Azamara Cruisers - How are things where YOU are

[nordski]

Grandma Cruising 

 

Thanks so much for the delightful photos and the curious name. Here we had a covering of snow again several mornings ago, but the forecast is becoming more promising.

 

Our local baseball team is fortunate to be playing in domed stadium that can be closed for inclement weather.

 

I have dedicated some time to reading Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks mysteries set ostensibly in Yorkshire.

 

The atmosphere of Yorkshire is not particularly strong, but that may be explained by the fact that Robinson spends considerable time in the metropolis just to our south, Toronto.

 

Right now I would much prefer being in Yorkshire.

 

[Mackdogmolly]

Currently in Montreal, our prepandemic home away from home. Went across at our favorite tiny rural border crossing between Franklin, Vermont and St. Armand, Quebec. Had to brake for a chicken crossing the road immediately after clearing. Had lunch at Poutineville in the east end (because we’re fancy). Actually a compromise to DH because I am dragging him to my favorite (and a little loud) sushi place in old town tonight. Tomorrow brunch at an Iranian place, an opera matinee at Place des Arts and then reluctantly home again.

[nordski]

3 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Currently in Montreal, our prepandemic home away from home. Went across at our favorite tiny rural border crossing between Franklin, Vermont and St. Armand, Quebec. Had to brake for a chicken crossing the road immediately after clearing. Had lunch at Poutineville in the east end (because we’re fancy). Actually a compromise to DH because I am dragging him to my favorite (and a little loud) sushi place in old town tonight. Tomorrow brunch at an Iranian place, an opera matinee at Place des Arts and then reluctantly home again.

Pourquoi un poulet a-t-il travesé la route?

 

Is the answer the same in Québec as in Vermont?

 

Well, not only have you introduced me to the concept of Poutineville, but I now know that it has three outlets.  Amazing!

 

Have a great time at Place des Arts tomorrow!

[Baynanno1]

21 minutes ago, nordski said:

Pourquoi un poulet a-t-il travesé la route?

 

Is the answer the same in Québec as in Vermont?

 

 

 

To get to the other side in Australia.

 

Probably / peut-être

 

Pour aller de l'autre côté

 

in Quebec.

 

☺️

[nordski]

20 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

To get to the other side in Australia.

 

Probably / peut-être

 

Pour aller de l'autre côté

 

in Quebec.

 

☺️

In Australia do the chickens cross in the opposite direction? Something to do with the coriolis effect?

 

I guess we will just have to visit Australia to investigate!

 

Not that there aren’t many better reasons.

[Baynanno1]

2 hours ago, nordski said:

In Australia do the chickens cross in the opposite direction? Something to do with the coriolis effect?

 

I guess we will just have to visit Australia to investigate!

 

Not that there aren’t many better reasons.

 

Good question!

Perhaps not if they walk, but possible I think if they fly.

 

I haven't really taken a great deal of notice of road-crossing chickens, but I guess that at some stage they may cross both ways, to get to the other side and return again. 😁

[Mackdogmolly]

12 hours ago, nordski said:

Well, not only have you introduced me to the concept of Poutineville, but I now know that it has three outlets.  Amazing!

Sadly, I don’t think either of us would recommend Poutineville, although we do like Poutine. Happily, we both enjoyed the sushi place, Kyo, a lot, which wasn’t horribly loud at the hour we were there. In the past, we have been there very late, post opera, which is a whole different scene.

  
I can’t answer the chicken question, but it was a beautiful Rhode Island Red and she was in quite a hurry.

[nordski]

1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Sadly, I don’t think either of us would recommend Poutineville, although we do like Poutine. Happily, we both enjoyed the sushi place, Kyo, a lot, which wasn’t horribly loud at the hour we were there. In the past, we have been there very late, post opera, which is a whole different scene.

  
I can’t answer the chicken question, but it was a beautiful Rhode Island Red and she was in quite a hurry.

Thanks for the sushi recommendation.

 

We have a retired chef in the family who lives in Montreal. Perhaps he will share his selection when he looks for good poutine.

 

That Rhode Island Red was probably confused by the change in Covid policies and increased traffic that will result.

 

A pretty good metaphor for me at this time.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Can't imagine a poutine place in Montreal, given the culinary choices.  I tend to think of it as chip truck fare, can't remember what they are called in Quebec. Of course if the poutine is authentic they have to use curds, not grated cheese.

[Mackdogmolly]

30 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Can't imagine a poutine place in Montreal, given the culinary choices.  I tend to think of it as chip truck fare, can't remember what they are called in Quebec. Of course if the poutine is authentic they have to use curds, not grated cheese.

Oh, they had curds. It just wasn’t very good.

[Mackdogmolly]

@nordski (will we ever know your name?) and other Louise Penny fans: across the border in St ARMAND, Quebec , about a mile down the road, is OLIVIER’S Bistro. Actually, the Three Pines inspiration is in another Quebec town called Knowlton, which I understand exploits the hell out of the books.

[nordski]

21 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

@nordski (will we ever know your name?) and other Louise Penny fans: across the border in St ARMAND, Quebec , about a mile down the road, is OLIVIER’S Bistro. Actually, the Three Pines inspiration is in another Quebec town called Knowlton, which I understand exploits the hell out of the books.

You continue to inspire us with travel ideas!

 

 

[Mackdogmolly]

19 minutes ago, nordski said:

You continue to inspire us with travel ideas!

 

 

High praise, given I am probably the least well traveled person on these boards 😊

[Host Jazzbeau]

We were directed to Chez Ashton in Quebec City for the 'best poutine in Quebec.'  It had real cheese curds, which is probably why did aren't converts – melted cheddar would have been better for our Yankee tastes!

 

Here is the welcome sign in Knowlton [aka Three Pines]:

 

They also have a reproduction of the 'Fair Day' painting that is the plot hinge of Still Life featured in the Broome County historical museum.  So yeah, they're milking it!

 

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Cheese curds have to be very fresh to be good, imho.

[Mackdogmolly]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We were directed to Chez Ashton in Quebec City for the 'best poutine in Quebec.'  It had real cheese curds, which is probably why did aren't converts – melted cheddar would have been better for our Yankee tastes!

 

Here is the welcome sign in Knowlton [aka Three Pines]:

 

They also have a reproduction of the 'Fair Day' painting that is the plot hinge of Still Life featured in the Broome County historical museum.  So yeah, they're milking it!

 

 

We have decided that a visit to Knowlton would spoil our own vision of Three Pines. We would rather just keep the Three Pines of our imaginations.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

We have decided that a visit to Knowlton would spoil our own vision of Three Pines. We would rather just keep the Three Pines of our imaginations.

Upside: you avoid the chance of getting electrocuted or murdered in some other way!  Downside:  you miss out on getting free books from the 'Librairie'  🤣  

[silkismom]

15 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Upside: you avoid the chance of getting electrocuted or murdered in some other way!  Downside:  you miss out on getting free books from the 'Librairie'  🤣  

I just want to go for the food--and to sit on that bench.

[silkismom]

And to meet Rosa the duck (f**k)

[Mackdogmolly]

3 minutes ago, silkismom said:

I just want to go for the food--and to sit on that bench.

Oh! Yes! The food!!!

[Host Jazzbeau]

We did a thorough visit to the Eastern Townships while driving from Quebec City to Montreal [a very long, but very scenic detour!].

 

We stayed at Auberge Knowlton [aka the B&B] and dined at its Le Relais Restaurant-Bistro [aka the Bistro in the books].  In Knowlton we visited the Musée Historique du Comte de Brome to see the reproduction of the famous painting ‘Fair Day by Jane Neal’ [the reproduction was created for the CBC TV version of the novel Still Life] and Lake Brome Book Store [aka Livres Lac-Brome in the books]  

 

We also went to North Hadley to see Épicier J. B. LeBaron [possibly the inspiration for the General Store]. Further afield we went to the Abbaye St-Benoit-du-Lac [the setting of A Beautiful Mystery]; we passed on the apple picking that had drawn a big crowd but we did attend the Gregorian Chant Vespers.

 

If you're making a trip to the Eastern Townships, it's also worth a further detour to Mont-Mégantic for their Astronomy Evening.  [Just check the phases of the moon – the full moon obscured most of the stars the night we were there.]

 

Full details in my blog Jazzbeaux Canada & New England Cruise 2017

[Mackdogmolly]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We did a thorough visit to the Eastern Townships while driving from Quebec City to Montreal [a very long, but very scenic detour!].

 

We stayed at Auberge Knowlton [aka the B&B] and dined at its Le Relais Restaurant-Bistro [aka the Bistro in the books].  In Knowlton we visited the Musée Historique du Comte de Brome to see the reproduction of the famous painting ‘Fair Day by Jane Neal’ [the reproduction was created for the CBC TV version of the novel Still Life] and Lake Brome Book Store [aka Livres Lac-Brome in the books]  

 

We also went to North Hadley to see Épicier J. B. LeBaron [possibly the inspiration for the General Store]. Further afield we went to the Abbaye St-Benoit-du-Lac [the setting of A Beautiful Mystery]; we passed on the apple picking that had drawn a big crowd but we did attend the Gregorian Chant Vespers.

 

If you're making a trip to the Eastern Townships, it's also worth a further detour to Mont-Mégantic for their Astronomy Evening.  [Just check the phases of the moon – the full moon obscured most of the stars the night we were there.]

 

Full details in my blog Jazzbeaux Canada & New England Cruise 2017

As I said, we will probably pass on the Knowlton excursion. Prefer to leave it to our imaginations.

[nordski]

On 5/15/2022 at 8:50 AM, Mackdogmolly said:

Sadly, I don’t think either of us would recommend Poutineville, although we do like Poutine. Happily, we both enjoyed the sushi place, Kyo, a lot, which wasn’t horribly loud at the hour we were there. In the past, we have been there very late, post opera, which is a whole different scene.

  
I can’t answer the chicken question, but it was a beautiful Rhode Island Red and she was in quite a hurry.

 

On 5/14/2022 at 3:49 PM, Mackdogmolly said:

Currently in Montreal, our prepandemic home away from home. Went across at our favorite tiny rural border crossing between Franklin, Vermont and St. Armand, Quebec. Had to brake for a chicken crossing the road immediately after clearing. Had lunch at Poutineville in the east end (because we’re fancy). Actually a compromise to DH because I am dragging him to my favorite (and a little loud) sushi place in old town tonight. Tomorrow brunch at an Iranian place, an opera matinee at Place des Arts and then reluctantly home again.

I have been reminded that Montréal is celebrating its 380th birthday this year. Young in terms of European cities but a grand old age here in North America.

 

That must necessitate that you make further visits.

[Mackdogmolly]

41 minutes ago, nordski said:

 

I have been reminded that Montréal is celebrating its 380th birthday this year. Young in terms of European cities but a grand old age here in North America.

 

That must necessitate that you make further visits.

That’s as good an excuse as any! 😊

[nordski]

20 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

That’s as good an excuse as any! 😊

Perhaps these are two better excuses:

 

1/ La Banquise, which is an all night diner

 

2/ Ma Poule Mouilée, a grill.

 

Both offer poutine, although the latter also offers a version “Portuguese-style”. That is certainly intriguing. Can’t stop wondering about that.

 

Both are also near Parc La Fontaine, but I think your encounter with that Rhode Island Red suggests that you should try Ma Poule Mouilée. That incident must have been a sign! But you may need a reservation.

 

Maybe sovilav01 who posts here, and lives in Montreal, has better suggestions,