July 24 - July 26

 

Wednesday - Day Three This morning we took a long time to get going, as it was another morning devoted to correspondence. We also hoped to avoid spending too much time in the heat, as we did yesterday. We plan to visit at least one of the museums, and so when we do go out, head towards the Musée des Beaux-Arts. We enter, and spend about forty-five minutes looking at the permanent exhibit, which features Canadian artists of various areas and ethnic groups. There is a large Inuit collection, as well as galleries devoted to furniture, sculpture, and painting. Then we take the tunnel to the other side of the street to visit the temporary exhibition, "From Renoir to Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée de l'Orangerie". This turns out to be very interesting, but very crowded. Philip and I elect not to rent headphones, and give ourselves our own guided tour, using the booklet provided by the museum. The exhibition is a collection of modern masterpieces that belongs to the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris. This museum is undergoing renovation, and while that is taking place its collection is on tour. There are only two cities in North America in which it is being shown - Montreal and Fort Worth. It is quite fascinating, and we feel priveleged to be able to see it. We have lunch in the museum's cafeteria and then come back to the hotel to await Andy's call. She calls and says that she will be at the hotel in about an hour. We try Theo one more time and get no answer from her so we call Kelly and we get her father who takes a message and says that he will get her to call us back, which she does about 45 minutes later. We now have plans for the four of us to go out to dinner. Andy arrives, right on time, and comes up to the room. We sit and talk for a while, and then we go downstairs to wait for Kelly. She comes, and recommends a pasta place that we can go for dinner - Wienstein & Gavino's Pasta Bar Factory Co Ltd on Crescent Street. It is busy and noisy, but we get a breezy table upstairs. It reminds Philip, Andy and me of the Macaroni Grill in atmosphere, although the selection of pastas is quite different. What one can do is pick the pasta and then pick the sauce, and we do so. Philip goes for one of the specials of the evening, chicken breast over pasta; Andy gets capellini Arabbiata, and Kelly and I both choose farfalle Romanoff. The bread comes, a freshly-baked loaf delivered in a bread bag, together with roasted garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The meal is a good one. Both Kelly and Andy look very well. Andy has been in the sun, and her arms and face are covered in freckles. She is working for another year at a summer day camp for 8-12 year-olds, and says she is getting too old for the job. Also, this year she says that it has been particularly hard, because the weather has been so unpredictable - so that when one plans an outdoor activity it rains and vice versa. Kelly is working in a pharamceutical warehouse, putting together orders for various companies, and says that the men with whom she works are a total change from Pearson, as they are the furthest one can get from being politically correct. We spend a lovely evening together, and then Andy leaves to meet her mother and Kelly goes off to catch her train. Back at the hotel, Philip and I phone Margot to let her know when we're hoping to leave, and then we prepare to retire for the night. We go to bed looking forward to Toronto.

back to quebec city

back to day 2

on to toronto

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