Speed, Age, and Fortifications
Bonjour tout le monde!
As if I didn't already have motivation enough to learn French, I recently discovered another very good reason. It's been a good thirteen years since my last speeding ticket. Don't be fooled into thinking I actually slowed down my driving. Mostly I just got smarter about where and when to speed, but I also got better at talking my way out of tickets. But, it turns out, it's verging on impossible to TALK your way out of a ticket when you don't share the same language with the police officer that's pulled you over. And, I just didn't feel right about using my seven year old French speaking daughter to do it for me. In other words, I got my first French (meaning the language, not the country) speeding ticket last weekend. Turns out they actually charge less in Quebec for traffic infractions than they did thirteen years ago in California. Maybe I don't need to learn the language after all.
Having visitors this last month (plus) has meant I've gotten much more familiar with the tourist attractions and various oddities of the area. The speeding ticket was caught on a day trip to Quebec City, three hours northeast of Montreal.
Quebec, Quebec is the oldest standing city in North America, dating back to 1608. St. John, Newfoundland and Labrador, is actually the oldest European settlement in North America with recorded landings to the area dating all the way back to 1497 and the oldest map of the city being dated 1519. But while St. John is the oldest European settlement, it's original fortification no longer stands. Quebec City takes the prize in that regard. The old town area is in fact the only fortified city in North America, north of Mexico, whose walls still exist. It is considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which means the site is considered of outstanding cultural importance "to the common heritage of humankind" and is eligible for funds for the purpose of preservation from UNESCO.
The old town area sits right on the banks of the St Lawrence at a point where the I'le d'Orleans creates a massive Y in the river. The whole fortification sitting on a hill, it celebrates a spectacular view of the river and the sunset over the rolling hills on the other side. The town itself--buildings and streets--are built almost entirely out of a pale gray stone and today is filled with boutiques, restaurants, and smaller hotels. At the top of the hill is the enormous Chateau Frontenac hotel with a funicular ride going straight up the cliffside immediately below.
At the beginning of the month Rachel and I took Justin down to old town Montreal, which is also built of a lovely pale grey stone, but is situated on an entirely flat area next to the old port of Montreal. It too is one of the oldest urban areas in North America, dating back to the early 1600's. The Sunday we decided to visit old town I was telling Justin about an annual festival that occurs in the area each year to celebrate the ships and trains of the old port. Apparently an avant garde composer is commissioned each year to compose a piece that orchestrates a variety of traditional musical instruments and the bells and horns of the port ships and train cars. The old town buildings border the river bank in such a way that the sound of the horns and bells echo off the building front increasing the effect of the composition. It happened that the Sunday we descended upon old town was the very day of the 13th edition of the Pointe-a-Calliere's Port Symphony. This year a composition by Merlin Ettore was performed and included five boats, two trains and metal stringed instruments. The three of us were all fascinated. Rachel was even struck by the intensity and uniqueness of the deep boat horns mixing with the other sounds, though mostly she wanted to know when the trains were going to move on the tracks.
After the symphony we walked around the old streets then hopped in the car again to visit the sites of the World Expo 1967. Habitat '67 is an unusual housing complex designed entirely out of cubicals of air and concrete with concrete cubes suspended over open cubes of air. The interlocking modular complex was designed by Moshe Safdie, apparently as his Master's thesis from McGill University. Each living area has its own garden. The structure was originally designed to provide affordable but private housing, including private garden. The condominiums don't tend to share walls with neighbors, so there is no issue of ease dropping through thin walls. The complex has turned into a rather exclusive and expensive housing area now complete with its own ski trails, tennis courts, and gardening staff, quite counter to Safdie's original vision. Still, the structure is striking to view.
A little beyond the Quay that Habitat '67 sits on is the Ile Notre-Dame, a manmade island built specifically for the World's Fair, which, along with the naturally occurring Ile Sainte-Helene, housed the array of international pavillions that were the Fair. Still standing on the Ile Notre-Dame is what had served as the French and Quebec Pavilions but now operates as the Casino de Montreal. Justin and I visited the Casino mid-week only to discover that it serves as a large attraction for retirees. For the first hour we were there we were the youngest casino patrons by a good four decades. One of those retirees managed to bring in several thousand dollars at roulette over the course of a half hour that I stood there watching.
Ile Sainte-Helene and the Ile Notre-Dame together form what is now Parc Jean Drapeau, a quite large outdoor public park. One half of the Ile Sainte-Helene also houses La Ronde, an amusement park open during the warmer half of the year, complete with antique wooden rollercoaster, and the array of more contemporary metal high spped contraptions. The former American Pavillion also stands on the Ile Sainte-Helene now serving as the Biosphere, the only Water Museum in all of North America. The Biosphere consists of one of the original geodesic domes built and designed by Buckminster Fuller. The geodesic dome is the only architectural structure that does not demand weight bearing support from the inside. After the completion of the World's Fair the sphere was sold to the city of Montreal for one (Canadian) dollar, quite a deal, especially when you take into account the Canadian-US exchange rate of the 1960's (which actually, happened to be essentially identical to what it is now, around 92-cents to the dollar respectively).
Our visitors have all departed now. My sister Paula, and twelve year old niece, Melissa, were here for about a week. Due to the wind and cold weather they spent most of their visit underground in the vast collective of shops and cafes that never see the light of day. Montreal's underground city is actually the largest underground complex in the world and includes tunnels between hotels and shopping areas, access to the metro, connections from housing complexs to banks. Interestingly, while Western Canada tends to include skywalks between buildings--hallways suspended tens of stories above the ground running between buildings--Montreal doesn't have any of these. It's enclosed connections are all below ground instead. I've been told that the underground has even occasionally hosted an indoor marathon. Justin stayed for about a month and has now returned to the colder, dryer weather of Anchorage. Rosie, our bird, was quite attached to him while he was here. I put the phone up to her cage yesterday so he could talk to her and she stood very still to listen. Rachel and I are back to managing all our entertainment and needs on our own. I have my papers to write and Rachel has her schoolwork too. Every Wednesday Rachel gets to go to a kid's cooking class with a small group in her Service de Garde (after school care). Rachel told me they make a different recipe every week and then afterwards get to eat what they've made. This week they made "those chips, those chips, with fromage... I mean, cheese on top." Rachel said her nachos were so good she "had three servings and the teacher let" her!
We always enjoy hearing from you!
Lots of Love,
Elaine
As if I didn't already have motivation enough to learn French, I recently discovered another very good reason. It's been a good thirteen years since my last speeding ticket. Don't be fooled into thinking I actually slowed down my driving. Mostly I just got smarter about where and when to speed, but I also got better at talking my way out of tickets. But, it turns out, it's verging on impossible to TALK your way out of a ticket when you don't share the same language with the police officer that's pulled you over. And, I just didn't feel right about using my seven year old French speaking daughter to do it for me. In other words, I got my first French (meaning the language, not the country) speeding ticket last weekend. Turns out they actually charge less in Quebec for traffic infractions than they did thirteen years ago in California. Maybe I don't need to learn the language after all.
Having visitors this last month (plus) has meant I've gotten much more familiar with the tourist attractions and various oddities of the area. The speeding ticket was caught on a day trip to Quebec City, three hours northeast of Montreal.
Quebec, Quebec is the oldest standing city in North America, dating back to 1608. St. John, Newfoundland and Labrador, is actually the oldest European settlement in North America with recorded landings to the area dating all the way back to 1497 and the oldest map of the city being dated 1519. But while St. John is the oldest European settlement, it's original fortification no longer stands. Quebec City takes the prize in that regard. The old town area is in fact the only fortified city in North America, north of Mexico, whose walls still exist. It is considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which means the site is considered of outstanding cultural importance "to the common heritage of humankind" and is eligible for funds for the purpose of preservation from UNESCO.
The old town area sits right on the banks of the St Lawrence at a point where the I'le d'Orleans creates a massive Y in the river. The whole fortification sitting on a hill, it celebrates a spectacular view of the river and the sunset over the rolling hills on the other side. The town itself--buildings and streets--are built almost entirely out of a pale gray stone and today is filled with boutiques, restaurants, and smaller hotels. At the top of the hill is the enormous Chateau Frontenac hotel with a funicular ride going straight up the cliffside immediately below.
At the beginning of the month Rachel and I took Justin down to old town Montreal, which is also built of a lovely pale grey stone, but is situated on an entirely flat area next to the old port of Montreal. It too is one of the oldest urban areas in North America, dating back to the early 1600's. The Sunday we decided to visit old town I was telling Justin about an annual festival that occurs in the area each year to celebrate the ships and trains of the old port. Apparently an avant garde composer is commissioned each year to compose a piece that orchestrates a variety of traditional musical instruments and the bells and horns of the port ships and train cars. The old town buildings border the river bank in such a way that the sound of the horns and bells echo off the building front increasing the effect of the composition. It happened that the Sunday we descended upon old town was the very day of the 13th edition of the Pointe-a-Calliere's Port Symphony. This year a composition by Merlin Ettore was performed and included five boats, two trains and metal stringed instruments. The three of us were all fascinated. Rachel was even struck by the intensity and uniqueness of the deep boat horns mixing with the other sounds, though mostly she wanted to know when the trains were going to move on the tracks.
After the symphony we walked around the old streets then hopped in the car again to visit the sites of the World Expo 1967. Habitat '67 is an unusual housing complex designed entirely out of cubicals of air and concrete with concrete cubes suspended over open cubes of air. The interlocking modular complex was designed by Moshe Safdie, apparently as his Master's thesis from McGill University. Each living area has its own garden. The structure was originally designed to provide affordable but private housing, including private garden. The condominiums don't tend to share walls with neighbors, so there is no issue of ease dropping through thin walls. The complex has turned into a rather exclusive and expensive housing area now complete with its own ski trails, tennis courts, and gardening staff, quite counter to Safdie's original vision. Still, the structure is striking to view.
A little beyond the Quay that Habitat '67 sits on is the Ile Notre-Dame, a manmade island built specifically for the World's Fair, which, along with the naturally occurring Ile Sainte-Helene, housed the array of international pavillions that were the Fair. Still standing on the Ile Notre-Dame is what had served as the French and Quebec Pavilions but now operates as the Casino de Montreal. Justin and I visited the Casino mid-week only to discover that it serves as a large attraction for retirees. For the first hour we were there we were the youngest casino patrons by a good four decades. One of those retirees managed to bring in several thousand dollars at roulette over the course of a half hour that I stood there watching.
Ile Sainte-Helene and the Ile Notre-Dame together form what is now Parc Jean Drapeau, a quite large outdoor public park. One half of the Ile Sainte-Helene also houses La Ronde, an amusement park open during the warmer half of the year, complete with antique wooden rollercoaster, and the array of more contemporary metal high spped contraptions. The former American Pavillion also stands on the Ile Sainte-Helene now serving as the Biosphere, the only Water Museum in all of North America. The Biosphere consists of one of the original geodesic domes built and designed by Buckminster Fuller. The geodesic dome is the only architectural structure that does not demand weight bearing support from the inside. After the completion of the World's Fair the sphere was sold to the city of Montreal for one (Canadian) dollar, quite a deal, especially when you take into account the Canadian-US exchange rate of the 1960's (which actually, happened to be essentially identical to what it is now, around 92-cents to the dollar respectively).
Our visitors have all departed now. My sister Paula, and twelve year old niece, Melissa, were here for about a week. Due to the wind and cold weather they spent most of their visit underground in the vast collective of shops and cafes that never see the light of day. Montreal's underground city is actually the largest underground complex in the world and includes tunnels between hotels and shopping areas, access to the metro, connections from housing complexs to banks. Interestingly, while Western Canada tends to include skywalks between buildings--hallways suspended tens of stories above the ground running between buildings--Montreal doesn't have any of these. It's enclosed connections are all below ground instead. I've been told that the underground has even occasionally hosted an indoor marathon. Justin stayed for about a month and has now returned to the colder, dryer weather of Anchorage. Rosie, our bird, was quite attached to him while he was here. I put the phone up to her cage yesterday so he could talk to her and she stood very still to listen. Rachel and I are back to managing all our entertainment and needs on our own. I have my papers to write and Rachel has her schoolwork too. Every Wednesday Rachel gets to go to a kid's cooking class with a small group in her Service de Garde (after school care). Rachel told me they make a different recipe every week and then afterwards get to eat what they've made. This week they made "those chips, those chips, with fromage... I mean, cheese on top." Rachel said her nachos were so good she "had three servings and the teacher let" her!
We always enjoy hearing from you!
Lots of Love,
Elaine
posted by hawkbrwn at 1:27 p.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home