[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'F')unny, we were talking about that the other day. May wife was looking at clouds and describing what she saw. I asked her when she last had done that. Many years ago. It's good to be quiet and reintroduce yourself to yourself.

I'm sitting in a cafe across fro Quebec City killing time while my Wife has a couple of sessions.

This week was bitter sweet. We moved from Mintreal to QC. the river is opening up and getting less picturesque. I managed to hit a bit bout the other day. It's about a smart and explainable as running into a Stop sign on your bike. Tore up th pulpit, that'll cost a bunch of money and time. It killed my appetite, I am stuffed full of humble pie. I'll get over it, eventually.

We will visit old QC tomorrow.

We have never been through Quebec before. I have been to St. Pierre three times. I was surprised how much French culture the retained in St. Pierre. It is the same here only more so. We frequently run into folks with no English. Supposedly English nearly disappears East of here. I would guess that in the rural areas English is no better than in rural France. it is really striking the differences between the USA and here. While I admittedly see only a small slice of the region I see NO sign of poverty or the emotional desperation so prevelant in the USA, even in small towns. The USA #1 chest beaters really need to visit and see what things could be like.

Also the obesity seems much less, folks just seem fitter in general. And the ladies!

[Newfie]

I think so, right now we are across the river in Levis attending to chores. Tomorrow we will take the ferry across to the old city.

BTW, I noticed the last rr bridge, in fact the only rr bridges East of Kingston or Lake Ontario, are at Montreal over the St. Laurent lock. There is only one highway bridge between Montreal and Quebeck, and one ferry.

There are two adjacent highway bridges just West of QC and a ferry from QC to Levis.

I think this means anything that arrives at Halifax or St. John, NB transported by rail, must either cross at Montreal or over the Welland Canal on the West end of Lake Ontario. So all of the maritimes are quite isolated from the rest of Canada.

[Newfie]

Tanda re walls

Not what you are thinking of. There are remnants of 17th century walls but nothing intact. Some bits of the citadel fortifications. There is a lot of fortification, including walls. But they are roughly mid 1800s.

[Subjectivist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'T')anda re walls

Not what you are thinking of. There are remnants of 17th century walls but nothing intact. Some bits of the citadel fortifications. There is a lot of fortification, including walls. But they are roughly mid 1800s.

[Newfie]

From the looks of things if they got fix of tourist QC would collapse. Bloody beards of them, all kind of nationalities.

The bilingual thing seems to be mixed. Some smaller areas we have a tough time. Big cities no problem.

I ran ing I bunch of drunk quebecious on a fishing boat one time, nary a word of English in the lot. Yet in some other VERY rural areas most have been bi lingual. I guess if they dont need it they don't learn it. Kinda like us.

[rockdoc123]

My experience in Quebec with the language comes from many years back....during the referendums. Spent a lot of time in Montreal, Ottawa, Hull and the Gatineaus.
I am more or less fluent in french but my french is not Quebecois. What I found in the farmer markets in Ottawa is the rural french speak very fast and it is often hard to understand them, they do make an attempt to understand you but must think you are an upper class dirt bag for speaking European french.
In the bars in Montreal (again this was back when there was a fairly strong separatist movement) if you spoke perfect Parisian french you would be outed as an Anglophone anyways, Quebecois is very distinct (not sure how to explain it but it is a bit nasal). Remember that Quebec french evolved on it's own after the Laurentian valley was settled. French in Europe has been influenced heavily by english (and to a lesser extent other languages) and has even had to have laws imposed to avoid further anglicism. As a consequence Quebecois is a very old form of French, not as abused with the english language. An example might be a Quebecois might say "faire les magasiner" whereas invariably a Parisian might say "faire du shopping" or a Quebecois might refer to "fin de semaine" whereas a Parisian might say " le weekend".
I suspect this has changed considerably in the cities over the years especially since the separtistes have dwindled in numbers. The rural communities are still quite stuck on a Quebecois dialect though and not just in Le Grande Provence. There are French farming communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta that formed back in the late nineteenth century and have remained somewhat isolated regarding their language. They all speak english but their first language is Quebecois and they are very proud of that fact.
My recommendation is unless you speak very good french, don't bother. Speak english ....they may think you are a "tete carree" but who cares

[Ibon]

I thought I would share with po.com community a little video I made about the hummingbirds at Mount Totumas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2cig0TDEOg

Using branches and vines we took from a fallen oak tree we created a display on the new deck of the homestead where we attached orchids and bromeliads and other epiiphytes. We then added feeders and this has become a major attraction for hummingbirds.

[Newfie]

VERY neat! We enjoyed this greatly.

[Shaved Monkey]

Im sure its beautiful I cant get ti to work on the hotel wifi I will check again when I get home,I love humming birds the closest we get in Australia is

One day I will post a video of our water bath we get well over 20 different species visiting

[KaiserJeep]

This one really is savory roses. The Mother-In-Law picked rose hips from the beach on Nantucket, and sent us 2 jars of rose hip jelly:

[Subjectivist]

Never had rose hip jam or jelly, but I think rose hip tea is very nce on a cold fall morning, and loaded with Vitamin C if you are a believer in fighting colds with that nutrient.

[vox_mundi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', 'I') thought I would share with po.com community a little video I made about the hummingbirds at Mount Totumas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2cig0TDEOg

Using branches and vines we took from a fallen oak tree we created a display on the new deck of the homestead where we attached orchids and bromeliads and other epiiphytes. We then added feeders and this has become a major attraction for hummingbirds.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shaved Monkey', 'I')m sure its beautiful I cant get ti to work on the hotel wifi I will check again when I get home,I love humming birds the closest we get in Australia is

One day I will post a video of our water bath we get well over 20 different species visiting

[Shaved Monkey]

They hover a little but not like humming birds.
They set up nests on strings if they feel safe
I have a permanent string hanging of a hook near the back door, I hang bunches of bananas off to ripen, they keep hanging around near it and on it but no nest yet.
Im still travelling for a few more weeks ,I will start filming in the new year.