Montreal, Quebec, Canada.... Part 1 of 2

The photos in the blog today started yesterday when we were leaving Quebec City. Last night, I took pictures along the St Lawrence River until we arrived at the Pierre Laporte bridge. I left dinner to get pictures of the bridge and a Catholic Church in the Quebec suburb of Sillery. Fortunately, when I returned to the Dining Room, I still got my food piping hot…  Today, we did our own self-directed walking tour of Old Montreal. In Old Montreal, history is present on every street corner. Cobblestone streets lined with historic buildings house art galleries, craft workshops, fashion boutiques, restaurants and cafés. We started the tour across the street from the ship at Place D’Youville, walking past the Montreal Archaeological and History Complex at Place Royal where stands the Old Customs House. Next, we walked down Montreal’s oldest street, Rue Saint Paul headed for the famous Notre-Dame Basilica, at the southwest corner of the Place d'Armes, on the opposite side of Place d’Armes is the original Bank of Montreal, Canada’s first bank, a beautiful domed building. Moving along, I captured a great photo of the Sulpician Seminary, the oldest building of the historic district and around the corner the Centaur Theatre. Following Rue Notre Dame, we passed the Court House and arrived at Place Jacques Cartier dominated by a monument to Admiral Nelson…at the bottom of this square we found the Bonsecours Market, a 2-story, domed public market which has served as Montreal's main public market for many years. Alongside the market is Notre Dame de Bon Secours Chapel also known as the Sailors Church overlooking the old port and the St Lawrence River. From here, we walked to the Clock Tower, unfortunately due to COVID, I was unable to climb up the tower, so we decided to reach new heights and experience different vistas on the Ferris Wheel known as the Grande Roue de Montreal, a great 360 view of the city of Montreal and surrounding area. We had a great day touring the city. The weather was beautiful…Making the day even better our friend Florin who we came to visit, has been released from quarantine in time for our return sailing to Boston….  It’s so great to see him again…   He’s the best!!!  As usual, I took way too many photos, so I have prepared this blog in two parts.