Prince Edward Island

We made it to Prince Edward Island on Wednesday afternoon after a 8 mile trip over the Confederation Bridge which connects PEI with New Brunswick. An interesting drive to say the least. PEI is a small farming island with active agriculture everywhere you look. From fields of wheat and corn to potatoes and cabbage it seems that they grow everything.

Thursday we did some chores like I got a new tire for the trailer and Sharleen got her hair done. Between we headed for the beach about 5 miles from the campground. We took a couple of mile walk on the beach and this is the Gulf of
St Lawrence which we walked along. A nice beach for just walking . The water was warm  so lots of folks were swimming.

In the park was this national historical monument. The Dalvay house was built in the mid 1800's and is now a hotel and restaurant.
In it's day it was a summer home.Nice little summer cottage don't you think? Off to the Anne of Green Gables area tomorrow. I don't know much about Anne but, as I understand it, she's the Tom Sawyer of PEI. Think you  have to be a girl to understand. Tomorrow I get educated!

Levis

Today was a relax a bit day so we just explored the area around Levis (pronunced LaVee). Early this morning we headed to Parc Des Chutes-de-la-Chaudiere for some hiking. We had no idea what was there so once again.... supprise!

We were met with this view from the parking lot above the falls. The bridge on the right is a foot bridge that we took leading to a series  of trails in the woods. A good 4 mile hike on a beautiful morning.

On the way to the bridge we had a  view of the falls on the Chaudiere River. There's a hydroelectric power facility just to the right of the falls.

The falls are really spectacular with water rushing over them causing some  mist and a loud roar.

After our hike we headed to Ft Levis #1 which was built to in the mid 1800's to protect Quebec from American invasion. It was interesting to get a Canadian perspective on the civil war days. We're heading to Woodstock NB tomorrow and then on to Prince Edward Island. More from there.

The Old City of Quebec

We drove to the ferry terminal this morninng and boarded the ferry for a short 10 minute ride across the St Lawrence River. A great way to get there with no parking hassles and Old Town is all within walking distance of the terminal.

As we approached the dock we got a great view of the Old City. The weather was just beautiful, as you can see, and after leaving the ferry we started our walk to the Citadelle which is at the very left of this picture on top of the hill.

We watched the changing of the guard cermony which took about a half hour and was complete with a marching band and a goat.

In the best English tradition, guards are posted outside the entrance and just as in London they will not flinch at anything.

The streets have a European feel with norrow cobblestone surfaces and narrrow sidewalks. This is typical of what we saw today.

As the day wore on the crowds got larger but we didn't mind. Pretty scenes were everywhere we looked.

One last picture and it was back to the ferry terninal for the ride back to Levis across the St Lawrence. We spent about 6 hours waking and touring the area with a stop for lunch at a street side bistro. Tomorrow we explore Levis and then down the road again.

Quebec across the river

We drove up to Quebec from Montreal this morning, a distance of about 140 miles. Not too bad a day on the road but lots of traffic and the road was good some of the time and rough at other times. We parked the trailer at Camping Transit, a RV park about 6 miles from the ferry terminal that we will use tomorrow to go to Old Quebec.

Old Quebec sits on the St Lawrerce River and since we were on the South side it made a good picture. The city consists of a lower town and a upper town. In the early days the upper class (officials and well to do folk) lived in the upper section while the working class occupied the lower city.

This is the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac which was a famous meeting place for heads of state during the mid 1900's. It's now a hotel but it still is the most prominent building on the Quebec skyline. There will be lots more here about Quebec at the end of the day tomorrow.

Another day in Montreal

For the second day we jumped in the truck and headed to the Metro station for the trip into Montreal. Today we headed for the Montreal Botanical Gardens which are located next to the Olympic stadium built for the 1976 summer Olympics.

The Montreal Botanical Gardens is one of the jewels of the city with areas of different plants and flowers. This year, after 13 years, Montreal once again hosts the Mosaicultures Internationales  competition. 20 countries from around the world have sponsored artists who sculpt in live plants.

This sculpture is called Spirits of the Forest and is sponsored by Canada. It depicts the spirits that live in the forest and is comprised of several different sculptures.

This sculpture is also sponsored by Canada and is called Mother Earth. She rises from the ground with flowers in her hair. It's hard to believe that the entire sculpture is made of plants and flowers that are living.

This sculpture is titled "Planting Plane Trees to attract the Phoenix" and comes from China The inspiration for the work comes from the ancient Chinese legend of the Phoenix which by legend is the bearer of happiness and a symbol of peace and harmony.

This work comes from Spain and is titled "The Salamander according to Gaudi"
I included it because I thought it was unique although smaller than some of the more impressive works.




A couple of other interesting facts. The sculptures were planted in April of this  year and the exhibit will run through September weather permitting. The entire show is called "land of Hope" and is one of a kind.
300 horticulturists were involved with this project as well as landscape architects, visual designers, artistic welders, painters and a host of other workers. We were indeed fortunate to be able to see this amazing work of art.

This looks pretty mundane after the sculptures but I had to include a picture of what was the 1976  Olympic stadium. It's an impressive structure in it's own right.
Tomorrow it's off to Quebec and more exploring. More from there.

Montreal

We arrived outside Montreal yesterday after some interesting driving. It seems the GPS wanted us to experience Montreal with the trailer so she took us off the freeway and into a traffic mess in old Montreal. I always check the route and it wasn't what was planned. Guess she was saving is a couple of minutes and in the process added a few more grey hairs to my head. But... we did well and got here in one piece. Today we drove into the metro station at Longueul and hopped the metro into old Montreal. It's the only way to go and it's fast and convenient. We spent the day roaming old town and Sharleen says we hiked about 6 miles total.

Montreal has a European feel with the French architecture and cobblestone streets. This is just a hotel but serves as a good example of what you see in Old Montreal.

The streets are narrow and mostly cobblestone. It makes it a city you really don't want to drive in. Since French is the official language all the signs are in French. The sidewalks are narrow as well so folks just walk in the street when necessary.

A carriage ride is popular with tourists. We didn't do it but these were prevalent on the narrow streets.

A must see in Old Montreal is Basilique Notre-Dame de Montreal. It's one of the most visited landmarks in Montreal with over 500,000 visitors a year. It dates back to the 1700's and has been rebuilt several times. The tour is worth the 20 minutes it takes since you get the history behind the building.

The altar is like nothing I have ever seen in a church. The combination of gaudy and beauty is a paradox that I'm still thinking about. The picture doesn't do it justice so when in Montreal just go see it. it's breathtaking!

Well, we  had all the fun we could stand for one day so we headed back to the metro for the ride to the truck and then back to the trailer. Feet up time now and get ready for round two tomorrow.

Niagara Falls

 We drove across the Canadian border on Saturday and spent Sunday at Niagara Falls.

I took about a million pictures of the falls but will only include a couple here. This is Horseshoe Falls which is the most well known of the two falls here. We took the boat trip up to the falls and into the mist. It's spectacular in it's power and to be that close is awesome.

These are the American falls which can only be seen from the Canadian side or the boat. This view is one of the reasons we chose to visit the falls on the Canadian side.

Another picture  of the two falls. Horseshoe on the right and American on the left in the distance. This was a great day with lots of things to do. Today (Monday) we spent at Niagara-on-the-lake visiting Ft George and the town up there. Tomorrow we start our two day journey to Montreal. So tomorrow we hope to get to Kingston on the North side of the St Lawrence River. More from there.