Remembrances of Canada Past 

After we wrote yesterday’s blog, we headed out for a light dinner at a nearby “casual” restaurant. I had totally forgotten—getting iced tea in Canada is not easy. I remembered that I never had iced tea in Europe, but I had forgotten about Canada. Here is what the server came up with—a pot of hot water, a green tea bag, and a glass full of ice. I was impressed with her ingenuity!

Robin opened the menu and saw that they had “poutine,” a dish he became acquainted with in Alberta, Canada, several years ago. Poutine (pronounced here as “pou-tin”; pronounced in Western Canada as “pou-teen”) is a popular dish of French fries and cheese curds covered in brown gravy. 

This would not be my choice; however, he couldn’t resist ordering some for himself. Our server told us there was a restaurant nearby that served 21 different varieties of poutine and nothing else (and McDonald's serves it here in Quebec, we hear)

 Today we made the voyage to Quebec City along the flat land that has been our typical experience when we have been in eastern Canada. It’s a tedious drive, but it was a beautiful day with a big, clear sky, so all was good. We stopped in a little cafè for lunch that could have been in Southern France—a sweet little place with “jambon” sandwiches, delicious fresh vegetable salads, many coffees, and the best iced tea I’ve ever had. In fact, I bought two packages of it in the attached market to take home. Loved this little place.

Our hotel tonight and tomorrow night is also reminiscent of Paris and our favorite hotel there—a small, modern room, perfectly decorated and so very European with lots of artistic features.

Every door has a life-size photo of birch trees 

 Tomorrow we will visit Old Quèbec and then on Wednesday head out into the more natural coastline areas on the Gaspe Peninsula.

In the Land of Kilomètres
Montréal, Sunday, August 30, 2015

Every time we have visited Canada, I immediately think of Mrs. Caltrider, our 7th & 8th grade math teacher. After the “Bienvenue au Canada” sign, the first thing we see is the speed limit sign, and there it is--“100 km”-- and I remember that I must dig deep into the brain and pull out stored information from ages ago to get around for a while and use the metric system for other math-related situations. A good brain exercise. And then Mr. Baron and all the other teachers of French whom I’ve encountered come to mind because French is the language in this Province of Québec. I love it!

This year we decided there would be no airports or train stations and no rocky mountains to deal with on our annual trek. I still have unpleasant visions of dragging a 50-pound suitcase, along with other items, up the steep stairs at Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris and dealing with Customs and TSA inspectors at JFK Airport and other entry points. We told ourselves that, if we drive our own car, we could take what we wanted and not have to confine our life for two weeks to two suitcases and two carry-ons, and, believe me, Robin has brought whatever he wanted!

As we drove from Richmond, up through Maryland, Pennsylvania, a bit of New Jersey, and New York, we started talking about the waterways we crossed, especially the large ones—the James, the Rappahannock, the Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Mohawk (Erie Canal), the Hudson, and late last night, the Ste. Lawrence. As I raved about the beauty and serenity of each, Robin expounded on how each had a major impact on the history of our homeland. My favorite—to look at—was the Susquehanna—maybe because we were in Pennsylvania when we crossed it. It is the longest river in the east (over 400 miles), starting in upstate New York and becoming the Chesapeake Bay.

 One interesting stop we had was in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, very near the PA Dutch Country. We read about the Cloisters Restaurant there and decided to have lunch. Basically, the inside was very much like a diner in appearance. What a unique experience it was however. The specials included chicken pie and also corn pie. The two servers—late age local women reminiscent of Laverne and Shirley decades later—gossiped back and forth about people they both knew and “Shirley’s” granddaughter. Robin ordered the corn pie and I, the chicken pie, having little idea what we might be getting. Laverne asked if Robin would like an egg with his corn pie. He kind of shrugged and said, “Sure.” While we waited, we speculated about the egg—would be fried or scrambled or maybe even raw? He also ordered “pepper cabbage,” which turned out to be cole slaw with a little tang. When the corn pie arrived, it looked like a delicious piece of peach pie, only, instead of peaches, it was full of baked corn. Next to the pie was a hard-boiled egg, and the meal was accompanied by a glass of hot milk to pour over the pie, which Robin did! Who would have thought?!

 I enjoyed my chicken pie, which was basically like a pot pie with crust only on the bottom. The Harvard beets that came with it were yummy. We just expected lunch—not such an adventure in eating!

Several people asked me why we are calling the blog “Trek to Gaspé.” Many years ago my friend Ruth (McLean) Cahn told me about a trip she and her husband took around the Gaspé Peninsula in Québec and how they enjoyed exploring the area. About 420 miles from Québec City, this peninsula, mostly natural areas, National Parks, and small villages, juts out into the Gulf of Ste. Lawrence and has a 500+-mile loop around its coastline. This is our destination, along with Prince Edward Island, and other Canadian Maritime Provinces. We are several days away from Gaspé. We are staying two nights in Montréal, two nights in Québec, and then we will head out into the wilds. I can’t wait.

Today we drove into Old Montréal to the port and had a cruise around the harbor. That’s how I like to see a city—from the water, if there is any. One of the highlights for me was seeing Habitat again. My friend Carol (Frank) Couchenour and I drove from Pittsburgh decades ago for Expo ’67 in Montréal where Habitat was introduced at the world exposition. We met up with Nancy (Derr) and John Creider, my cousins, to enjoy the expo. Habitat is an unusual architectural structure made up of over 350 identical, prefabricated concrete forms arranged in a variety of combinations. Together, those units created almost 150 residences of varying sizes—each formed from one to eight concrete units. A very unusual high rise. At the time, we couldn’t believe anyone could live in something like that. It was the work of a McGill University architectural student—as his master’s thesis. Boxes on boxes—much like the Legos of the future!

Montréal’s port area reminds us of Seattle’s or somewhat of Key West’s. Beautiful water, lots of people, a circus-y atmosphere with zip lines, carnival vendors, food trucks, and the big city towering behind it all.

 Actually, Seattle’s was a little more sophisticated and Key West’s was more fun with its nightly party at Mallory Square.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is a plan we had to stop in Lake George, NY. As young adults, my friends and I often visited Howard Johnson’s Restaurants for fried clams on our travels—theirs were unique. Howard Johnson’s closed all of its restaurants several years back; however, a couple months ago, I read an internet article about someone in Lake George buying an old HoJo’s, refurbishing it, including the orange-tiled rooftop, and offering the same menu. We decided that, since we were going right through that area, we would stop and see. We found it easily at lunchtime and ordered—you guessed it—fried clams. They were good, but they were not breaded or fried the same way. It was a nice experience; they did a pretty good job of recreating Howard Johnson’s; the food was fine and plentiful; it just wasn’t quite the same.