Fun and games in Chicoutimi

On Sunday night Raymond, Diane, and Jocelyn planned a get-together dinner for all of the Palm Garden people. We had about 15 rigs with friends coming from five hours away to join us for a few days. We are honored that so many of our friends chose to join us.

We had a Lac St. Jean tourtiere which is a traditional northern Quebec meat pie usually served at family gatherings. Originally made with wild game, ours was beef, potatoes, onions, and broth, baked for hours in a pie crust. It was very tasty.

La Geant Motorise, besides offering us free camping, also gave away door prizes. Raymond gave Mitch his prize of $50 to spend at the store.












The next morning it was time for a petanque game. This round was worth six points!!!












Le Geant Motorise also provided us a chauffeured limosine ride, complete with champagne, around the area and into Chicoutimi. HP was in our group and became our guide as he showed us the bridges and buildings he had designed while living in Chicoutimi.

We had a great Happy Hour one afternoon with a bunch of the Quebeqois. Jean Charles had prepared a beautiful smoked salmon. Besides the good eats, we had five minutes of only speaking English, of which their favorite line was "Oh my God", and five minutes of only French, which makes me wish I had paid more attention in my fifth grade French class.


We've also gotten in a couple of days of playing pickleball. We're glad we taught Gilles and Francine how to play at Peace River TT. Boy it feels good to get back at the game!









After a good round of pickleball, one needs to food up again, so off we all went (four cars of us this time) to visit the Boivin Cheese Factory in LaBaie. The factory was done with the days production so we hit the canteen for Pepittes and Poutine.









Poutine--another Quebequois traditional food--French fries with squeaky cheese curds topped with brown gravy. The Pipittes are deep fried cheese curds, a relatively new food trend.

We're watching our diets--Mitch and I split these Poutine and Pepittes!






Off for a drive to visit the area. This is LaBaie Bay on the Sagueny River. We also stopped to see a Bauxite Plant and a salmon ladder.



We needed to get home, though, because we needed to get our dinner made. Six of us were eating at Gilles and Francines.





Besides grilled cheese watermelon sandwiches for appetizers we also had whelks, a first for us. We had found whelk egg cases walking the beaches many years ago, but didn't know what a whelk was. Very rubbery, very salty, and very fishy.










We had a healthy spaghetti meal, but the homemade Sugar Pie that Louise made for dessert was wonderful. Tasted kind of like our pecan pie without the pecans.



We're not done with Chicoutimi yet!

Off to Chicoutimi

We traveled the 135 miles north to Chicoutimi through the Jacques Cartier National Park. The roads were good and the scenery beautiful. Then we hit Chicoutimi and the bridge over the Saguenay River was under construction and it took us about an hour to get across it.

Oh well, what awaited us on the other side were friends from Palm Garden gathered together by Raymond G to camp at the free campground sponsored by Geant Motorise (check it out at www.legeantmotorise.com). We have a few more days of fun planned!!

Our last day in Quebec

We journeyed north to the Jacques Cartier National Park about 45 minutes away and had a delightful walk through the woods. Along the Cascades trail we found mushrooms and then more mushrooms and the walk became a mushroom scavenger hunt. We found some great mushrooms! The rest of the sights and sounds were great too.













We got home in time for Mitch and Gilles to make a pasta with fish sausage that we had purchased on our visit to the Ile de Orleans. Our friends from Florida, Christyane and Roger joined us for dinner. It was great to see them.

All is all our visit to Quebec was all that we could have asked for. The weather was so good that everything we did was more enjoyable. And we found the people of Quebec very willing to speak English and were all as nice as could be. Thanks to Francine and Gilles for a delightfully planned adventure!

Nav Canada

Today Gilles took us to the Quebec Airport where he used to manage the air traffic control department for Nav Canada. We had our own mini-tour and had an opportunity to go to the top of the tower and see and hear the workings of air traffic controllers. Fascinating!!

(I was amazed at how clean all the windows were! Click on the picture to see which windows I'm talking about--they're the black area just above the rail thing.)

The rest of yesterday

I guess the first part of the day just made blogspot so tired it refused to upload the rest of my day's pictures so it could get a rest. However, we did have a very fine evening as the rest of the pictures will attest to.


As dinnertime approached we decided to eat atop the Concorde Hotel, 27 or so floors high in their revolving restaurant L'Astral.















The scenery was amazing and we enjoyed the variety of food we had an opportunity to try.












As the evening progressed from appetizers to dessert the sky darkened. We made a complete revolution every hour and a half and it was great to see the lights of the city appear.








Heading back to the truck we stopped to hear the New York Police Department marching band play in concert at the International Military Bands concert in the park.

Then we watched a fascinating movie of Quebec's history displayed on this row of grain silos. It was a beautiful evening and spending it outside was a great way to end the day.

Another day in Quebec City

We started our day by walking through the Lower City by all the quaint shops along the cobblestone street.











Every small shop is decorated on the outside with plants and signs or small displays.
















Then on to the Funicular which would take us up to the Upper City.














A view of the Lower City from the top of the Funicular.












And immediately the Chateau Frontenac grabs our attention.












We found an archealogical tour of the ruins of a castle that had first been built by the first governors of Quebec, and perhaps a cornerstone to a house by Champlain who first settled Quebec. The ruins are under the hotel and have been well preserved.







We then went on a tour of the Chateau Frontenac which was lead by "Blanche", the maid, who showed all the ins and outs of the hotel.



















We saw the courtyard outside the third floor














and a room that is typical of the rooms in the hotel.










We decided a good way to see the city was by carriage and that proved to be a great trip.












The horse clopped slowly along the streets and gave us a chance to see (and smell) the sights and sounds of Quebec City.

Visiting Quebec City

We spent the day in Quebec City and took a two hour bus tour that was a great way to get a quick overview of the city and some of its history.

The famous Chateau Frontenac.











St. John's Gate which was a gate in the wall that surrounded the city.













The shipping lane in the St. Lawrence River.













Just a touch of the Lower Town, a quaint European feel to Quebec.


This was so fun we're coming back tomorrow!!

We're in Quebec--Happy Birthday, Francine!!

We started the first morning in Quebec with a Happy Birthday pancake breakfast to celebrate Francine's birthday. We just knew it would be a great day!!!














Our first stop was to visit the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre and to tour the exquisite Bascilica reconstructed in 1923 after a fire destroyed the first one.

Mass was being conducted in the huge main cathedral on the upper floor and we were amazed to find a huge second cathedral on the lower floor as well.






The basilica is filled with a multitude of magnificent paintings, mosaics, stained-glass windows, and wooden and stone sculptures.










We continued our drive and stopped to see Montmorency Falls where we took a tram to the top of the falls and walked across a bridge above the water. It's huge, and loud, and beautiful, and amazing!










After a trip over the skinny bridge across the St. Lawrence River we arrived on the 24 mile long island of Ile d'Orleans to enjoy the sights, sounds, and tastes of the farming community of the island. We stopped to visit a maritime museum, bought some very tasty cassis vinegars, tried some local cheese and pine tree beer (wouldn't buy a six pack though), and found some great tasting smoked fishes.




We ended our day by celebrating Francine's birthday at the restaurant Cochon Dingue whose specialty is mussels two ways. Delightful!!!

It's not hard to eat two pounds of mussels.

A visit with Jacques and Lyse

We spent a couple of days at the campground where friends Jacques and Lyse (another couple from Palm Garden in Florida) stay during the summer. Eating a typical Quebequois meal which included moose and a tasty dessert they called Unemployed Pudding made with real maple syrup was a treat.


Jacques is a hunter and a fisherman and our second days' meal was salmon a la orange. Mitch made wild rice to accompany that.

On to Sorel-Tracy

We arrived in Sorel-Tracy to visit friends from our winter RV Park in Florida. We parked the coach in Jasmin and Suzanne's driveway and Francine and Gilles parked their fifth wheel in front of Michel and Louise's house just down the street.

Then off we went to visit Jacques and Mimi who live just off the St. Lawrence River. We had a nice walk along the river and a glass of wine on their deck.



Back at Jasmin's house the party was about to begin. Invited were Palm Garden friends from around the area and we had a great time eating, drinking, and reconnecting with some good conversation in half English-half French.

From the left clockwise is Jasmin, Louise, me, Mitch, Michel, and Suzanne.







Before we left they all insisted we stay for breakfast and we started with a wonderful raspberry smoothie. Although it was considered "just a plain" breakfast we had beans, pate, and home fries with our eggs and toast. What a great way to start the day.

Still in the wine country

However, we passed up a winery to have a lovely picnic at the beach of Lac Brome and spent the afternoon lazing in the sun.










For the evening, a nice Mexican dinner outside the motorhome.

We're in Canada

We arrived in Montreal yesterday to meet Francine and Gilles at the Flying J just liked we planned so many months ago. It's hard to believe we are really here.

We drove to our campground and had dinner with Francine and Gilles' son, Pascal, and his girlfriend, Christine, and had a wonderful dinner that Gilles and Francine had prepared.

Today we toured the wine country east of Montreal. Besides tasting some cider wines, we toured this relatively small, thriving vineyard.












These grapes are from the University of Minnesota so we had a fine discussion with the wine maker and tour guide.











While we were touring the wife made us up a wonderful picnic basket of cheeses, meats, baguettes, apples, and freshly made Italian dessert. It was a beautiful day to enjoy our lunch accompanied by a nice bottle of wine.

Sun and Moon

The sunsets on the shore of Lake Superior in the UP are phenomenal. Last night's was particularly beautiful...








and when I turned to go back to the coach the full moon through the trees completed the sky look.