Gene and Jan's Long Trip Too

The sun was out making the 45⁰ temperature feel comfortable for a change,  We anchored in the St. Laurence Gulf and tendered ashore at Gaspé, a remote town at the tip of Quebec's Gaspé peninsula. The surrounding area is remote wilderness much like our own Lake Superior shore line.  The forests were beginning to show fall colors. Our excursion for the day was to view the immense Percé Rock.  During our coach ride we passed birch forests, an occasional cottage or two, and some scattered permanent homes occupied by hearty Quebecers.  Most were heated by wood burners. Near the rock, we ascended a glass platform 660 feet above the gulf for a panoramic view of the region.  The clear, sunny day provided unlimited visibility.  Percé Rock  ( French :  Rocher Percé , meaning "pierced rock") is a huge sheer rock formation in the  Gulf of St. Lawrence  on the tip of the  Gaspé Peninsula . Percé Rock appears from a distanc...

On Tuesday morning, the Viking Sun docked at Saguenay in near gale force winds.  (Note the bend of the flag poles and pine tree in the photo above. In spite of the wind, rain and 40 degree temperature, local volunteers decked out in historic clothing welcomed us as we disembarked for a morning tour. A short distance outside of the city we visited "New France", a recreation of a 17th-century Quebec colony where settlers and First Nation tribes lived alongside each other.  Costumed actors provided first person accounts of what life was like.  Our village guide, in heavy French accent, shared how she had married a man who promised her a better life in the new world, but he died of scurvy after their 3-month sea voyage.  Her second husband went into the woods hunting and never returned; and so it was for 3 more husbands!  So she reluctantly decided her destiny was to be a widow.  Then we met the Clan Mother of one of the local tribe's lon...

It was sunrise when the Viking Sun prepared to dock at Old Quebec City.  Hotel Frontenac welcomed us from its perch high above the St. Laurence river.  This is the most photographed hotel in the world.  After leaving Montreal, we headed back down the St. Laurence River toward the Atlantic Ocean.  In doing so, we are stopping again at Quebec City and Saguenay which we just visited a few days ago.  This is for the benefit of the 600 "short timers" (new passengers) that boarded in Montreal and will disembark in New York.  (Only 180 of us are booked on the half or full world trip.) Our excursion today took us to the pastoral island of Île d'Orléans, one of the first areas of Quebec settled by the French.  Originally this was farm land, but today the island is far more valuable as a summer retreat for city folks looking for a place to unwind on the weekends.  There are, however, a number of small wineries here.  We visited one. Its...

We arrived in Montréal for a two-day stop.  The weather -- you guessed it -- RAIN.  Since we are "travelers" not "tourists", we adjust to what is given us without complaint.  (As the Norwegians say, "there is no bad weather, just bad clothing,"  so we adjusted our clothing for the conditions and went out to see the city.) Our first evening we strolled through Old Town with a tour group headed for the historic Notre Dame Basilica.  The evening was cool but the rain had stopped as our group dropped by a local pub for a glass of wine and tapas. The twin towers of the Basilica reached into the overcast evening sky.  The first church on this site was built in 1672.  By 1824 the congregation had outgrown the building and a replacement church was constructed between 1824 and 1842.  At the time it was completed, it was the largest church in North America. We were attending the Basilica to view their spectacular multimedia production titl...

Day 28 we arrived in Quebec City and for the first time in a fortnight, the sun brightened our day!  We have toured the historic part of the city in the past, so instead decided to visit the Huron-Wendat (Indian) Village.  Located in Wendakt, the reserve is now totally surrounded by greater Quebec City. The early French explorers nicknamed the Wendat "Huron" (meaning boars head in French) because of the men's hairstyle. Arriving at the village we walked past the Wendat Nation's Church built in 1730.  The French  converted the natives to Christianity and today they are predominately Catholic. Across from the church is a park depicting the Nation's "Myth of Creation."  According to the legend, The "Sky Tree and Mother of Creation" fell into the "Water World" from the "Sky World" above.  Seeing this, the astonished geese, otter, muskrat and beaver sacrificed their lives to rescue her.  The turtle gave up his shell t...