Day 1

By the time we left it was about 7:45AM. We had a couple of false starts, having had to return to get things. My uncle, Walter, was superstitious about forgetting things; he felt it was a bad omen. If he forgot something he would return, pick up the item and then sit in the living room for a few minutes, may be have a drink and make it seem he had stayed a little while. We didn’t do that, but I did turn off the car and go inside even though I didn’t really need to. Nothing bad happened on the trip.

We stopped a couple of times along the way, once for gas in Cornwall. I didn’t need to, as I get over 700 km on a tank of gas, but I estimated that I didn’t have enough to get through Quebec into Maine and assuming gas prices are cheaper in Ontario (and probably Maine) I topped up the tank.

We stayed at Square Phillips, Hotel & Suites located on Phillips Square, just by Place Ville Marie which some would consider the centre of Montreal (if not only because the building is in the shape of an ‘X’). The hotel is quite respectable. It is a former warehouse, converted into a hotel. It has very high ceilings, about 18 feet and large rooms. Our room had a kitchenette and dining area.

From the hotel we walked over to de Maisonneuve, to Ben’s Delicatessen for a smoked meat sandwich. One might describe the place as retro, minimalist in character or just squalid. But the food remains satisfactory. Or may be it’s the memories of what it once was. Linda thought it was OK (or at least that’s what she said).

We drove by our old house on our way to visit Mr. Marchant. It looks much the same as it did nearly forty years ago when we moved in, although the street, Cote St. Antoine is much more residential. When we lived there, there was a lot of traffic. Now, with stop signs at every intersection, only local traffic has the patience and necessity to travel along this route.

Mr. Marchant just celebrated in 90th birthday in January. May 11th would have been his 65th wedding anniversary. Mrs. Marchant passed away a few years ago. They were married in England. Mr. Marchant was in the Canadian artillery, he eventually toured through Holland.

Photolog