The Thousand Islands

Prescott was a nice stopover, but even better was Brockville. This was a town that looked to be alive, and seemed to be thriving. And we were stopped for the night. So another pleasant, quiet night on the riverside pier. Some of the passengers went into town for a bit of a walk, but we stayed on board for the evening. By now, we had eaten enough that moving around was a bit more difficult, and we had even gotten lazier (imagine that!).

On our arrival, we were whisked off for a quick tour of Fort Wellington,a fort built for the War of 1812, but used more for the Rebellion of 1838-42, against those nasty folks who wanted democracy (like William Lyon MacKenzie).








The "soldier" on the left is actually a woman (not historically accurate). The woman on the right is Laurie, our Purser and Tour Guide.

When we got up in the morning, it was a bright, sunny day. I walked into town to get a Globe, and when I got back, I joined the others on a bus to Fulford mansion. Mr. Fulford was a marketing genius in the days of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. He marked those "Pink Pills for Pale People", and made many millions off them—a huge sum for that time. And what do you do when you have that much money? Why, build a house. He bought land on a rise overlooking the St. Lawrence, tore down the mansion that was already there, and built one of stone, which has something like 65 rooms in it.


All for his wife and their two children. Plus, of course, an Italianate garden designed by the same guy who did Central Park in NYC. And a boathouse bigger than most of our houses. He had one other child (the first son, so the first one who could inherit all that wealth), but then was killed in an auto accident in 1905, having lived in this house only three years.

That afternoon, we went through the Millionaire's Row of the Thousand Islands. They were grand homes, of the rich and famous from the early Twentieth Century. And probably the grandest was the Boldt Castle
(http://www.boldtcastle.com/visitorinfo/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/aerial-castle.jpg), built by the Manager of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC for his wife, and never lived in (his wife died during the construction and he was bereft, so cancelled the project as it was nearing completion). It has something like 150 rooms in the main house, plus a children's playhouse which had another fifteen or so rooms, an a few other out-buildings. All on one island, and intended only for a summer home. Ah, the Good Old Days!

We put in that evening at Gananoque (known as "Gan" by the locals) for the night, and had a brief visit to the 1000 Islands Skydeck. Here are a few pictures from the deck (and one from the ground):








That evening, we were to stay in Gan, and we had friends there (Don and Marion Matthews), so we went and had a very pleasant evening catching up with them, and reminiscing over what Dundas was like when they lived here 14 years ago.

We got back to the ship in time for me to have a dance with Laurie at the evening's entertainment. That was fun.

The following morning, we had a tour of the remaining Islands, plus a tour of the historical Museum for Gananoque, and then took a leisurely ride into Kingston. We docked, said our good-byes, and it was all over but the train ride.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Kingston, Ontario

Days of Locks and History

As promised, we had an early start. The engines woke us before six, and we ere on our way. We had a lot of locks to go through to get from Montréal to Upper Canada Village, where we were to spend the night.

First was the St. Lambert Lock. For us, this had significance, because we had lived across the river from it, and many times have crossed the Victoria Bridge which goes over it. So it was wonderful to see it from inside, for once.

Those great doors, pushing back walls of water, and yet the ship rises really quite quickly, once we are set in place. Locks were first developed on the St. Lawrence about 250 years ago. When it opened in 1959, this one in St. Lambert replaced the Lachine Canal.


























These photos are actually of the next locks, at Beauharnois. but the shots are similar to what we saw in the other locks. The yellow things that look like suction cups are just that: for the very large ships, these attach to the sides of the vessel, and then the vessel has no need to tie up—saving them money and time.

There were two locks at Beauharnois, then one at Eisenhower, and one at Iroquois and Snell. A lot of locking today. Part of the problem with this, is that we spent the entire day on the ship. while it is a very pleasant environment, we are in a position of definite caloric surplus.

Having said that, the locks were a wanna-be engineer's dream (and we know that big boys like big toys). And we had a relatively early evening stop, at the Upper Canada Village Marina. Last night, we watched a wonderful magic show given by a man called Chris Pilsworth (www.borntoamaze.com). Totally awesome: Darlene was asked to be part of one of the tricks, and she had no idea how it was done. And, thankfully, we were not going to be woken at six with the engines, since the morning would be spent at the Village.

And so it was. The morning, after breakfast, we took a miniature train from the Marina to the Upper Canada Village, where they had called in staff and kept the place open, mostly for us. We had a wonderful two-hour visit there, and then were back on the ship for our trip through the last (Iroquois) Lock, before stopping for a time in Prescott to visit Fort Wellington, a fort from the Wars of 1812 and the Rebellions of 1848-52. Interesting, but had to be cut short because of a backup of traffic on the Seaway which made us an hour late. (Again, they kept the place open for us—terrific.)

Then back to the boat, supper on board while they moved the boat to Brockville for the night. And here we sit.








The picture is of the final dam which we went through (the Iroquois Dam and Lock) before docking at Prescott.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Prescott, Ontario

Ville Marie

After another early rise, thanks to the boat's engines, we were off to Montréal. We were excited by the prospect of being in the city again, having a nostalgic and romantic memory of our times there all those years ago.

We passed Sorel, with its islands, and its boatyards. Then on to the islands just downriver from Montréal, and finally to the large refineries of east Montréal. For me, it was thrilling to see the island from the river. We passed by Île Notre-Dame, then by the site of Expo 67, and into the Old Port.



Where we put in was at the end of the old Lachine Canal, and we were once again thrilled to see the Five Roses flour sign we had lived near during our time in Montréal.


The crew had organized a tour of the city. We had debated whether to go on it or not, and in the end, went. Perhaps a mistake, but we saw the St. Joseph's Oratory, Mount Royal, and various sites along the way. We stopped for a few photo ops of the East Montréal landscape.


Then back to the ship, a quiet supper, and an evening of musical entertainment with a flautist and a guitarist, before getting to bed again.

One of the exciting things: our captain had to leave the ship, but for a good reason. His wife went into labour with his first child. So we were stuck in Old Montréal for the night (terrific!), because they needed a new pilot before they could do the locks we were coming up to. But it meant an early morning the next day.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Montréal, Québec

Goin' Up the River

No matter what the "location" tag says, we are actually in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, some hours above Quebec, on our way to Trois-Rivieres.

We had a wonderful time in Quebec, rediscovering old places, and finding new ones. I don't think we did a lot of the tourist things, but we still managed to amuse ourselves. Lots of walking, up and down hills, allowed us the fantasy that we were burning off enough calories to enjoy guilt-free good meals. Our host at La Maison Daulac was Mme Cécile Paradis, who (it turns out) is an amazing cook, at least for breakfast. I had her fruits cup and muffin, followed by a crepe, and was ready for a morning nap. However, the day was cool but sunny, so we went off. Walking took us soon to the "ascenseur" where Darlene caught a ride up the escarpment, and I took the stairs out of some misguided manliness. we stopped for a look over the part of town where we had spent the night.










But that was only a part of the way up. the streets still would test the brakes of any car. And any walker.

Lots of walking down small side streets, finding our way to one of the tourist areas where we came across a shop (Oliv) which sold olive oils and balsamic vinegars. So we now have six extra bottles of things to bring home with us.

And then to the Dufferin Terrace for a sit-down rest, some more walking through the streets to the area of the Porte St-Louis. Across this to the Assemblé Nationale building, and along its promenade, eventually getting back to Grande-Allée where we stopped for a coffee (yes, a Starbucks).

Some more wandering found us again in the Lower Town, and ready for a late lunch/early supper. Where we had wanted to go, a place we had visited last year, was a diner-like place called Buffet de l'Antiquaire. It had posted a sign that it was taking only cash, and this led to me leaving Darlene in a sunny place, and me heading off to find a cash machine. No luck with that, But luck in another way: we found a lovely restaurant just down the street, Le Mistral Gagnant. He not only let us in early (his chef had not even arrived) and provided us with a glass of wine each, but later went on to serve us a wonderful meal of "riz-de-veau" in my case, and lamb in Darlene's. All done in a Provincal way that appealed to us.









We must have walked over fifteen kilometres that day, so bed felt good, and sleep was just fine.

Yesterday was my birthday. Nothing special, but another fine breakfast with Mme Paradis, and this time off on a sunny morning for a walk along the St-Charles River nearby. We walked both sides of the river, through a national park which was pretty amazing as well, before heading back to the Lower Town in search of the phantom ATM. This time, we found it, all of fifty yards from where we had been the previous night. And armed with this new-found wealth, ate our lunch at the Buffet de l'Antiquaire (again, very good).

Our trip back to the B&B by foot, passed us by the quai where our boat was moored, and then walked back to room for a brief rest and the retrieval of our bags.

Then on to the actual boat, the first line-up of the day, as we got on the ship and found our room. Settling in was swift, and then a supper. We had been told we would go for a tour of the harbour at night, but the wind had whipped up the river enough that it was cancelled. An early night.

Next morning, the ship's engines got us up about six, and we went up to watch the sunrise over the town








And then we had to go into a lock to get out of the harbour. What? I asked myself...but the harbour is actually kept at a constant water level, while the river is tidal. We went down almost six feet from harbour to river.








Then a final look back at the wonderful city of Québec, and we were off into the River, on our way to Trois-Rivières.








From here, it was simply a matter of steaming along the river, against the current (which is surprisingly strong for a river this broad). The shore was sometimes rocky, sometimes flat agricultural land. Sometimes houses, sometimes forest or farmland.





And we pulled into town almost right on schedule, and went off on a tour of the Shrine at Cap-de-la-Madeleine. This Catholic shrine is a bit vulgar in its size and self-aggrandizement, but the little chapel that started the whole thing is kind of charming. I have a picture of the statue of the Virgin Mary that began the whole thing (admittedly rather fancied up).




After the tour, we walked into town, bought a Globe and some lip balm. The city itself is the centre of the pulp and paper industry for most of North America, and still has four functioning mills. In spite of the decline in demand for newsprint, it seems to be doing okay—so far. A pleasant downtown, which seems to be alive.

However, we were not so alive. Back to the boat, supper, and a mixing-type game of Trivia, and off to bed. It's surprising how tired you can get doing almost nothing except eat and read!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Place Bussières,Deschaillons-sur-Saint-Laurent,Canada

Quebec encore

We were here last year, about this time of year. This year, it was a lot colder than last: only two degrees when we got up this morning. but today the sun is out, and that makes all the difference (yesterday was raining off and on, windy, grey, not pleasant).



So yesterday, after a wonderful breakfast at our B&B, and a short nap to help with its digestion, we went out for a walk along Rue St-Joseph, revisiting a quartier that we had liked so much last year. and then went to the Marche du vieux-port, another favourite from last year. so, in spite of all, it was a good day, topped off with a wonderful dinner at L'Affaire est Ketchup—just as good as last year's meal. The picture above is of a window display along the main street in our quartier. the picture below is of Darlene's appetizer last night.



Today we will be more ambitious. up to the Upper Town, then down again to Lower Town, wander along the river, and check out some places we missed last year.

More to come.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Rue Letellier,Quebec City,Canada