La Belle Province

July 2nd to 15th, 2010

In old town Montreal

With Laura and Adam getting married and moving to Libya, next month, mother and daughter acted on their desire to visit Quebec and long lost family. Aunt Loretta (my Mother's sister) was 16 when I was born. I was 14 when her daughter, Claudine, was born and when Laura was 14, Claudine's daughter, Ericka, was born. The last time I saw my cousins I was 21, Claudine 7, and her brother, Marc, 5. Our age spread and geographic distance have kept us apart ... until now!

Me and Laura with Aunt Loretta

We stayed with cousin Claudine and husband, Sebastien. The hospitality we were shown, the indulgence and love was more than anyone could have hoped for. Meet the family here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=456632&id=715295437&l=68d186fcdf

Getting to know them, their children, cousin Marc and his sons were a fine addition to exploring Canada's most exotic city. The Jazz Festival was on and so was an unrelenting heat wave. For photos of our time in Montreal click here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=456564&id=715295437&l=3d5c65fcff

We had a day trip to Saint-Sauveur, in the Laurentians ... photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=457345&id=715295437&l=97f55ab911aura

Laura and I went to Quebec City where we stayed, for three nights, in a B&B in the old town. We endlessly walked that charming city and had our history lesson while we toured the St. Lawrence River on the M/V Louis Jolliet. See the Quebec City photo essay here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=457354&id=715295437&l=0751a21ed6

Cousin Marc graciously offer to take us to Ottawa and what happened to that day was magical. In Toronto, in 1968 - 69, I shared an apartment with Terry Pletzer who introduced me to Bill. We lost track of one another for nearly 40 years finally meeting again in Canmore, in 2006. Terry and James live half way between Montreal and Ottawa just outside the village of Dunvegan where we stopped, presumably just for lunch. Since I hadn't found an dress for the upcoming wedding, Terry mentioned that the largest bridal boutique in eastern Ontario was not far from her delightful country home. The gals all went there while Marc visited a colleague in the area. Got my outfit and the next thing you know it's after 4pm with not enough time to go on to Ottawa!

Terry and me

I love this woman. She was an inspiration and a mentor to me when I was 20 and she 25. We are closing the gap between our visits and I hope that Bill and I will find ourselves visiting her and James, soon. To see photos of the afternoon with Terry click here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=13623494&l=b2e629cd94&id=715295437