Thursday, April 25, 2019
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| The Artesian well is behind us. Lots of hiking trails. |
But on Thursday all was well. We left Markham not too long after our estimated departure time and headed out on our usual route, right up until Hwy 35. At that point we turned north and then east on Pontypool Road (passing not too far from Tamara and Lou), crossing Hwy 115 and headed to Millbrook. Our first geocache was the artesian water source in Millbrook. John tasted the water and said it tasted awful but it was just flowing out of the tap for all to tap into. We walked along the path/boardwalk for a bit but the ground between boardwalks was a little spongy.
We dipsy-doodled along the county roads south of Peterborough, stopping at Taylor Plastics. They make recycled plastic chairs, of which we have four at the cottage. It really is a shop in the middle of ‘nowhere’ but that is a disservice - really more in the midst of farm country but maybe not a long-distance drive from Peterborough or Cobourg. The gift shop was fun to walk through and we have decided to purchase two foot rests, but we’ll have to pick them up with the rhino on our trip up for the long weekend or given the 'new' cottage situation - probably in June. Remember - they take no credit cards! John was intrigued by the hand-made paddles too.
On the corner before we turned east again we stopped at a bakery for coffee for John (and two tarts which were Pontiac Bakery type - just pie filling, no fruit). There is a winery we passed which merits a stop in May.
We continued on through Keene and Hastings where we stopped to watch the water rushing through the Trent River. Next was Campbellford. I suggested we have lunch along the Trent—Severn canal for lunch and try to find the big toonie. We looked, from the car, all over but couldn’t see it and I began to doubt my ability to remember it from a trip with Corrine and Brent years ago. We pulled forward into a parking lot by the information centre, and took our lunch to the picnic table - right in the shadow of the toonie. It had been hidden in profile by a tree! It was so wonderful to sit in the sunshine enjoying the water rushing past us, although perhaps those who were being flooded didn't find it as enjoyable.
We carried on the county roads to Tweed and then drove along Hwy 7 to Perth and the Perth Manor Boutique Hotel on Drummond Street. It’s a delightful inn
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| Note the wall covering. |
I’m writing this on Tuesday, April 30 and what started out as a flippant title is now only too true. So let me continue with this in chronological order and I’ll get back to the way this vacation took an ugly turn.
After walking around Perth a bit, including checking out Big Ben - the horse, not the clock, and seeing some aspects of the Tay River flooding (little did we know that getting our feet wet as we walked through the park was the least of our worries) we walked over to The Stone Cellar for dinner. It was a lovely place and quite popular. Meal was exceptional.
We walked home in the remains of a gorgeous sunny evening; it was hard to believe that tomorrow was going to be so rainy. Just before getting back to the B & B we heard a freight train passing just behind us so we stopped to watch it pass us.
Friday, April 26, 2019
Our breakfast at the Perth Manor was delicious and we had a long conversation with Linda (the co-owner)about how they came to buy the place, the status of things in Perth, the tapestry covering the walls of the dining room and how to clean it! Also discovered a new way to do scrambled eggs!
In the driving rain we found the local distillery The Top Shelf and after tasting samples, John bought some gin and whisky (just out of the ‘moonshine’ stage). John is also keen to try the ‘bitters’ he bought as well. [John is drinking some of the gin, with the bitters as I edit this.]
We drove out of Perth along CR10 and got on Hwy 7 at Dwyer Hill. Pouring of rain and so we did no geocaching.
Once in Ottawa, at Birgit's place, John spent time with Birgit going over the latest forms she had received and before heading out to Montebello, we stopped at the post office in the Pharma-save to mail them. That probably put us into the departure home time frame for civil servants leaving Ottawa because we ended up in terrific traffic congestion going through Gatineau. It didn’t help that there was construction going on and flood mitigation - Ottawa had declared a state of emergency the day before. At least 20 minutes if not more were added to our travel time. Woe was us! But it was all okay. We checked into Le Chateau Montebello with no problems and after a quick time in our rooms we met in the lobby for tea/coffee.
The resort is still undergoing renovations and the furniture did not get any better since December. As with other renovations, it is delayed!
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Saturday morning we met for breakfast in the lovely glassed in dining room. About noon we drove up to Parc Omega to check it out in the springtime. The rain held off for most of the drive and the animals were out in full force. The moose and its friend were in the same spot as they were in December! The grey wolves, Arctic foxes, and Arctic wolves were all very active; the bison were right beside the road - no fence between us and them and they just stood there staring ahead!
But the bears were out and were quite active. The cinnamon bears were either play fighting or mating.
We did not buy any carrots but we still got slobbered on. The deer sure know where to go for the carrots - they would nose up all along the window tops!
Once we got back to Le Chateau, we took advantage to the rain still holding off and went for a walk to see how much flooding there was.
We trekked up to the Papineau Manor - ancient oak tree is still standing - and then followed a path that had a newer pathway into the village. The restaurant that we were going to eat at that night was almost directly across from the path and next to it was the #1 restaurant in town (and the Outaouais) where I wanted to have breakfast. We checked it out just before it closed at 3 and made a reservation for the next morning. It’s a very small place and as it turned out, it was an excellent idea to have made a reservation.
When we got back to the Chateau, Birgit had ordered a 'frying pan' of cheeses, fruit,and nuts so that was well-timed!
Before dinner John brought out the jigsaw puzzle and the three of us spent time working on it. My contribution was to find the straight-edged pieces.
Dinner that evening was more formal - at Le Napoleon. Some reviews had warned that despite its name it was really Italian but of course Napoleon had been born on Corsica so could be considered Italian. Another excellent meal! There were original paintings around the lower dining room and upstairs (which was not being used at this time) of Italy. Lots of good memories!Sunday, April 28, 2019
The next morning we were at Le Cafe Entre Amis and had to wait a trifle bit while the tables were rearranged; people were being turned away. We had the eggs Benedict - absolutely wonderful and done to perfection.
On our drive home (in coolish temperatures) we followed the highway along the river to Thurso and could see the signs of the flooding. Montebello’s marina was submerged and some of the river walkways were under water but other than that they were safe. The ferries across the Ottawa were closed too.
Traffic wasn’t too bad going into Ottawa but we had learned that the Chaudiere bridge had been closed because they were releasing the full amount of water from the circular dams up river and it was thundering down under the bridge. It will be closed for a long time as they inspect the damage.
After dropping Birgit off, we started on our way to Montreal. The weather was sunny I think and the drive nondescript. We both remarked that it had been years since we’d done that drive. The bridge over Lac de Deux Montagnes (Hwy 20) was closed because of flooding and Hwy 40’s bridge was all sandbagged. Again, traffic was very slow.
It was fascinating to see the changes along Hwy 40. The old Woolco store at St Charles where I’d meet Mom when she came by bus to visit us was now a WalMart and it was recognizable but on both sides of the highway were huge box stores of every description that totally changed the landscape. And it was only 40+ years ago!!!!
John did a magnificent job of driving through all the infrastructure changes going on - massive road rebuilding everywhere. And signs everywhere saying 'Nous embauchons' which I have learned is 'We are hiring'. So the province must be doing well.
I have no recollection of when I stayed at the Hotel Bonaventure but I do remember a) having dinner with John and Corrine maybe when Corrine and I completed our trip to Quebec City and b) swimming out to the outdoor pool.
I chose a room with a city view and I'm not sure it was the best choice given that we were overlooking the railyards but I did get to see and hear trains coming in during the night! A room overlooking the gardens would have been more scenic.
It was a grey and cold day but we headed out to find John's old haunting grounds but as with everything else, Place Ville Marie was all boarded up from the outside! We did end up on Ste Catherine Street and went into the Indigo store to find a book for John, which was successful. Then we tried to find our way through the underground passages back to PVM but not terribly successful - more construction. At that point we gave up and went back to the hotel.
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| Not quite that green when we were there. |
We did go swimming and chose to enter from the staircase inside and swim out under the passageway. The pool was quite warm; John found it strange to be swimming and using his knees in a different way. Dinner was in the main restaurant - and again, so changed from 50 years ago (go figure!) Last time I was there John had matches made up in his name (well he didn't ask for them but they were at the table!) I think I remember that time that we noticed how many servers there were - anticipating our every move. And this time, although the restaurant was rather empty - lots of single diners - there was a lot of staff.
Monday, April 29, 2019
Monday morning we walked through the underground passages and picked up breakfast at one of the many fast food places in the train station and ate in 'the library' - the wallpaper around the room gave the impression of being in a library.
Then we headed out to do some more exploring. We walked into the Basilica-Cathedral Mary Queen of the World, which was absolutely huge.
The baldequin - see the photo on right - is modelled after the one in St. Peters in Rome (which I noticed because we haven't seen that in other churches around here).
After walking around the cathedral and looking at the huge paintings on the walls, we walked down through the park that John said he took daily from Windsor Station up to PVM for work. But the trains don't come into Windsor Station anymore; they go into Central Station. But Windsor Station is under renovation and I have no idea what they will do or are doing with that huge concourse.
We got back to the hotel with moments to spare to get a taxi to Outremont to meet our friend Adam. He had dissuaded us from using Uber since the taxi drivers are in poor shape given that the city took away their licenses (?) and repaid them only $20 000 for licenses that used to be worth $100 000. It was only a $15 fare (although much more later in the afternoon when we were caught up in late-afternoon traffic).
It was a good lunch with Adam giving us some suggestions about what to do in Old Montreal. The drive up there was interesting as we skirted Mount Royal on the eastern side. Adam had to get back to work (actually responding to an RFP for STAO) and then he was catching a 6:30 train to Toronto that night!
Our return to downtown Montreal saw us pick up our walking trip at Bonsecours Market. It was open but just about everything else we wanted to see/do was closed because it was a Monday. But it was fun walking the cobble-stoned streets and poking around. We did get into Notre Dame Bascilica (cost $8 pp) and that was quite a stunning church, especially the blue lighting behind the altar. There was also a small rebuilt chapel (the original had been destroyed in the 70s (??) and the carving behind its altar was modern and very interesting.
As it was getting close to 5, we thought we'd investigate the speak-easy Adam had told us about, so after doing as much as we could on the walking tour we meandered back to St. Vincent street and pushed the button on the door! Had you not known about the door and the buzzer you'd not know anything about it - there was absolutely
He led us down some grungy metal staircases into - a really well-appointed bar! Narrow but very classy. We sat up on high benches, overlooking the bar seating (we weren't at the bar but it was just a few feet away). We were the first ones in there and by the time we left about 70-80 minutes later, it was standing room only. The website listed all the bartenders and servers,
so we learned about our server (from Australia) and the bar's beginnings. It's just been open under 3 years. Even the music - high-end jazz - was selected by the owner. Our cocktails were a trifle more expensive but very good. John's had a huge square ice cube in it. John ordered a beer after that and I had a glass of wine.
It was hard to get anyone's attention to give us the bill because at first there were only the two - server and bartender and they had to run up to let more people in. Eventually he dropped off the bill and told us how to leave - at the other end of the restaurant (just like a real speak-easy - I'm guessing!!!). And when we exited, we were around the corner from where we went in. So very much like a 'speak easy' with a front door and a back door for escape!
We had seen a crepe place on our exploring so we walked back there for dinner and ate up on the second (of three) floors. Quite nice overlooking Rue St Paul.
Our last adventure was to try to use the Memory app that we thought would initiate a projection of nearby historic sites, and I think it was intended to do that because each 'station' was in front of a wall that would accept a projection but the closest we came was to seeing a short video on my phone explaining about the one site we got ourselves too. So it would be fun to try again. Since we are going to be back in Montreal again in September maybe we should go a day earlier and try this again (and maybe see some of the museums we couldn't get into before). This is for our train trip to Halifax.
Tuesday, April 30, 2018
We didn't leap out of bed, but we didn't linger too terribly much. We had breakfast again over by the Station (St. Cinnamon this time), then we checked out and headed out through the road construction again. We were expecting the traffic to be bad getting off the Island but there was no stoppage at all, although some lanes were closed with sand bags.
We got into Ottawa about 2, which was not giving us a lot of time to get to Beechwood Cemetery to see Stephane about final arrangements for Dad's interment. In fact we were about 20 minutes late because of traffic in Ottawa. Stephane said that civil servants were told to stay home on Monday because of the Chaudiere bridge being closed but he said today it was like everyone was making up for lost time!
After our conversation with Stephane, we drove to the area where John's family is buried. I wasn't able to find the Graburn graves that I had found with Birgit in April but John did spend time overlooking his mom and dad's gravestone.
For dinner we went to Biagio's, which was unusually busy. Our 'regular' waitress, Katie, was serving us; her baby is now 8 months old! We had lots of good discussions over dinner.
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
We stayed at the Doubletree in Aylmer but really just used it as a place to sleep because we were on our way by 9 or so. Our first stop was breakfast at McDonald's, then mailing the letters for Birgit, then Giant Tiger to buy waterproof gloves. No rubber boots. So we drove up to Canadian Tire (it's moved from Aylmer) and picked out a pair for John. It's a good thing we persevered because they were the only way we could move around our property.
When we got to the cottage area, we drove down to the sandbagging area (Wharf and River Road) but the army was just leaving for the town hall for lunch. One of the volunteers was good enough to get out of her van and come and invite us up to the hall, so we did go up there. It was a little awkward because we didn't feel we could eat any of the food; we hadn't done anything! But John did talk with Brent Orr, the mayor, and got some details and he said either he or Phil Holmes would drive us down to the cottage because the roads were too full of water for cars. (We had noticed that many parts of the Bay were not affected at all; it's really Strathcona and River Road from Norway Avenue up to the Ponderosa). Murray Hill road was closed. From the Yoda swamp to past our cottage was dry.
While we were waiting for people to finish lunch we walked over to see Clarence and pay him for the work he'd done at the cottages (and to thank him for taking the pump out of the crawl space and putting it in the cottage!)
When we got back to the sandbagging area we spent some time tying up sandbags and then Phil called us over to his truck and he drove us - very slowly - down to our cottage. He was a wealth of information about - sandbagging, the army, various cottagers, etc. We were so fortunate - the water did not get to the top of the deck boards and as of yesterday the water level was going down. But there is all kinds of stuff floating around and talk of the water being completely contaminated. We moved the beach box up to higher ground (it was very heavy to move around the aluminum canoe); there was a fence submerged in the water. We were able to move up to almost the edge of the front cottage (before the porch) and the water was two fingers below the top of our boots.
But inside the cottage all was dry. Just a terrible clean-up outside whenever the water goes out.
We were on the road to Deerhurst by 3ish. The rain for the most part had held off but it really poured on our drive for most of the way. We stopped in Barry's Bay for a light lunch.
We saw no moose during our drive through Algonquin Park despite numerous warning signs. Most of the lakes were still frozen, which will add to the woes of the Muskoka cottage area when the rivers/lakes thaw and the rivers are flooded.
When we drove into Deerhurst the parking lot was virtually empty. We went to the Compass restaurant and had a lovely leisurely dinner, starting with a bottle of wine and then sharing hors d'oeuvres.
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Thursday morning we had breakfast in the Eclipse room (very few people there) and then we walked along a path in the golf course until it was flooded with water. Then we walked down to the waterfront and saw the most amazing ice crystal formations.
Our drive home was uneventful and we were home by 3 or so.
