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Colourful Fall
by Anne Dearle Everyone should, at least once in their lifetime, take a trip to New England in the Fall. The colours are magnificent and nothing can compare in this country. Our trip started in Canada. We flew to Montreal and then transferred to St Adele in the Quebec Province to spend a few days recovering from our jetlag. In the event it proved to be a very lively recovery period as we spent it touring the area, and taking a ride up the ski lift to the top of Mont Tremblant, the highest mountain in the Laurentians. It was a breathtaking sight with all the autumn colours spread out below us as we descended again to the valley below. We were in quite a large party and were told that such groups are known locally as the 'Leafies'. We progressed to Quebec where we found all the staff at our hotel were on strike and we had to edge our way warily through a line of pickets to get in. The management were running the place and to compensate for our do-it-yourself status, they gave us a free buffet breakfast each morning, which was very helpful to our budget. Whilst in Quebec, we went on a guided tour of the city, which included a ride on the ill-fated Funicular, just nine days before the cable broke. We were shocked to hear of the death of one tourist and the injury of several others when the car crashed to the bottom of the cliff. My memory is that we were really packed into the car and that we were all thrown forwards when it came to a jerky halt at the end of its descent. Quebec is a beautiful old walled city which, because it is entirely French speaking, feels as if it ought to be in France instead of Canada. We were surprised to find that not only did some of the citizens refuse to speak English, but many of them could not speak it. During our stay in Quebec we took a trip out to the St Lawrence river estuary and had a 'Whale-Watching' cruise. We did manage to see a few whales but, as the guide pointed them out in French first, most of us missed them by the time she got around to locating them in English! At the end of the week we moved on to the USA, crossing at a little used Frontier Point where two bewildered customs officials, who were clearly not used to dealing with forty-five people descending on them all at one time. They slowly and painstakingly checked our passports, keeping us hanging about for nearly an hour, most of which we spent queueing up at the only available loo. We crossed Vermont and New Hampshire, marvelling at the amazing autumn colours, which seemed to get better and better each day, and then entered Massachusetts. Our tour ended in Boston where we enjoyed three wonderful days in that most beautiful of American cities. It is easy to take in all the famous landmarks by following the 'Freedom Trail' which is marked out by a red line painted on the pavement (or should I say 'sidewalk'?) When we go on holiday my husband does all the photography whilst I record my memories in poetry. Needless to say the fabulous scenery inspired much verse, but it was my impression of the American eating arrangements that caused much amusement among our party. All our fellow travellers requested a copy of my little ditty which I called "American Breakfast". I think they all identified with my frustration at having to make so many decisions when trying to do something as simple as order a bagel and coffee: Hi-ya guys!
How -ya-doing? Now, what
are you guys going to eat? What? You're
going? No time to stay? First published in VISA issue 23 (winter 1996). |