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Adventures in the Villa

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2017-08-19 Westbound; Montreal Old City

Today we go in to see the old city of Montreal. While this RV park did not offer a shuttle into the city, they did tell us how to take a city bus. The station was about a two mile drive from the RV park; we then boarded a bus and 20 minutes later we were in Montreal.

After a short walk we were in the old city and were at the plaza in front of the Basilica de Notre Dame:

 

2017-08-19 Montreal 18 Bassilica

As majestic as this facade was, it didn’t prepare us for the interior!

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Obviously, much of the impressiveness comes from the well-designed lighting, but still, it is breathtaking!

Then we started walking the town. We HAD to stop for a late breakfast of crepes:

2017-08-19 Montreal 13

The old city is a lot of fun. We were there early, so it was not crowded, and streets reserved for pedestrians later in the day are bustling with delivery trucks..

We walked down to the waterfront; they had a lot of amusement park type places, and was not really interesting, but it was a nice stroll among the trees…

Then we walked back up to the Old City. Things had changed! The streets were packed with people. Restaurants were putting tables and chairs out onto the sidewalks.  Throngs of people were everywhere!  It was marvelous!

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We found that Montreal has many lovely french-style cafes:

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And then they also have this:

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And soon it was time for lunch:

2017-08-19 Montreal 05 Lunch

 

2017-08-19 Montreal 04 Lunch

 

2017-08-19 Montreal 03 Lunch

After our late lunch we headed back towards the bus station. Along the way we found a brave soul pulling an Airstream through old Montreal…

2017-08-19 Montreal 02 Airstream

Upon arriving at the bus station, we found that, of course! Doesn’t every bus station have an ice skating rink?

2017-08-19 Montreal 01

We caught our bus and soon were back at the Villa.  We took a swim and had more Happy Hours. And an enjoyable time was had by all…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-08-18 Westbound; Moving on to Old Montreal

We drove from Quebec to Montreal; it was a short drive, but we did have some heavy rain.  We arrived at the RV park – Camping Cle’ des Champs – a beautiful park, mainly set up for full- and mostly-timers who summer here, then flee to Florida or Arizona for the winter.  The sites are huge – about 5,000 sq. ft., and most are paved with stone pavers, with a storage shed, and a screened porch, or entire screened and glassed-in rooms, containing kitchens, dining areas and lounging areas.  Our site, where they park the overnighters like us, are also very nice, but not quite as luxurious as the seasonal sites:

2017-08-18 Montreal 20 Airstream Villa

We enjoyed some leisure time, planned our day in Montreal tomorrow, and Happy Hours ensued:

2017-08-18 Montreal 22 HH

Since I have no other photos today, I post photos of my grandchildren who are flying out from California to see us on Boblo Island in late August… This is what they look like at midnight while changing planes in Denver…

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I don’t thing they were having an enjoyable time…

 

 

 

 

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2017-08-17 Westbound; Quebec Old City

The KOA outside Quebec offers a shuttle service to take us into Quebec; as we waited, I noticed this truck parked across the street:

2017-08-17 Quebec - Big Truck

They grow them big here in Canada…

The bus arrived promptly on time, and by 9:00 am we were in vieux cite Quebec.  First, of course, is the fortress!

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The walls around the fortress provide wonderful views of the old city (vieux cite)…

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2017-08-17 Quebec City 18

 

The city plaza is dominated by a huge, old, hotel: The Frontenac. (It is now a Fairmont…)

 

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As we love to do in cities we walked the streets. We love finding the quaint, beautiful, historic, and charming sites…

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We even found the American Consulate, in case we got into trouble…

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We also found that Quebecois like to have fun in the winter: on the town square is a sledding slide:

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And, of course, what we also like to do is find a charming sidewalk cafe to enjoy lunch:

 

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We ordered a bottle of wine…

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Finally the duck confit arrived

2017-08-17 Quebec - Lunch 01

After lunch we walked some more, but then we needed to stop for some espresso while we waited for the shuttle to take us back to the Villa.

Back in the RV park, we met two other Airstreamers: one was from Connecticut; they were enjoying their 3rd new Airstream in the past year (16′, 22′ and now 25′).  I’m sure their Airstream dealer is driving a new car, too… The other Airstream was being pulled by a nice Mercedes GL350, that looked vaguely familiar. Once we got to talking, we realized that we had seen them in Lunenburg, NS, and they had met some of our fellow caravanners whilst they were there…!

So Happy Hours ensued; an enjoyable time was had by all…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-08-13 Nor by Nor’east Caravan – Quiet Day on PEI

We had a quiet Day on PEI today.  We prepared our vehicles for the return trip home, and we visited the town of Victoria.

2017-08-13 Victoria 01

Victoria is a charming town on the water, just north west of Summerside.  We strolled the waterfront, and selected the Landmark Cafe for lunch.

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We sat on the porch overlooking the town…

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Lynda had a tuna steak sandwich; I had PEI mussels. We shared a bottle of wine from a local winery named Matos. We were so impressed with this wine that we set out after lunch to visit the winery.

Matos Winery & Vineyards is a family-owned and family-run business.  In 2007, after spending much time researching the growing conditions and suitability of establishing a vineyard in PEI, Jim Matos and his family purchased a 50 acre parcel of land in St. Catherines.  They applied the French concept of terroir – finding a place where the combination of soil, slope, sun exposure and the peculiar weather vagaries allow certain grape varieties to unfold their unique characteristics.  To this end, they consulted with the finest European vintners who visited PEI to provide their expertise.  We approve of their results!

We tasted and bought wine. We also bought a bottle of anisette – a licorice flavored liqueur.  We love anise, pastis, absinthe, and the like, so we thought this would be a great bottle to have.

We returned to the Villa and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon – we walked down to the water, then jumped into Happy Hours.  I pulled out my little bottle of absinthe and we taste-tasted it against the new anisette.  They are nothing alike!  Our opinions varied as to which one we liked better…  And an enjoyable time was had by all…

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-08-11 Nor by Nor’east Caravan – Airstreams on the Ferry!

Yes! You can take Airstreams onto a ferry:

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Our tin cans are packed into a bigger tin can like sardines!

We are traveling from Caribou, NS, to Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island.  This will be the final campground location on the caravan…

We left the campground in Baddeck, along the shores of Bras d’ Or Lake, at about 6:00 am, to catch the 8:30 am ferry.  We found a few other folks who had the same idea:

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Soon the ferry arrived:

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When the ferry arrived, and had discharged its load of cars and trucks, it started loading for the trip back to PEI. Cars first. Cars, cars, and more cars went into the ferry.  When all the cars were on board, they started loading trucks, and more trucks. Then trailers, including about 10 Airstreams.  The ferry seemed “bottomless” – it just kept loading in more vehicles. Once on board, it looked like this:

 

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Once on board we found that there is a lower deck where all the cars were parked; trailers and trucks filled the main level. Upstairs were lounges, a cafeteria, and outdoor areas to experience the fresh air.

It was a fun ferry ride. We had breakfast in the cafeteria, watched the opposite ferry pass by, and enjoyed time with friends.

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When the ferry landed at Wood Islands, PEI, we were one of the first off. We had researched the area before hand, and we knew there was a Visitors Center where we could gather information on the island.  Others had the same idea… (Maybe because there is a Provincial liquor store there as well…):

2017-08-11 Visitors Center

Our campground is on the northern end of PEI, just north of Charlottetown; Wood Islands in on the south end. However, we were too early to arrive at the campground, lest we annoy the parking crew.  So we just headed south, not knowing (and not caring) where we were going; it was beautiful!

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And when you wander around an unknown area, pulling your Airstream trailer, this is what you find:

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We found a winery!  Rossignol Winery… Of course, it was a beautiful place, right on the ocean:

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We parked the rig and went inside to taste what we could taste:

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We only tasted the wines made from grapes; it wasn’t bad.  We also tasted their Creme d’ Cassis, a black current wine (or liqueur) ; it was great!  We bought a few bottles to supplement our “cellar”.  We also admired the various sand sculptures on the property:

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Moving on, we continued around the southern end of the island.  We finally stopped for lunch in the town of Montague; Windows on the Water was a delightful spot to enjoy the early afternoon.

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The town of Montague is located on the water, and once was a lively port city…

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After killing enough time, we headed north towards Charlottetown, and to our campground a few miles north of there.  We settled in and readied ourselves for happy hours…

That evening, we joined two other California caravanners – Larry and Kathy plus Phil and Donna – in a bizarre game called Joker.  It is an Airstream tradition.  It is basically Parcheesi, but playing cards are used in lieu of a spinner or dice, making it even quirkier. Since I despise games of chance, I try to avoid Joker at all costs, but Larry and Kathy had done us many favors, so Lynda volunteered us to play with them…

Boys won. I pulled the winning card.  An enjoyable time was had by all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-08-03 Nor by Nor’east Caravan – Nova Scotia Wine Country!

Yes, there really is Wine Country in Nova Scotia, and, like all Wine Countries, it is beautiful:

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Today we explore the Nova Scotia Wine Country. Or I should say: “Wine” Country. We will be exploring and enjoying the countryside, not so much the “Wine”.  From what we hear, grapes are pretty scarce in Nova Scotia “Wine”…

But first, we stopped off in the town of Windsor. As usual, there was a great church:

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We walked around the lake adjacent to the town. It was a good path and the views were great:

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Our wine destination for today is Luckett Vineyards.  We did the wine tasting, avoiding the wines that were made from something other than grapes. I know – this is a little narrow minded of me, but I’m sort of picky this way…

They have something here called Tidal Bay. It is a wine unique to Nova Scotia.  Many wineries make Tidal Bay, but it must be approved by the “wine police” before it can be sold under the name Tidal Bay.  It is a white wine, good with seafood, sort of like a Pinot Gris or Sauvignon Blanc.  There are rules about what goes into it, and it is limited to no more than 11% alcohol.  It was probably the best wine they had… We also somewhat liked their Triumphe – a red wine made of 100% Triumphe grapes, whatever they are.

After our tasting we quickly made our way to their outdoor restaurant.  We had heard that they fill up quickly, even though it is a very large area, under a big white tent.  We ordered a glass each of the Tidal Bay and the Triumphe, and we were pleasantly surprised that they tasted better at lunch than in the tasting room. The restaurant was packed withing 10 minutes of our seating, and when we left there were 50 people waiting for tables.

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We had been invited by our tasting server to spend some time “frolicking about” in the vineyards. So we frolicked:

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We came upon a red, London phone booth.  We were invited to make a free call to anywhere in North America; unfortunately, the booth was occupied, or I would have called YOU!

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Our next stop was the town of Wolfville; this turned out to be another wonderful town, with many restaurants and coffee shops. This must be the tourist center of the North Shore, because no small town like this could possibly support this many restaurants… We walked the streets, and stopped for coffee; we returned to the Villa, and prepared for Happy Hours. We had a Drivers’ Meeting to discuss tomorrow’s move to Cape Breton Island.

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

 

 

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