Quebec City and Montreal

I've added a few pictures here from Grosse-Ile that I didn't get on the blog last night -- sometimes the wifi connections on the road are uncooperative.  The picture to the left shows the interior of one of the buildings that housed immigrants.  The beds were set up dormitory style, and the building itself was painted white inside and out -- to help ward off those pesky miasma vapors.  You can imagine what these buildings were like when they became the shelters for those immigrants sick with typhus -- oh, the miasma smelled!  The building above served as an area to wash immigrant clothing.


Early this morning Charlie and I took a driving tour of old Quebec City.  The stores and businesses weren't open -- although I did spy a Starbuck's but resisted the urge to get a latte -- so we were able to wander down the streets without causing a traffic jam.  The feel of historic Quebec City is reminiscent of an old European city in many ways, with narrow streets, hanging flower pots, no parking, and front doors opening directly on the sidewalk.  The Grande Alle is lined with big houses which remind me of those in the Chevy Chase area on Connecticut Avenue leading into DC.  The French explorer Samuel Champlain founded Quebec City and is honored by an impressive statue on the waterfront.  Old Quebec City is most definitely a pleasant city to visit and I would have enjoyed sitting in one of the many sidewalk cafes.  But for me it doesn't have the same charm and antiquity of the cities and towns of Europe that I've been blessed to have visited (for work, but still).

I mentioned traffic jams earlier, let's talk about Montreal.  We saw Montreal's skyline while we sat in interminable traffic due to construction on the main bridge into Montreal.  Basically, ten lanes squeezed into one.  For a second there I thought I was on I-270 during a snow storm!  Short version, we saw the skyline and returned to the area of the campground for dinner.  So not much to report on Montreal. 

Tonight we are running the AC for the first time, and it works.  Yay!  Tomorrow moose watching continues as I head west with my traveling man -- he's still the one!