Catch up -- Part 1

We arrived in Saratoga Springs today, at Susan's mom's place. A couple of days to regroup. I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on the blog. I realize that as I slip more behind, the immediacy of what we're seeing becomes lost. Quebec seems like ages ago, and I've barely told you about our first day there. When I was too cold to photograph. So, it's a good day to catch up. I'll do

Second day in Quebec was even colder! You wouldn't know it by the temperature -- still in the high 20s -- but the wind was whipping, and any foray outside the car took it's toll. After a slow morning, we ventured outside for a drive up the St. Lawrence River to Ile d'Orleans, an Island just northeast of Quebec City.


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Though the weather was mild for Quebec, and had been for months, the river was spectacularly frozen. The effects of freezing and thawing cycles and a swiftly moving river, and wind were clearly seen by the car-sized ice boulders strewn by the shore. Other places nearby were not nearly so dramatic. That's Quebec City in the background of this photograph. Ile d'Orleans was quiet on this winter weekday -- not much reason for anyone to go there, but it does look like it is vibrant during the summer. Additional icy river pictures.


Saturday proved to be the perfect day for outdoor adventures. Blue skies, some wind. We combined cross country skiing (justifying dragging them around with us, for sure) with a visit to the Ice Hotel (Hotel du Glace). While skiing, we made a pact that ONE of us had to carry a camera where ever we went, because we have nothing to show our ruddy complexions after an energetic couple of hours of skiing. Despite being a weekend, the cross country ski facility at Duchesney was not busy at all, and provided just the right amount of exercise for us.



Hotel du Glace was worth visiting, but we both agreed that we would have no interest in staying the night. It's cold. You spend a lot of money. You only get to use the room from 8:30PM to 8:30AM because they let you tour all the rooms. Although there are furs on the foam mattresses, you need to huddle into your mummy bag all night to stay warm. Although we started our tour toasty warm from the skiing, but the time an hour was up our fingers were hurting (Susan's teeth were hurting!) and we were ready to go. We skipped the cocktails in the ice glasses. Both the glasses and the ice columns used in the Hotel du Glace were made with a special technique invented by NASA so that there are no air bubbles. If there are no air bubbles, apparently you can lick the ice and not have your tongue stick. Go figure. More Hotel du Glace photos.

Perspectives on Quebec
We spent four days in Quebec.  Here are a few random observations.

You see the Quebec flag way more than you see the Canadian flag.  The blue and white flag is all over the place, usually without the red and white national flag. Imagine seeing the Massachusetts flag all over the place, without being accompanied by the stars and stripes.

Phone booths.  You still see lots of public phones.  Not that I ever saw people using them, but there were lots  of public phones.

Driveway and walkway awnings.  Made of plastic,.  Sometimes of wood.  Everywhere.  Lots of places didn't have garages, but people had these plastic awnings.  Keeps the snow off, I guess and avoids some shoveling.  Curious that we don't see them in Massachusetts (or New Hampshire, or Vermont).


Language.  Canada is supposedly a bilingual place, but Quebec is French speaking through and through.  All the signs are in French.  The road signs are, thankfully, in pictures.



Susan speaks great French, so we were able to communicate everywhere.  In most places, people that knew we spoke English in business establishments spoke very good English to us.  I suspect we could have gotten by easily with English.

Other perspectives?  Perhaps.  Mostly just the diversity of what people do and how people live that's different from our own experience.  Quebec is not far.  Some of what we saw and experienced was just like home.  And some so different.  Which may not be that different from going to Texas.