Monday (Oct. 5) was rainy in the morning, and winds were kicking up, making it feel much cooler. The plus was that the strong breezes dried everything up by the afternoon. There was still a chance of rain in the air, so a bike ride wasn’t going to be a wise choice, and the winds made it seem like it wouldn’t be much fun, anyway!
Unfortunately, a dark cloud rolled in and rain started to fall, but we were lucky to be in the right place with plenty of awnings to choose from/stand under for a few minutes until the precipitation stopped. The winds accompanied quickly-moving clouds, and in short time the skies were bright blue and sunny again.
Turning right on Chemin Sainte-Foy, we walked a couple of blocks and then took a right where the street splits, onto Rue Saint-Jean to reach the gluten-free Hansel and Gretel Bakery. I snapped up a blueberry scone, and we walked on to find something for Sue.
Moments later we saw a man on a bakfiets, with his two children strapped into the cargo box, making a turn up the STEEP Rue de Claire-Fontaine, and we hoped for his sake that the bike had pedal assist. By the ease at which he continued to climb, it was obvious he did!
We were nearly back at the Place d’Youville when Sue was able to duck into Les Bruleries de St. Jean for a huge and, what I thought, was a fantastic-looking pain au chocolat. Other than pulling it apart, there was no graceful way to bite into the pastry, but Sue was really hungry, so she used the sloppy technique. I consider my wife an expert on this particular pastry, and through full cheeks, she gave her review, “Good, but not enough chocolat.”
Veering right onto the Côte de la Fabrique, we passed the attractive St. Patrick Pub (I doubt they have gluten-free beer) and encountered a wedge-shaped intersection:
We decided that another walk into Old City with a bus ride back was in order, this time avoiding any long staircases, since we had been getting plenty of exercise during this trip. Starting off down Grande Allée, paralleling the western edge of the Plains of Abraham, we eventually turned left on Cartier Avenue. This pretty, shaded street was lined with restaurants and shops, but the obvious feature was the crazy, large lampshades on the streetlights. The shades were imprinted with images of works from the city’s National Museum of Fine Arts.
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| Providing this map again for reference |
Turning right on Chemin Sainte-Foy, we walked a couple of blocks and then took a right where the street splits, onto Rue Saint-Jean to reach the gluten-free Hansel and Gretel Bakery. I snapped up a blueberry scone, and we walked on to find something for Sue.
Moments later we saw a man on a bakfiets, with his two children strapped into the cargo box, making a turn up the STEEP Rue de Claire-Fontaine, and we hoped for his sake that the bike had pedal assist. By the ease at which he continued to climb, it was obvious he did!
We were nearly back at the Place d’Youville when Sue was able to duck into Les Bruleries de St. Jean for a huge and, what I thought, was a fantastic-looking pain au chocolat. Other than pulling it apart, there was no graceful way to bite into the pastry, but Sue was really hungry, so she used the sloppy technique. I consider my wife an expert on this particular pastry, and through full cheeks, she gave her review, “Good, but not enough chocolat.”
Veering right onto the Côte de la Fabrique, we passed the attractive St. Patrick Pub (I doubt they have gluten-free beer) and encountered a wedge-shaped intersection:
We went to the right on the lesser-travelled Rue Garneau, with the intent to come back down the other side – spoiler alert: we were sidetracked. This ended up being more of a back alley, and I mentioned to Sue how some of the folks I spied in the windows had to be wondering why we came this way. “They don’t know us,” was her quick reply.
The street ended at the façade of the University of Laval School of Architecture. Intrigued, we made a left to reach the front gate, which was open. Seeing no signs that we weren’t welcome, we wandered under an archway into a pretty courtyard which was part of the adjacent Catholic secondary school. A few children were there kicking a ball around, and pair of girls were setting a volleyball back and forth to each other.
The Promenade provided us with a nice shortcut onto a small alley that led to a craft fair at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. If you haven’t figured it out, we’re not really shoppers, but we casually peeked into some of the stands, just to see what these folks were creating, and made our way to the front of the church. Completed in 1804, this was the first Anglican church built outside of the British Isles. Being architecture enthusiasts, we stepped inside to see an impressive vaulted ceiling ribbed in gold and an immense pipe organ:
Outside the church gate, we veered right and checked out the Halloween display, featuring giant toads and creepy pumpkins with arms and legs, beside City Hall:
Sue and I were up at a relaxed pace the next morning, as we only had some light exercise on the agenda in the early afternoon. I had packed my skates in anticipation of a visit to a unique ice surface.
The patinarium is a circuit-style skating track at Mega Park, a unique mall venue with a roller coaster, Ferris wheel, carousel and other rides in the center courtyard. The whole scene had a cool steam-punk vibe, and the highlight for us was the excellent 12-foot-wide ice surface that weaved through the attractions. We both played ice hockey in our twenties, so we used to be pretty good on our skates, but the years go by quickly, and an occasional open skating session at the local rink doesn’t keep the legs as agile as they used to be.
Wednesday was our next travel day, backtracking on the eastern side of the St. Lawrence, where we eventually (and somewhat sadly) caught a view of Montreal in the distance. We had a very minor run-in with the agricultural officer at the border crossing because of a red pepper and some chicken sausage. The meat had tasted one step up from cat food, so we weren’t sorry to see that go when the items were confiscated!
After a bit of research, I had to adjust my geography, as we were actually headed to South Hero Island in Vermont - Grand Isle, where we were staying, is the name of a town on that island. Our accommodations were in a modern house add-on, purpose-built as an Airbnb rental.
As we were unpacking, Sue looked out the bedroom window and said, “Hey, they have a rooster!” I glanced out and, after a few seconds, noticed it wasn’t moving.
“Sue, that is a statue!” For some reason, the words ‘lawn ornament’ had eluded me.
“It is not," she replied, "I saw the fence behind it, and I swear the rooster wasn’t there before!” I scanned to the right and saw about a half-dozen chicken figures scattered in the back yard (also not moving).
“Sue, look again at that rooster; now look to the right…”
“Oh,” and she just started to laugh.
That evening, we went out to McKee’s Island Pub for dinner – I know, quite a step for us, but they had a good gluten-free menu (I had an excellent burger and fries). Along the way, I pointed to several lawn ornaments and told her sarcastically, “Look Sue, those people have a live flamingo (bear, deer, etc.) in their yard!” None of my comments were appreciated.
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