Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble

Took awhile to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road but we eventually made it to the New England coast and our first stop in a quaint seaside village called Mystic, evidently the scene of a long forgotten (by everyone except the Pizza Shop) Julia Roberts movie. They had the weirdest looking draw-bridge I’ve ever seen with an interesting implementation of counter-weights.

Next it was the infamous Newport (Americas Cup) but as we just stopped long enough for an ice-cream we didn’t see much:

Finally arriving at Cape Cod we were guests of Robert & Penny who are on-line friends of mine from a photography site. They made us most welcome and Robert was very generous with his time and showed us around the cape, including a trip to Provincetown. I found the local architecture fascinating

            

Further north we stopped in Salem, famous for the witch trials, and did a small tour during which Deb was able to get her broom serviced.

      

Again, very distinctive local architecture.

      

A little further north we stopped for lunch at the beach. This is the poorer end of the Hamptons.

Finally turning off the coast and heading out of Maine towards the Canadian border. Our last stop was in the mountains at a lovely B&B near Sugarloaf Ski resort. With the storm breaking just as we arrived it felt like something out of ‘Psycho’, but it was actually very cozy inside.

      

Crossing into Canada the next day our first stop was Quebec City where we did a guided tour of the citadel and learned all about the goat mascot of the regiment.

            

We were even fortunate enough to get a picture.

The Chateau Frontenac is a luxury hotel that dominates the city skyline and can be see from most vantage points around town.

      

Here we had our first ‘couch surf’ as a guest (had done many as a host) and we were so very fortunate to have met Roger who was not only a great host, but a terrific tour guide.

The sun was out the next day so we took advantage and toured ‘the island’ which is a well-known spot the locals visit on their summer weekends. It is only 20 minutes away and situated in the middle of the St Lawrence seaway and boasts some fine restaurants and wineries, think ‘Hunter Valley’ meets ‘Shark Island’.

            

As if Montmorency Falls wasn’t exciting enough, some people add adrenalin by rock climbing next to it. I’m told in the winter when it freezes climbers actually scale the falls.

            

The Huron are an indigenous people local to the area and they had a lovely park that exhibited their traditional way of life.

      

Here you can see our guide showing us his favourite beaver.

We can’t leave Quebec City without a stroll through the ‘old city’ and I can’t leave this post without at least one food picture, banana, hazelnut & chocolate crepes…..bon apetit!