I don't know what happened -- we made one wrong turn and here we are back in Canada! No, not really....we were in Vermont and looked at the map. Montreal was only 100 miles away. Then, Ottawa was another 100 miles from Montreal. Sitting in the Ottawa hotel room planning our next location, we hit the wall... "Let's call Jennifer and see if we can go to St Louis NOW!" Just that quickly we decided that we couldn't live out of suitcases and eat all of our meals in restaurants any longer. It has been a great trip. We've seen so many beautiful places and met incredible people, but now we need to unpack, cook some meals and stay put for a few weeks (maybe a month). So, instead of going to Toronto and Niagra Falls we took off for Detroit. As soon as we entered the USA, I called my brother to see if they were busy. They were having a barbecue with friends. There was plenty of food, a competitive penuchle game and a good bed waiting for us. Next stop St Louis, Missouri.
Montreal
We had expected a cool reception in Montreal. We speak only three words of French and had been warned that the residents were not very tolerant of English speaking visitors. I'm here to set the record right -- everyone we met was extremely friendly, helpful, welcoming and they immediately spoke English. What a beautiful city! Historic buildings blend with remnants of the 1979 Olympics and contemporary architecture. It is a city that encourages bikes and walking with wide trails. We were there over Labor Day week-end (which they also celebrate). The town center was enjoying warm sunny weather, street fairs and the restaurants' sidewalk tables were overflowing.
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| Towering steeples marked every town and led us to another beautiful church. |
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| The St Lawrence Seaway connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes. |
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| Olympic Park Tower stands at a 45 degree angel. It is the tallest inclined tower in the world -- 541 feet. Cables attach to the roof of the main stadium. It was built for the 1976 Summer Olympics. |
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| The Biosphere now houses and environmental museum. It was the symbol of Expo 67. The structure was used in the original television show, Battlestar Galactica. |
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| This beauty is abandoned. A sign offers it for $1 million (Canadian). Seems like a bargain! |
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| Habitat 67 158 residences made of 354 prefabricated boxes of reinforced concrete. The design allows each home to have privacy, a view and a balcony. They are on the St Lawrence River across from downtown Montreal. Still stunning today. |
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| This little pastry/deli in Longueuil needs special mention because we ate two breakfasts and one dinner here during our short visit. |
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada. We spent an afternoon in the Byword Market area. Besides being a bustling market, it is adjacent to many of the government buildings. The city was on overload (Labor Day week-end and students returning to college). Every hotel room was taken for a radius of 100 miles beyond the city center. Our room was a suite with a board room connected to it. Luckily we made a reservation the night before and I guess the online message wasn't kidding when they said "1 room remaining".
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| First stop -- lunch at a sidewalk cafe. |
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| Food, crafts, clothing, souvenirs.... |
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| These now restored shops served the lumberjacks and mill workers of the 19th century. Today they are exclusive stores for the wealthy. |
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| US Embassy |
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Detroit, Michigan
Time to go through customs again. This time we are crossing the Ambassador Bridge and entering Detroit.
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| Good-bye Canada |
One stop on the trip from Detroit to St Louis. Our route took us right through the town of Auburn, Indiana. Brian could not resist a visit to the Auburn Cord Dusenburg Museum. These are the cars of the super rich and famous back in the 1920's. Each one was distinctively designed. Even if you aren't a car enthusiast, this collection is worth a stop and look.
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| This Rolls Royce is very similar to the 1949 Bentley that we owned in the 1970's. What a time we had with that car! Right hand drive... We lived in Los Angeles then. |
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| Great headlights, radiator and hood! They don't make them like that anymore. |
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| We saw this sell at a Barrett Jackson auction. |
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| The museum is in the original Auburn showroom. Look at those art deco details! |
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