Since we left home at the beginning of May, many things happened, mostly good ones, with a few hiccups along the way.

Our first stop was in Louisiana, where I visited with my friend Cheryl for 2 days. I was so absorbed playing with her weaving and spinning toys, that I totally forgot to take pictures. 🙁 I was just having way too much fun! Needless to say, I would love to go back.  I had a wonderful time!

We also took a day to go to New Orleans. We, of course, went to Café du Monde for some “beignets” and Chicken ate his share!

Chicken really appreciated the beignets

We walked around and enjoyed the French Quarter, the weather was nice and cool, a perfect day for a walk.

From Louisiana, we left to go visit with our friends Jerry and Suzie Bush, who, we thought at first, were in Franklin TN. About 100 miles from Franklin TN, we realized that in fact, they were in Franklin NC! What a detour! 283 miles and a broken tow-bar later, we made it to the right Franklin!

Jerry and Suzie Bush

That was an eventful day! We stayed 3 days with Suzie and Jerry, they were so much fun! Their dogs however, did not really like Chicken!

This Chicken tastes awful! Yeurk!!

After taking delivery of our new tow-bar, we made our way to Montreal.  It was good to see my family again.  The weather was pretty nasty at first but improved tremendously as the days went by.  We ended up having nice breezy, mid 70’s sunny days most of the time 🙂

We visited my  mom every week.  She loves going to the music concerts organized by the nursing home for entertainment.  We enjoyed ourselves too!

Mom wearing her mandatory sunglasses (so she looks like a star!), listening to the music concert at the nursing home.

After our friends Curtis, Gladys, Terry and Evelyn joined us, we spent one day sightseeing in Montreal.  We re-visited Notre-Dame Basilica.  Gorgeous carved dark walnut features,   gold leafed details and wonderful sculpted statues never cease to amaze. It was built in 1824-1829.  The architect is James O’Donnell, an Irish protestant living in New York.  He moved to Montreal to oversee the construction,   converted to Catholicism, and died a few months after the church’s inauguration.  The inspiration for the interior decor comes from the “Sainte-Chapelle” in Paris.  The style is Rococo.   The work to decorate the inside was completed in 1880.  The church’s organ features 7000 tubes and 4 keyboards.

It is hard to capture the beauty of Notre-Dame Basilica.

Wooden statues of prophets

View of a part of Montreal and its bridges. In the foreground, Pont Jacques-Cartier.

Bear chasing birds on the grounds of the Olympic Stadium

The 1976 Olympic pool

Of course, Montreal is also about visiting with my kids and my grandson 🙂

My grandson Mathew and Chicken at a soccer match in Montréal

We also spent 24 hours in Quebec city (pronounce kaebek).  We stayed at the Chateau Frontenac, the famous hotel built on top of Cap Diamand in the late 1800’s, overlooking the St. Lawrence river. The name Quebec means “were the river narrows” .  Samuel the Champlain found the location ideal as a strategic point.  Since the river narrows to only half a mile wide at that point, he thought that whoever would control this location, would in fact, control the St. Lawrence river.  He founded Quebec in 1608, and at first, it was a fur trading post.  The fortifications of Quebec are still intact today.

Chateaul Frontenac, and at the bottom of the hill, the "Basse ville" featuring houses built in the 1600's.

Chicken thought he could help the maid dust the rooms at Chateau Frontenac!

Doug, Chicken, Curtis, Gladys, Terry and Evelyn on "Les Terrasses Dufferin" in Québec.

Terry and Evelyn enjoying breakfast in old Québec

Picture of the Montmorency falls taken from a cruise ship. They are higher than Niagara falls, but definetely not as spectacular.

Bear enjoying a little rest in our room at Chateau Frontenac

We are leaving Monday for the second leg of our trip.  We will visit the Bas Saint-Laurent area, the Gaspésie and then head for the Maritimes.