Thursday, 6 May 2010

Montreal and Quebec City

A road trip with Marty, Ian, Andy, Sara...

...and Andrea...
...to Montreal.


Stopping in at a lively market...

...to sample the tasty produce.


Then on the road again - to Quebec City; seat of the Quebec Parliament:


and the only walled city in North America.

There's quite a bit going on outside the walls as well: industry dominates the horizon.


Starting off our day in QC the French style; with a raclette: an enormous platter of bread, meat, potato, eggs and fruit that we cooked ourselves on a hot plate. 


The Plains of Abraham; site of the decisive battle between the French and British that dictated the sovereignty of Canada:


Monument to the fallen French and British soldiers:


Exploring the old town...


...street cafes after the rain in the evening sun...



The church Notre-Dame-des-Victoires: named by the French after British forces were forced to retreat!


Place Royal, the centre of the Lower Old Town...


...and the pub in which we stopped for a drink. In the converted basement of a building built in 1754.


The Hotel Chateau Frontenac rising above the Lower Town. Reputedly the most photographed hotel in the world, and the site of meetings between Churchill and Roosevelt during WWII.


Our second morning in QC gave us a walk around the city walls, passing the armory...


...canons...


...and many interesting views.


 

Finally a walk back through the centre of the Upper Old Town before hitting the road.

Monday, 5 April 2010

Montreal

Highlights from an Easter trip to Montreal:

Flags of Quebec and Montreal. (The Montreal flag has symbols of the four main cultures that initially made up the population: French, English, Scots and Irish.)

Place Jacques-Cartier, the centre of the old town, and a hive of activity on a sunny weekend evening.


Montreal's first skyscraper, The New York Life Insurance Building. Built in 1887 with sandstone imported from Dumfriesshire, Scotland.


Across the Place d'Armes is the Basilica Notre Dame. 


The stained glass depicts scenes from the history of Canada and Montreal.


Wandering in Montreal's trendy Plateau region...


...it was not uncommon to come across curious scenes.


To the east of the city is the Olympic Park. The stadium was designed in the 'Modern Organic' style...


...which is fitting, as presently the main attraction in the vicinity is the botanical gardens and butterfly house:




















No trip to Montreal would be complete without a climb up the 233 metre high Mount Royal for the views across the city:

Monday, 22 March 2010

Maple Madness

A trip to the Cataraqui Conservation Area to learn how maple syrup is made...









 



Monday, 22 February 2010

Lemoine Point

A walk around Lemoine Point Conservation Area, on the edge of Kingston. Although most of the snow is gone, there are no signs of any spring growth yet, but many birds and squirrels out enjoying themselves.
















Saturday, 6 February 2010

Lake Ontario Ice

A walk along the frozen shore of Lake Ontario
(You'll notice that I've got my photo editing software going again, so the colours might not necessarily be true to life!)
 


 


 


Found an interesting hole in the ice...
 

What could be down there?!
 


...more ice...
 


...and an interesting view