Sunday 15 October 2006

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Awake: 6:45am Sleep 6+43 temp outdoors low 40’s overnight @
Montréal, Quebec Canada.

We warmed the room up sufficiently before turning the lights off last
night & then used the extra cover supplied & slept well without having the
heater on.

@ 10:15am we check out of the Taj Mahal. Our rooms were prepaid on line
without any extra charges. 1st plan for the day: attend 11:00am Mass @ the
Notre-Dame Basilica only a few min away. Terry selects a parking spot
close to the Basilica which we all vote to be a good choice. Being early,
we casually walk inside & around this gigantic & beautiful 177 yr old
structure. The eloquence & size of the sanctuary & altar were mesmerizing
as were the extremely high ceilings, the many statues, and the stained
glass windows.

Mass was in French…..aside from Terry (who recently had 3 months of French
classes in Paris), the only familiar words to us were: Alleluia & Amen.
The huge organ, which has 4 keyboards, 99 stops & approximately 7000
pipes, in conjunction with the choir, emitted a phenomenal sound @ the
High Mass this morning. What an experience!

We leave the car parked near the Basilica & walk toward the Notre-Dame-de
Bon-Secours Chapel, the 1st stone church in Montréal erected in 1675.
Later it began to be called: “The Sailor’s” Church. This was on Terry’s
list of things to see + we thought it would be interesting also. Along the
way, we pass an outdoor promoter for the “Deli 12”: Kathy took a menu from
him and upon perusal she and I motioned Joanne & Terry back to scrutinize
the menu. What a deal….if the food & price are as good as he advertises.
Well, he wasn’t kidding: everything was great & at a most reasonable cost,
especially after that miserly French dinner of last night.

The 1st Secours Chapel burned down 79 yrs later & was re-erected over the
original foundations 17 yrs after that. When we toured this Chapel & the
Marguerite-Bourgeoys Museum, sections of the 1st Chapel underground &
above ground were able to be toured. Inside the church, miniature boats
were hanging just above eye level readily recalling the “Sailor’s Church”
connection. Then we realize, our time is up for staying in Montréal so
it’s back to the car where we find a surprise: the Camry had a large
ticket under the windshield wiper. Even with Terry’s knowledge of French,
she couldn’t understand why? Since the parking spot was unanimously
approved, we all chipped in to pay the ticket price. We make a quick stop
@ Joe & Kate’s place where we drop some tour books off & also dollars for
him to send in & pay the parking ticket. Then we head for the border &
beyond.

Our return trip was uneventful; however…..border crossing into the USA was
delayed by 45 min due to numerous vehicles also going into the USA. We
return to our bus before 7:30pm. I can’t remember doing anything
significant during the rest of that evening except K & I did spend some
time talking about Joe, the 2 hr tour he gave us, his girlfriend, the
fruit flies + worms & the many differences between our Vermont area verses
the big city of Montréal, Quebec Canada a mere 1.5 hrs away.

Today’s approx temp=50’s Lights out: 11:54pm

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This page contains a single entry by George Monte Kirsch published on October 25, 2006 6:48 PM.

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