Days 17 & 18: a new blog site

 

I’ve given up on “blogger” and, thanks Jean, you’ve reminded me of WordPress which I’ve used in the past.

So now I’m way  behind……Day 17 was spent flying from Halifax to Montreal and then back to Quebec.  Here Bob has again found excellent accommodation – an apartment just 1 block from the Chateau Frontenac and with an epicerie almost within sight of the front door!

We spent the afternoon wandering round the upper and lower old town and getting our bearings.  It is all very pretty, almost as if the 17th & 18th century parts  from lots of French towns have been collected here.  Of course, so many lovely buildings attract  tourists en masse and it would be super hypocritical to complain but……

The crowds are made more dense by there being THREE cruise ships in port including the Queen Mary 2.

First come, first served!

We need to dispose of the following items…..we’re here from Mar 30-April10.  More things will be added once we arrive + details and pix where appropriate.  All free to friends!  There will be more stuff once the house is sold.
We still hope to catch up with everyone despite having lots to do in that short stay so do get in touch whether you’d like something or not!

Household:

slowcooker

capsule coffee machine (needs Hypercor capsules)

electric kettles

gas heaters

oil-filled radiators

iron

ironing board.

vibrating exercise machine

punch bowl +glasses  Free

various decanters

electric whisk

electric mixer

ice-cream maker

Cepsa gas bottles

chemical toilet

2 x trays on collapsible stands

side table

2 x office chairs

double foam mattress

DVD’s

Wi-Fit + games

jigsaws and carrying board

antique wooden cello case

lots of books, some in Spanish.  Fiction and non-fict. E.g. local guides.

2 drawer filing cabinet + hanging files.

Vodafone router

printer

silk paints, stencils, knitting wool, etc

small plastic drawers set

barking dog alarm(!)

blue glass candle sticks, ceiling hanging candle holder etc

Moroccan hanging candle holder

lloyd loom linen basket

 

Garden

2 almost new red “deckchairs”

hammock

hanging chair.

large troughs, pots varied

Small pond with pump

Assorted power tools/ordinary tools

car roof luggage box and fixing bars.

 

 

 

 

Last 2 days in Quebec

This morning we wandered around the area outside the walls where the buildings are more diverse but many of the streets are still very attractive.

This is the very impressive Parliament building.  Note the Japanese bride by the fountain trying to control her veil in the strong, cold wind!

During lunch in the cute Café de Paris we chatted to a pair of ladies from Los Angeles who were great travellers and readers and very embarrassed by Trump….they could see the similarities between our countries and leaders.  Lunch was very good and reasonably priced.

Quebec continued

 

We walked along the cliff-top gardens through the Plains of Abraham (the site of the battle where Wolfe died leading an outnumbered British army to defeat the French and lead to New France becoming British).  The trees were gorgeous as were the views of the St Lawrence.

In the afternoon we took a short boat trip down the river to the Montmorency Falls.

More street scenes including Halloween displays:

Day 16: Pré Grande…..

….is a very interesting historic site which is “sacred” to the Acadiens, i.e. the mostly French settlers who came here in the 1680’s but were forcibly deported when the British won the region in a war with the French.  They were experts at reclaiming land between the tides (which are the highest in the world here, on the Bay of Fundy) using sluices and dykes.  Those who survived the deportation to the English colonies further south -especially Louisiana of course – or back to Europe could not return for many years but eventually some did and their descendants still have distinct settlements all over Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

A view over the salt marshes

Memorial window in the modern church

My photos just don’t do the colours justice

Day 15: Wolfville

We would have missed this pretty little town of we’d kept to our plans ……it’s the home of Acadia University where lots of our kids from Bermuda went on to.

Another Victorian home

Acadia Uni

Quite a lot of drinking places!

Days 13 and 14: Truro and and change of plan.

A glorious morning as we left the best (and best value – Bob) B & B on our trip.  There was quite a heavy frost but the sun soon felt warm.

We drove through stunning landscape, with foliage which could only be described as blazing in the sunshine, all the way to Truro.

 Belgravia House 1903

Another historic home, furnished and decorated in keeping with its history.  Breakfast was served on bone china with cut glass glasses and silver serving plates.  The food lived up to the place settings: blueberry juice, strawberries, raspberries, homemade yoghurt,  muesli and “muffins” ( zuchini and blueberry) followed by eggs florentine…..far too much for us!

Truro has one famous site and that’s a huge park, right down town.  We walked the 2 k path to a waterfall but there was barely a trickle of water, despite the recent rainy weather.

I wasn’t feeling too chipper this day so we asked if we could stay an extra day and decided to cut out the long drive we’d been planning to Anapolis Royal and have a break.  Luckily they could let us stay and by the following morning I’d had lots of much-needed sleep and felt much better.

More photos

Days 11 & 12: Prince Edward Island.

My mistake:  our hosts have 7 children!  (2 are from his first marriage)

It rained all day on Friday.  We drove to the capital of PEI and joined crowds of bedraggled tourists off the cruise ship in the harbour, wandering round the basilica and small water-side area.  The “city” has only 22,000 residents so has few shops in its downtown area.  The residential areas have many attractive houses and we walked the board-walk round the harbour until the chill wind drove us into a cafe.

Saturday also started wet but it gradually cleared up, although still chilly.  Our host, James, drew an itinerary round the central and western part of the island which included a Portuguese- owned vineyard, stops along the coast and a recommended restaurant in a converted station.  We enjoyed it all…..apart from long winters this seems a very pleasant place to live.

Charlottetown, the capital

Days 9 and 10: Back to the mainland and off again

The weather has become very unsettled as a result of the tropical storms in the Atlantic.  It meant our drive round the second half of the Cabot Trail was dogged by rain and low clouds for most of its length so I took almost no photos.

We spent the night in a lovely B and B in Pictou.

,

Bob chose it as it’s only 10 minutes from the ferry over to Prince Edward Island which we caught this morning.  The crossing takes 70 mins and the sea was quite choppy but it’s a fair sized boat so we felt little motion.

The landscape on PEI is  undramatic but pretty with rolling hills and many farms, both dairy and arable.  Once again Bob has chosen well and our B and B in New Glasgow is very comfortable with a large room, massive bed, fridge, microwave, tea, coffee, kitkats etc. Breakfasts look good and include eggs benedict – my favourite.  We can even have it in our room if we choose. Our hosts are a young couple with 5 children who were very welcoming.