.

Wednesday, June 15:
Funicular
On the Terrasse Dufferin Yes! It's warm and shorts/t-shirts weather. We are going to roam around the Old City of Quebec today. We start by taking the Funicular for C$2, a 45 second ride that eliminates walking up the steep streets. We begin on the Terrasse Dufferin with its panoramic views of the St. Lawrence River. The next street up houses the US Consulate, which we pass on our way to the Plains of Abraham. The Citadelle sits above us, with its moat (dry) and fortress walls. It is the old armed fortress in North America. We are attracted by the sounds of a marching band, and come upon a military band practicing on the pavement that was once part of the moat. We are entertained by the sounds of the Canadian National Anthem. From here we are off in search of Aux Anciens Canadiens, a famous restaurant that our good friend Tayloe Harding has recommended, and that now occupies the oldest building in the city. We had intended to have our main meal here at lunchtime, but it isn't open until this evening. We may or may not come back. Instead, we find a nice, very French bistro advertising a chateaubriand dinner for two for C$49.95. We can't pass this up and we are not disappointed in any way. The restaurant is charming, we have a table by a window that opens onto the cobblestoned street, and the food is wonderful. The meat is perfectly prepared and comes with seven, count 'em, seven vegetables. Add some wine/beer and coffee at the end and we are totally satisfied. (We won't have any need for dinner tonight after this.)

From the Plains of Abraham	Rue St. Louis	Aux Anciens Canadiens	At lunch	Carriage parking lot

Quebec City had to be the tourist/shopping capital of Quebec Province if not ALL of Canada. You can see the sights in a day or less and we've seen most of
Old city walls
Quebec Parliament them already. The Parliament Building for Quebec Province offers free tours and the walk will do us good after our monster lunch. On the way we walk into some of the towers that remain on the old city walls, as well as walk on the walls themselves. The Parliament building sits majestically overlooking the old city. There's a huge fountain in front, and well-manicured gardens. The building itself is quite impressive, but not over-done with 26 bronze (now black) statues that pay tribute to the men and women who helped shape Quebec society. We take the 4:00 tour. Our guide provides a bit of history, pointing out the influences of the three governments that have ruled Quebec: fleur de lis (France); lions (Great Britain); and maple leaf (Canada). The provincial government has a 125-member house of representatives, one from each geographic region of Quebec, but no Senate. It was abolished in 1983 and replaced by an appointed body that has the final say-so on legislation passed by the house. There are two main chambers. Our tour visits the blue chamber. The red chamber is being used to honor distinguished Quebecois (people from Quebec) with the highest award of the Quebec government. The half hour tour last almost an hour and was quite enjoyable.

From the Parliament Building, we walk back to the Place de Armes and down the hill past La Fresque les Quebecois a huge mural painted on the side of a building. This whimsical work of art depicts historical figures from Quebec's history together with contemporary characters and images. This morning, the plaza in front of the mural was overrun with tourists, mostly school children on class trips, but this evening, there are few people here and it is much easier to reflect and enjoy it. From here we return to our apartment so that Rick can find us accomodations for the next couple of weeks and to watch game 7 of the Stanley Cup hockey finals which Rick's Boston Bruins will win for the first time since 1972!

La Fresque les Quebecois

Thursday, June 16:
The other mural
A Tamboa Today we really took it easy. Did a little laundry first thing, then Rick went out in search of croissants. It's the third straight sunny and warm day. We went out to see another building mural like the one described yesterday. At lunch time we returned to the restaurant we'd eaten dinner at on Tuesay. Rick was after the mussels and french fries he'd seen there. From there we went off to explore a couple of markets that Rory had read about. In one of them we came across Gilles Perrault who makes a wooden percussion instrument he calls the Tamboa which he was told means "discovery" in Swahili. He's also a hockey fan so Rick enjoyed talking about hockey history from the mid 1950s to the mid '70s with him. Our last stop for the day was the Morrin Center. It was built over 200 years ago as the city's first prison and now houses a beautiful library. We walked through the old cell blocks and jail cells and museum-style exhibits of the jail's history. But the jail became overcrowded in the mid 1860s and was ultimately turned into the Morrin College by its founder Dr. Joseph Morrin, a former mayor of Quebec. The highlight of the tour was the Victorian Library which is currently the focus of the Center. Since we're leaving Quebec tomorrow morning, we returned to the apartment to
Morrin Center
(and former jail)
The Library pack and (partially) load the car, and fill the gas tank (to the tune of C$78 (that's over $80). We've still got plenty of food in the fridge, so we'll eat in tonight.