Day 17

Go west young man go west, and today that is our task.
We fly out at 3 ish this afternoon to Toronto, then Windsor. Yet we do have the morning to finish Quebec off.
It is cold again, with an icy wind. It rained again overnight and is very gloomy, but not raining. That’s something as we did get a soaking yesterday, and I didn’t like it.
We have our final breakfast at the Auberge. Apart from crap cold coffee they’re not too bad. All you can eat cereal, Bagels and toast with juice. Like I said the coffees crap and nuking it in the microwave makes it just drinkable. How they can think coffee stored in a thermos can by good, beggars belief.
I think I have written on this theme previously.
Pack up our room. We are only just squeezing our bits and pieces in the carryon luggage we have. We have accumulated some extra things, including a fossilised fish, in stone that we bought yesterday. The cases duly sat upon and closed.
We check out, putting our bags in temporary lockers at the YHA and head off to Parliament House.
It’s a chilly walk to Parliament house where we are going to do a tour to ill in time.
The building is quite splendid and built around the British tow house system, upper and lower, like back home. They had the good sense to abolish their upper house in 1968, the last of the Canadian Provinces to do so.
We go through security and get our visitors passes. We are the only ones on the tour so have quite a personalised tour with a very personable young Quebecois. It is amazing how all these places are alike with no expense spared in their construction and fitting out. At least their parliamentary dining room is open to the public, after you have gone through the security screening of course.
From there, on the heights of Quebec we head down in the icy wind to lower Quebec to the Musee de Civilization which has multimedia presentations on Quebec, the First Nation, the use o water, the use and misuse of the forests. We run out of time and at midday head back to get our luggage and head for the airport.
The taxi arrives almost straight away. I think we have drawn the double as this guy is monosyballic to a T.
He does have the good grace to at least help us get out our luggage and the over generous tip.
We are way early, however can check in.
Security have it in for us. I am asked to undergo a body search or a body scan, by a rather attractive security woman. I opt for the body search, however turns out it will be done by one of the men. Damn.
He does the pat down. Finds nothing. How embarrassing!
Meanwhile Sue’s bag which is straining at the zips, has to open her bag. They see some containers of liquid which she failed to declare. They are just perfume and Maple Butter, in 50ml containers, BUT she forgot to tell them.
Any way he goes all through her bag. Luckily I have all the dirty laundry in mine.
He finally gets it shut and we proceed.
If you thought Adelaide Airport quiet, you ain’t seen Quebec. The security outnumber the passengers about 2:1.
There are few flights however ours is quite full, even has a business class section.
The weather worsens as we fly to Toronto, the cloud at Quebec is treetop height and is no better the further we head west.
Toronto we are late. There is some concern that we will get the connecting flight to Windsor, Sue’s home town.
In the end that flight is late too due to some technical problem.
We take off in the Dash 8 in the rain and wind. The pilot warns of turbulence and the need to scout around the thunderstorm.
There is none and we have quite a smooth flight.
If Quebec was quiet, Windsor is moribund.
Luckily some of the family is there of meet us and after the usual tearful greeting we are off to Mike’s place.
Mike is Sue’s younger brother and he has the place with the most room, the best cellar and the best supply of beer, so the obvious place to stay.
From then on various members of Sue’s family drop in. She is one of nine, so you can imagine just how many that may multiply to with hangers on.
Her youngest sister travels down two hours from Chatham, just to catch up, then two hours back
The beer flows, the wine flows and the tears flow AGAIN.
From then on it’s all a bit of a blur.
From here on in it’s a mostly family stuff, so the missives may not be so regular and leave out a lot of that boring family stuff.