From the Country to the City (and on to 2223)!

A land of contrasts, Quebec and Canada have once again captured our imaginations! On Monday, we traveled from Lake Chambly where I last left you to Parc Bellerive--a marina and mobile home campground in the middle of nowhere--read a gorgeous natural setting.

As we crossed Lac Chambly, Mount St. Hillaire dominated the view. The Admiral, ever curious, learned that Mount St. Hillaire was formed by magma, i.e, it's igneous rock, which enabled it to survive the pressure and scouring of the last glacial epoch when all around it was dragged away. There are several others of this type in the surrounding area.

Occasional churches, the markers of small towns and villages in Quebec, occasionally punctuated what was largely an undeveloped landscape inhabited by great blue herons, osprey and other birds. At times we saw churches immediately across the river from each other--a reminder that bridges are few and far between on this stretch of the Richilieu.

We proceeded slowly on our cruise because the English translation suggested that Lock St. Ours only opened at 9:00 and 1:00. However, when we arrived there not quite an hour early, the lock folks were happy to open for us right away. Live and learn. Now having locked through more than a hundred locks in the past eight months, St. Ours, with its floating dock, was by far the easiest. And the staff was among the friendliest as well.

In any case, we arrived at Parc Bellerive Campground and Marina in time for a late lunch and spent the afternoon on the boat watching the river (and life) drift by. Herman Hesse and Siddhartha didn't have anything beyond literary genius on us.

Yesterday, we proceeded down the Richilieu River to its confluence with the St. Lawrence Seaway. What a contrast! The Richilieu was quiet--a mix of undeveloped natural beauty and occasional summer homes. The St. Lawrence, in turn, offered a mix of heavy shipping, industrial, some second home and residential, and almost no undeveloped property.

And, no real surprise but a surprise just the same, the St. Lawrence is HUGE. Even with multiple channels, the main channel is, well, huge. And, what a current! Although no problem for Katahdin, I'm guessing we fought a 4-5 knot current most of the way from Sorel to Montreal. The last dozen miles into the City, docks, container terminals, grain terminals and large ships dominated the shoreline.

Excitement built as we neared the City and the skyline took shape! Another big City to

navigate and explore. But, we had one last hurdle to cross. Under the bridge, you encounter the full force of the St. Lawrence as you cross it to enter Port d'Escale du Vieux-Port de Montreal. We crabbed across the river in what I suspect will be the most current we encounter on the loop--a good 5 knots plus. Sadly, this was no place or time for pictures--only breathholding. But soon we reached the mostly calm waters of the Vieux-Port, hailed Port d'Escale, and reached a calm, secure modern dock.

Tuesday afternoon, we tidied up a bit; The Admiral caught a snooze; and I walked through the City for an hour to stretch my legs and see the sights. We enjoyed a great dinner at Modavie. I savored a wonderful glass of Chateauneuf-du-Pape to accompany my tasty lamb pasta. The Admiral splurged and enjoyed Foie gras as her main course with a very pleasant glass of dessert wine.

Wednesday proved to be a busy day. As we had approached Montreal the day before,

this warning popped up on our navigation screen. Subsequent investigation and a call

with Steve, the Volvo guy at Coastal Carolina Yacht Sales, indicated that the port pod was low on gear oil. Hmm. I have the tiniest bit in spare but figured I'd better find some more in case this grew to be a recurrent problem. Lots of calls turned up what we needed about 12 miles and an hour Uber ride to the east. The trip took me down the large intestine of the City of Montreal. We paralleled the river and all those port facilities don't look so nice from the land side. Moreover, the other side of the road was almost one continuous homeless camp--troubling, sad, and not that attractive. But, the folks at Turbo Marine were both pleasant and helpful and I scored two, four litre bottles of gear

oil--only $240. Big ouch. To top that all off, when I rechecked the Volvos' warning system before adding fluid, I got this indication:

I'm going to add the tiniest bit to the port side anyway and hope for the best. Steve assures me that overfilling creates far more problems than underfilling.

The day would get better! We walked to Chinatown for lunch--as always the Admiral found a good restaurant. We followed lunch with 45 minutes of virtual reality (you read that correctly, we aren't that old. At the Science Center, we donned VR headsets for Life Chronicles, a virtual tour of 300 billion years of the earth's history. The Admiral and I had

our own, personal avatar who along with a robot called Darwin led us on a most exciting tour which ended, promisingly, in 2223! We found ourselves ducking under branches, stepping over logs, and stepping around rocks as we explored the geology, plant and animal life of about a dozen periods of the earth's evolution. It was remarkable and very "real". My hand still aches from the Admiral clenching it. No reflection of our life together which is wonderful but we haven't held hands that long in decades if ever!

Later that afternoon, the Admiral again snoozed and I gave the exterior of the boat a thorough cleaning which it needed desparately. It hadn't had a cleaning with soap since Half Moon Bay and the accumulation of soot and other grime turned the water black as I rinsed the coach top, decks, and other surfaces after scrubbing.

The day had a most enjoyable finale. We splurged on tickets for Cirque du Soleil which is on the pier adjacent to Port d'Escale--literally a three minute walk from Katahdin. The performers truly captivated and amazed us. What incredible skill, grace, stamina and courage they combine. We entered in bright, beautiful sunshine and exited to

a spectacular view of Katahdin with Montreal as her back drop.

Today we're off to Montreal's BioDome, an afternoon on the boat, dock tales with fellow loopers and then a farewell to Montreal dinner. Off toward Ottawa tomorrow.