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Kingston to Montréal, and Canada Day (30 June – 1 July 2023)

Canada Day finds us in Montréal, after the first leg of our trip. It’s rainy and smokey out there, so we’ve kept things pretty low key. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Yesterday started with one last Kingston event, as Greg joined the Cycle Kingston K & P Trail ride with Mayor Paterson, ending with a roll-in breakfast at Market Square. Keeping pace with the two-wheeled cyclists was a challenge on his unicycle, but Greg caught up at the intersections and arrived with the front of the group. It was nice to have one last ride before leaving the wheel at home for the year.

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Greg with his unicycle at the roll-in breakfast. Mayor Bryan Paterson is in the blue shirt talking to Andy Mills of Cycle Kingston.

Then it was a morning of laundry, house tidying, and finishing the packing. Our tenant for the year, Katie, was kind enough to give us a ride to the Kingston train station. Katie is an electrical engineering Masters student at RMC and will be a lecturer in Greg’s department when we return from our trip, so we know the house is in good hands.

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Saying goodbye to Katie at the Kingston train station.

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Karen on the platform with all of our worldly possessions for the next year.

It felt surreal when the train pulled out of the station and we realized we were actually on our way. The ride was uneventful and the train arrived on time. We were met at the station by our long-time friend Don Lewis and his partner Jen Jackman, who are putting us up until Monday. We had a lovely dinner at a nearby vegan restaurant followed by dipped soft-serve ice cream.

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Out for dinner with Don and Jen at the Hello 123 vegan restaurant near Don’s place.

As I said, today was smokey from the wildfires and intermittently rainy, so not the best for getting out and enjoying Canada Day. We had a leisurely breakfast on the back porch, chatted for a bit, and ultimately decided to take a drive out to Baie d’Urfé, where Don grew up, and the pretty village of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

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Karen, Jen and Don at the Baie d’Urfé Yacht Club, where Don has been a member for about six decades and is still on the board, despite having sold his boat a couple of years ago

After a walk by the water we got caught in the rain and sheltered under a tree. It was lunch time, so we ducked into the nearest restaurant for what turned out to be a fairly credible tapas lunch. Then we took a stroll through town, and headed back to Don’s for a quiet afternoon and evening.

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A shadfly on a store window in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

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Very serious after-dinner liqueur pouring.

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