Québec City, Canada

Bonjour! Bienvenu Quebec. We spent the day with Michael's childhood friend Charles and his wife Chantal, they could not have been nicer. We were treated to a wonderful day. It was so helpful to have friends with a car as it kept us warm since it was snowing most of the day. 

We started our day at a local cafe that was off the beaten path. My cappuccino was so pretty I had to take a picture. 

Chantal took us shopping at all her favorite shops. We picked up ingredients for our lunch. It was very helpful to have French speaking friends. 

Shopping in the snow which was light but still cold. 

We got one nice snow picture. 

This was our lunch feast. We bought 4 kinds of cheese, 3 kinds of bread, pâté and salami. Chantal added grapes, olives, pears and wine from home. It was all good and we ate too much.

Chantal explained that these dishes were her great grandmother's, they are Victorian china. Nice piece of history. 

Charles and Chantal treated us dinner at a new trendy restaurant. This was our starter and it looked like a work of art to me so I took a picture. It tasted as good as it looks. 

The four of us at the restaurant after dinner. It was a perfect day. They were so sweet and giving, inviting us to their home and taking us places. Michael and Charles are plotting our next visit. To be continued. 

Saguenay, Canada

We are on the home stretch now, stop number four in Canada, in the city of Saguenay pronounced suh.goo.nay. Winter showed up early in Canada and it was snowing slightly and the temperature was 37 degrees 🌨 In the morning we walked around a bit but it was so cold, I was wholly unprepared for winter weather. In the afternoon we had a tour, in a warm bus, about local artisans.

Despite the hat, coat and gloves I was still cold. I had to borrow some wool socks from Michael and one of his wool sweaters.

First stop was glassblowing. Master Giuseppe Benedetto did a demonstration of a glassblown Beluga whale and a hummingbird. Michael and I were fans of the Netflix show Blown Away so we were familiar with the techniques. 

Next stop was Fromagerie Boivin, a family enterprise that produces nearly 5-million pounds of cheese annually. We got to taste three kinds of their cheese. 

Last stop was the Alpaca Bersi where we fed alpaca, met some cute goats and kept warm by the outside fire. 

These goats looked suspiciously like cows. 

Finally, these were our table mates Diane and Jim and they were wonderful. We enjoyed having all our dinners with them. They were so generous, they gave us 2 bottles of wine and some sodas. They are from Ohio and we are already cooking up a trip to see them. 

On our last night at sea, our travel agent gave us a surprise, we were gifted dinner at one of the specialty restaurants on board Chops Grille. It was a wonderful meal with 4 courses and the service was great. And this ends our cruise portion of the trip. 

Charlottetown, P.E.I

This has been the port that I have been looking forward to the most because of its association to the Anne of Green Gables books by L.M. Montgomery. I read all the books as a kid and I have since watched the recent T.V. series Anne with an E on Netflix, twice. 

Green Gables Heritage Place, part of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish National Historic Site. It features the original house that inspired the setting for her famous novel Anne of green Gables. We did not make it to the Cavendish home which is where Lucy grew up, it was a separate location and fee. 

There were two trails available, Michael walked part way of the Haunted Wood. I opted not to go as I did not have proper footwear for the rain or mud. 

Green Gables House. Once home to several generations of the Macneill and Webb families, this authentic farmhouse has been decorated to fit Montgomery's descriptions in the novel with artifacts from the 1800s. 

Barn, modeled after the original Macneill Barn, it has an authentic looking exterior. 

Part of the exhibit area, book covers from over the years. Anne of Green Gables has been in continuous print since it was first published in 1908. 

Anne of Green Gables Lego house. 

We discovered these chocolate shops throughout the city, it was very tourist centered but we managed to buy some chocolate none the less. 

Michael thought Prince Edward Island was very 'storybook' like, it was a charming place. We rented a Tesla for our days journey, had lunch at a cute bistro that also included books and had ice cream despite the cold rain. 

Sydney, Nova Scotia

We have won the lottery on weather this trip and especially today, it was a balmy 60 degrees in Sydney, Nova Scotia. It was a little cloudy in the morning but the afternoon was all sunshine. 

In the morning we went for a walk on the boardwalk which was clean and well maintained. 

Library of the day, it was not much to look at outside but inside was very nice. Michael says that you can tell a lot about a community from the library and he was right. This library had free COVID tests in the lobby, they had a shelf of food items liked canned soup etc, the bathrooms were stocked with feminine hygiene products, clearly Sydney takes care of its resident especially the homeless.

The Big Fiddle. Michael was not as enamored with this art as I was. The Big Fiddle celebrates the important role fiddlers and their music have played in the cultural heritage of Cape Breton Island. Fiddle music was first brought to Cape Breton by Scottish immigrants. The Big Fiddle stands 17 meters tall and weighs eight tons. It is made of painted steel and was built over an eight-month period by Cyril Hearn, a Sydney artist and welder. 

Our afternoon adventure was the Haunted Sydney Historical Walking Tour. The chap in the hat was our guide, he did a good job and projected well. In keeping with our theme, it was a tour about dead people and a few graves. We learned some history of the area like it has the largest Gaelic speaking population outside of Scotland 

I enjoyed the slower pace today, only 10,000 steps. Our next stop we rent a car so I am looking forward to that especially since I think we will finally encounter some rain. 

St. John, New Brunswick

Welcome to Canada! Today is the first of 5 stops we will be making in Eastern Canada. Up first is Saint John New Brunswick. This town is famous for the Bay of Fundy which has reversing rapids, we opted not to drive to this bay and just walk around town. 

Another charming park with fall foliage. King’s Square was established in 1785 and named for King George III of England. 

Library of the day, Saint John’s Public Library. Nothing special but great views of the sea. 

Saint John Jewish Historical Museum also the home of Congregation Shaarei Zedek (conservative). According to our guide there are about 50 families in this synagogue. Michael called this synagogue 'rich' since it had 5 torahs with one dating back to the 1700s.

Old burial ground. We didn’t intend on seeking out another graveyard but we found one. 

It was a squared day we went to Market Square, Brunswick Square, King Square, Old Burial Ground and Queen Square. 

We logged another 15,000 steps so we are keeping active. Tomorrow is cruising day and we look forward to the break. The weather has been beautiful, sunny and cool 😎 

Portland, Maine

Michael says "This is a cute town" and he was right. I thought this park was charming and showed the fall foliage.

Downtown Portland. This statue is Our Lady of Victories erected 1891.

My ongoing library project. This Portland library was recently renovated in 2010 at 7 million dollars. It was an impressive and lovely library. We looked around inside and visited the Why We Make Comics  Reflections on Storytelling exhibit. 

Eastern Cemetery is one of the oldest and best examples of colonial graveyards in New England. The burial ground for Portland's earliest settlers (mainly English colonists who began arriving in 1632), it was declared a public burial ground in 1668 and was in use for almost 200 years. It is on the National Register of historic Places, and is designated an historic cemetery by the City of Portland. 

Evidence of Fall Foliage in the cemetery. 

Lincoln Park established 1866. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 

Portland Freedom Trail. There were statues throughout the city documenting the history of the freedom trail. 

The Maine Jewish Museum was also a working synagogue. We learned there are 8 thousand Jews in Portland. This synagogue contained 3 congregations; one Reform, one Conservative and one Modern Orthodox. I am not sure how they balance it all. The museum which also has art exhibits helps fund the congregations. 

It was a lovely building with stained glass windows, beautifully maintained wood and the ceiling was painted like clouds. 

Lunch was at a place called Duck Fat. We had these fries that were you know fried in duck fat served along side some truffle ketchup. Michael washed it down with some beer. We also shared a lobster roll. 

We really enjoyed our time in Maine and look forward to coming back someday.