My Big Sister

Had a wonderful four days with Lyn when she drove up in her Saab convertible from Florida last week to visit. The weather cooperated and I had a chance to take her over to the Quebec side to visit the Gatineau park and the country estate at Kingsmere of William Lyon Mackenzie King (our tenth Prime Minister), walk about Meech Lake and admire the trilliums in the forest, and visit the falls at the Old Mill, a favourite nudist spot. We wandered about Ottawa one warm afternoon taking pictures of the tulips everywhere and hit the the usual touristy places around the market, including a chance meeting with Obama and John Lennon. As Lyn hadn't been there before, the next day we drove out to Montreal with Christina to visit Lara, Phil, Chad and Fernanda. We went out to the world famous Schwartz's restaurant on boulevard Saint-Laurent for smoked meat for lunch. The restaurant was packed as always - it was founded in 1928 by Reuben Schwartz, a Jewish immigrant from Romania, and has been in the same location ever since, tucked in around funky storefronts and trendy boutiques. We then walked down to Old Montreal (Vieux-Montréal) the oldest area in the city dating back to New France. It was fairly quiet as the tourists hadn't yet arrived in droves so we had the cobbled stone streets and gift shops to ourselves. After leaving Ottawa the next day Lyn headed down the 416 to visit an old school chum from Metz, then west to Kitchener to see Rande and the kids, then back to Toronto to say hi to Rich, before heading south. Hope you have a great trip back and come back soon sis! gws