Summertime

Oh, the fall is here, not that I begrudge autumn. It is my fave season though, alas, it fades into winter, which will utterly suck about 5 months from now.

Let's look at a few, gorgeous photos from my summer hols in Quebec. These were taken in Baie St. Paul, a spot whose claim to fame is Cirque de Soleil...

Don't you love that track? It seems to go nowhere and everywhere all at once...

We had one of our loveliest meals here. In fact, it was the scene of the best glass of California zinfandel EVAH. It was chilled within an inch of its life, which seems an impossibility given how freakishly hot it was in BSP when we were there. Honestly, that wine was life-altering, especially as I sipped it under a shade umbrella beside a tributary leading straight to the St. Lawrence. The relaxation almost did me in.

During this road trip we also decided to check out les Sept Chutes. After much traveling and anticipation, we eventually crawled down the penultimate scenic, gravel road for about a thousand miles, our crap-car air conditioner diminishing in efficacy with each revolution. My, we were excited by the anticipation of viewing this natural wonder.

When finally we arrived at the end of the path, we found an unexpected booth, in which an overheated, less-than-cheerful ticket taker once-overed us and said (with nary a second glance): "Trente-deux dollars."

We each of us (Scott, Nicole and I) took a long look at each other as if to validate what we had heard. I mean, we're anglo. No doubt we merely thought she said thirty-two dollars, but we must have been wrong. Those French people speak fast sometimes.

And in a moment out of some kind of low rent comedy, we all said simultaneously (mostly in English): No freakin' way. You want to charge us 32 bucks to see this thing and you didn't even have the decency to pave the road??* At which point Scott took out his PDA and crowed: Look here, I'm checking out the falls for free online! (Torrents of giggles ensued, from the car only.)

The woman was incredulous. I doubt anyone had ever traveled hours in a car to turn around at the gates over a $32.00 surcharge. And the wild thing is, if you know Scott, Nicole and I - and our holiday spendthrift ways - you'd be shocked to find that we'd all agreed categorically to walk away. (Or should I say amble in a compact car with practically no air circulation when traveling under 80 km/hr.) I mean, really, I've been known to pay 32 bucks for a glass of wine.

So the closest I've got to the seven falls is photos on the web. Apparently, I've heard, it looks just like them.

*If you happen to be Canadian, from some locale other than Toronto, I suspect, on reading this, you are thinking something like: OMG, those people from Toronto are so classless. They're as bad as everybody says! Rest assured, it is merely we who are classless. And hell bent on mod cons for fees.