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Where In The World Are Renee And Chris?

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If the travel gods are benevolent and things go according to plan, Husband and I are traveling outside the US this week. Although the header photo suggests we are somewhere on Mars, we are, in fact, at a latitude a little south of our home in North Dakota. We are here, strangely enough, because of our work on a ND regulatory board. I am the president. Chris is the complaints investigator.

The old and the new are blended beautifully here. There are many monuments to famous 18th and 19th century kings, queens, and military commanders. The place was settled long before the 18th century, though. Many languages are spoken here.

There are many beautiful old churches and cathedrals.

It is a place with superb food. It is a place renowned for its smoked meat and bagels. It is a port city. There even is a Tintin restaurant, based on the cartoon! The music here is also renowned for classical and folk artists. This photo is a dead giveaway.

Where are we? Ever been here?

38 thoughts on “Where In The World Are Renee And Chris?”

  1. An unexpected learning experience. I was forced to figure out how to download an image and send it through Google lens. You might think a computer scientist would have already done such a thing, but I had not. New skill. Hooray.
    This after examining your photos and discovering each one was named Montreal this or that.
    Since when, I asked myself, is Montreal south of anything in North Dakota?
    Then I looked at a map. Well, how about that?
    Leonard Cohen’s image on the side of a building? I had assumed it was a football coach, but now that I know who it is, I understand why I recognized him.
    If this is your new Dora the Explorer act, it’s a great start.

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  2. At first I was sure you were somewhere in Europe and wondered how the heck you snuck in that kind of trip! Then (duh!) I realized it must be Canada…

    I have never been to Montreal, and sure would like to go there. And to Three Pines, of course (for those of you who read a certain mystery author).

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  3. Yes, I’ve been there once. I think it was 1979.

    A couple of male friends (former high school classmates) and I hopped in somebody’s mom’s car and took off for the east coast via Canada. We camped out and ate very little. We swam in Lake Superior in Upper Michigan for a bath, and we camped along the way. The mosquitoes were horrendous.

    We were tired and dirty by the time we got to (destination). I had taken a year of French, and I needed to use it to ask for a motel room for myself and two guys… boy, the looks I got from those motel proprietors! My French was terrible, but we needed showers and a good night’s sleep.

    We left there the next morning, people staring at us! I can laugh about it now. We drove south to the US border. They tore the car apart, literally tore it apart. They even took the seats out.

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  4. We didn’t arrive until 12:10 am this morning. It was a late flight that got even more delayed in Minneapolis. No issues through Canada Customs. We have all day to rest and explore.

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  5. We were in Montreal probably fifteen years ago. We had flown into Burlington, Vermont, where we rented a car and drove up to Montreal on our way to Quebec.

    In Montreal, where we stayed for a couple of days in a B&B located in the upper floors of a commercial building and owned by a young woman, we explored mostly on foot. We walked down to the waterfront area and visited a museum where there was an exhibition of Samurai armor. We took public transportation back up to the fabulous Montreal farmer’s market. We went up to the top of Mont Real and walked through the cemeteries. One evening, our host informed us she was having some friends in for a sing-along and hoped we wouldn’t be disturbed. If we wished, she added, we would be welcome to join them, which we did. The guests were, of course, all much younger than we were but gracious and we did our best not to inhibit them.

    From Montreal, we went on to Quebec for two or three days and, while Quebec was interesting and worthwhile, having visited both, I preferred Montreal.

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    2. I just remembered. We were walking downhill toward the port area and it was lightly raining. A car pulled up alongside us as we walked and a woman offered us an umbrella. The rain was inconsequential was we demurred, but that’s the vibe we sensed in Montreal.

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  7. Rise and Shine On Canada, Baboons,

    I have not visited Montreal, but I would love to do so.

    However, I have recently visited Canada via the theater. March 7 some friends, Lou and I saw the travelling Broadway show, Come From Away at the Ordway. We were there right after the felon’s first tariffs were imposed, and you could feel that issue sitting in front of all our noses. As that story unfolded–Canadians hosting 9/11/21 guests whose planes were re-directed to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada for days/weeks following the national emergency. It.was.wonderful. The actors were talented, the story compelling, the playwriting exemplary. At the end I experienced for the first time an audience rising as one yelling, clapping, and cheering Bravo. My guess is that no one there favored the recent political decisions regarding the economy. Canada 1; felon-USA.

    My friend in Ireland recently wrote to me, “Feel for you all in the US these days. The crazy one and his cult is destroying connections with most of the world.”

    Yes, indeed.

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  8. Visited Montreal twice. Once as a kid on a family vacay camping trip. We camped at a park on the banks of the St. Lawrence and watched ocean liners and lakers cruise past our campsite. It was 1969, I believe, so we visited some of the World’s Fair sites from the 1968 event.

    Then did it again in ’78 on wife’s and my honeymoon camping trip. I think we camped at the same place. Also did the World’s Fair visits plus went to the top of the Mont and visited the church (?) up there. A beautiful town. I should go back someday and see what’s changed.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  9. I once wrote a collection of short stories about the Arrowhead called Everything Is South of Here. A very large percentage of the Canadian population lives south of Dickinson.
    Clyde

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  10. One of the joys of our life on the North Shore was the many easy crossings of the border. We would occasionally meet some anti American feelings, but most experiences were fine. Riding on a tour bus in Winnipeg with American tourists made me anti American. They loudly made fun of the money, the architecture (who makes fun of the architecture in old downtown Winnipeg?), spelling, and even that they don’t drive on the left.

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  12. When our children were about 8 and 10, we were eating in a restaurant in Thunder Bay. They were surprised and pleased that our kids put vinegar on their fries. And that I would sometimes call the place Fort-Port. For awhile we had a close relationship with a 13 year high school, a collegiate HS in Fort-Port. We even played football with them. Hometown rules applied. It was wonderful. Here is an oddity for you: Thunder Bay is in the eastern time zone.

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  13. I’ve been to Montreal twice. The first time was part of a camping trip w/ wasband #1. That trip is enshrined in my memory as the week I learned that I love olives!

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  15. You sent me down a rabbit hole while watching her sleep.
    Latitudes:
    Dickinson 46.9
    Two Harbors 47
    Soo Locks 46.3
    Montreal 45.5
    Toronto 43.65
    Niagara Falls 43.1
    PEI 46.5
    So the great heart of eastern Canada is south of Dickinson and Two Harbors, as I figured out in my childhood. Fun rediscovering it. I was a weird child. One of the stories in Everything Is South of Here is about me doing that, and drawing a line north through TH, which is also interesting.

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