THANKS for stopping by, I do my best to acknowledge when someone leaves a comment,you do not have to be a member here & everyone is welcome. Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.
From: "john allison"
To: jallison8353@hotmail.com
Subject: FW: Sing Along
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 08:22:56 -0700
Your going love this turn up the volume and sing along
Running the Lachine Rapids in the St. Lawrence aboard a jet boate.
IT was a spring Saturday in Montreal, and swelling the throngs along the Rue Ste.-Catherine were hipsters in low-slung designer jeans and gossamer tops, wholesome types in costumes straight out of the latest Roots catalog, fashionable families and chic older couples. French and English, Spanish and Italian filled the air. A lively group packed Le Paris, a popular bistro on Rue Ste.-Catherine with antique prints, cheek-by-jowl tables, and classic French dishes like poached salmon and grilled blood pudding.
Kayaking in the Lachine Canal.
As a chattering crowd swarmed the Contemporary Art Museum on the Place-des-Artes and the sidewalk cafes of Old Montreal, in another part of town Don Lindberg, his wife, Sue, and their kids, Brady and Ali, were donning full-body windbreakers and life preservers for a different Montreal experience — a jet boat ride into the Lachine Rapids in the St. Lawrence River.
"They call them Barney suits because they're purple," said Mr. Lindberg. "They don't keep you dry." But probably no suit would, because the jet boat hits a wall of water from 6 to 12 feet tall, as Mr. Lindberg describes it, and the waves "crash over you so that you're completely soaked."
"It was fantastic," he added.
The Lindberg family went through the rapids six times on jet boats run by Les Descentes sur le St.-Laurent on Lasalle Boulevard in southwest Montreal last May. "If we weren't flying home to San Antonio tonight," Mr. Lindberg said, "I'd do it again tomorrow."
Among the millions of travelers who visit Montreal each year, thousands are discovering that they can take a break from galleries and bistros with a taste of citified wilderness in the Lachine Rapids and the nearby Lachine Canal.
Daredevil whitewater boating and quiet canal kayaking lure many out onto the water, and the city is gaining even more fame as a major destination for bicyclists. As the Lindbergs stepped into their Barney suits, cyclists of the hard-core sort were out in force on the path bordering the canal, clad head to toe in expensive-looking biking outfits and gear, the sun glinting off the chrome of their shiny bicycles. The city and its suburbs have more than 200 miles of well-groomed cycling paths, a major reason why Bicycling magazine has twice named Montreal the No. 1 major North American city for cycling. One of the most popular routes is the one bordering the Lachine Canal.
The nine-mile canal, which runs from just west of the Old Port on the St. Lawrence and through southwestern Montreal to Lake St. Louis, opened in 1825 to take cargo ships around the rapids, which roil and churn smack-dab in the middle of the river. The name Lachine may have started out as a sneer. It is said that the 17th-century explorer, Ren챕-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, the first seigneur to hold land west of the rapids, was obsessed with finding a westward route to China, and that his repeated failed attempts led his fellow colonists to refer to his lands ironically as China, or La Chine.
The canal spurred the economic development of the Canadian West, and industry grew up along its banks. After being rendered irrelevant by the St. Lawrence Seaway, completed in 1959, the canal was closed to navigation in 1970. Refurbished, it reopened in 2002 for recreational boating. So now the St. Lawrence River, Montreal's raison d'챗tre, still runs wild through the city while the quiet Lachine Canal is filled with sailboats, canoes and other small craft.
Out-of-towners can rent small boats on the canal from companies like H2O Adventures across from Atwater Market, which has kayaks, pedal boats and five-seat electric boats that go no faster than 10 kilometers (six miles) an hour, the legal limit on the canal.
The canal slices through the city, framed by strips of parkland studded with picnic tables and rows of Lombardy poplars standing like quills. It splits off from the river where ships heading southwest from the ocean and northern Quebec came to the end of navigable waters.
At the canal's eastern end, near the first of its five sets of locks, boats put in close to a massive abandoned grain silo at the Old Port. A Montreal landmark, the Farine Five Roses sign, rises atop a flour mill. The industrial feel of this section of the canal recalls its origins.
Farther along, paddlers and sailors glide past old factories and warehouses, many now converted into lofts and co-ops. Another reminder of an earlier era are the occasional stacks of multicolored shipping containers sitting on Lachine's banks and creating checkerboard patterns against the sky.
Then there are the outskirts of the city, with fewer apartment buildings and more manicured open spaces, and at last Lake St. Louis — a wide section of the river.
The canalside path traces both banks of the canal, which are connected by bridges and locks, in some places; along other stretches, it appears on only one side. In-line skaters zoom along it, passing the joggers, and there's a separate trail reserved exclusively for walkers. The cyclists speed past in their own lane.
Though many of the avid bicyclists are Montrealers, others come from all over North America. The canal and its paths are busiest from April to October, but the most determined cyclists keep going deep into winter, cutting swaths through the snow alongside cross-country skiers.
More leisurely bike riders need not be intimidated by the Lance Armstrong wannabes hunkered down over their handlebars. Plenty of stateside visitors to Montreal rent bicycles for an afternoon of low-key riding along the canal.
A family outing along the canalside bike path, which is shared by joggers and in-line skaters.
The rider with plenty of time can also stop along the path to read signs and maps highlighting local history and landmarks like the 300-year-old Saint Gabriel House, which now holds exhibits on rural 17th-century Quebec life. Near the western entrance to the canal at Lake St. Louis is a cluster of places to park the bike and visit: the Lachine Museum, in Montreal's oldest complete house; the 17th-century Maison Leber-LeMoyne, with collections of Colonial-era artifacts and documents; the Fur Trade at Lachine National Historical Site, in an old stone warehouse with bales of pelts and other trade goods; the Lachine Canal Visitors' Center; and Ren챕-L챕vesque Park, an open-air sculpture garden.
"Lachine is where you go to escape downtown Montreal with all the high-rise hotels and office buildings," Mr. Hayes said.
"It's a very scenic, peaceful ride, and I look forward to doing it every time I come up here."
If You Go
Several companies cater to Montreal visitors who want to experience the Lachine Canal and the Lachine Rapids.
Ça Roule Montréal (27 de la Commune Est; 514-866-0633; www.caroulemontreal.com) rents bicycles, inline skates and stand-up scooters. Bike rentals are $6.50 an hour, $21.75 a day, on weekends; $6 an hour and $19 a day weekdays. (Prices here and below are in U.S. dollars, calculated at 1.19 Canadian dollars to the U.S. dollar.)
Kayaks, pedal boats and electric boats can be rented across the canal from the Atwater Market at H2O Adventures (514-842-1306; www.h2oadventures.ca). A one-person sea kayak rental is $13 the first hour, $8.70 for each hour thereafter; pedal boats are $8.70 and $7; electric boats, $30.50 and $26.
A more leisurely kind of canal boating can be had on L'Éclusier, a glass-roofed boat resembling Paris's bateau-mouche (514-846-0428; www.croisierecanaldelachine.ca/en). Two-hour guided tours, starting from Atwater Market and going to Peel Basin via the St. Gabriel Lock, are given in English and French daily June 24 to Sept. 4; on weekends and holidays May 20 through Oct. 9. The cruises are $14.50; ages 5 to 12, $8.50.
Les Descentes sur le St.-Laurent (514-767-2230, www.raftingmontreal.com) takes visitors rafting and jet-boating on the Lachine Rapids. Rafting trips are $35; ages 13 to 18, $29.60; ages 6 to 12, $20. Jet-boating costs $41.75, $33 and $24.50.
For more information on the Lachine Canal, contact the Lachine Canal National Historic Site of Canada (514-283-6054; www.pc.gc.ca).
I meant to post this just after I got it from my brother visiting Montreal, but I have been out of town quite a bit lately. Anyways, he provided me with his review of Emile Bertand's compared to the Griffintown Cafe, compared to Bingo's (which is on Verdun Ave corner of Obsorne, I think). Here it is...
"Anyway, on Wednesday I came downtown on the bike (through "the Griff") and had a chance to check out Emile B’s hot dog/spruce beer shop (both the original location at 1308 Notre Dame, which is now a fairly nice/semi-trendy boulangerie/coffee shop, and the new location, just a little further west and south on Aqueduc—which is a short, one-block street which runs north-south, perpendicular to Notre Dame. Further down Notre Dame, just a half-block past Aqueduc, there is an interesting coffee shop/snack bar called the Griffintown
Caf챕.) Anyway, the new Emile B. location is pretty much as Guy described.
There was a cop car parked out front when I drove by and a couple of Mtl. cops inside, no doubt scarfing down some steamers, fries, and biere d’epinette—which probably means that the food is fairly decent (or some aspect of the place is, although I couldn’t quite figure out what that would be). Anyway, what struck me that I didn’t like too much was the pricing (maybe the cops got complimentary
meals): five bucks for the two steamer, fries, and spruce beer (apparently all you can drink, according to Guy) trio, compared to about $3.50 (now) at Bingo’s (Pepsi instead of spruce beer), which seemed a little high to me, even given the funky setting in "the Griff". (The one steamer, fries, and spruce beer trio at Emile’s is $3.85 which is still higher than Bingo’s, although I’m not sure if the $3.85 even includes GST/PST—Bingo’s includes the GST/PST in the $3.50, approximately—never sure exactly how much it is at Bingo’s now, because around Christmas they seemed to raise it every month—I believe it was $3.45 at the beginning of January, 2006 and had just gone up to $3.25 from $3.00 in November, 2005). Anyway, I did check it out, but I didn’t go in or have anything to eat there—I think part of the charm for Les is just sentimental or nostalgic. I mean there are a lot of those types of places around (most of which charge a lot less for the "steamer" special); I guess the only competitive advantage Emile B’s has is the spruce beer (although apparently that is not that good, according to Guy, even though they have a "bottomless cup" policy, which Bingo’s doesn’t)."
BrownBlvd
This is for those born 1920-1979!
TO ALL THE KIDS
WHO SURVIVED the1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we
rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends,From one bottle and...
NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank lemonade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because .
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day.
And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down
The hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms..........
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
Lawsuits from these accidents.We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang
The bell, or just walked in and talked to them!Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!!!!!!!!!
If YOU are one of them . . CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as
Kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our livesFor our own good .
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?! Or the office.....
Okay. I just have to forward this from my niece Connie, who is a member of VC. YUP......There is just no pleasing some women. That's my story, and I am sticking to it. Winston Allison
BBQ Season
After 4 (or more) long months of cold and winter, we are finally coming up to summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking as it's the only type of cooking a real man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved.
When a man volunteers to do the BBQ, the following chain of events are put into motion:
Routine...
1) The woman buys the food.
2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man, who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.
Here comes the important part:
4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.
5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he deals with the situation.
Important again:
7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.
8) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces and brings them to the table.
9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.
And most important of all:
10) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed "her night off." And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women....
Hello Everybody!
Mark you calendars... book your agendas... the party is ON!
We are making an effort to get everyone together one more time
to celebrate the fact that this year, most of us will turn, if haven't already turned...
50!
What better way to celebrate than in a BAR.... CHEERS!!
DATE: Saturday, July 1st, 2006
PLACE: CHEERS Bar - 1260 Mackay
Downtown Montreal, between Ste. Catherine & Rene Levesque Blvd.
3rd floor, Sports Bar
TIME: 7:00 p.m. 'till whenever....
Please feel free to invite whomever you wish to join us and, if possible, confirm to me how many individuals will be coming!
I have sent this to the email ID's that I have; and I will post this date on our VCHS '73 & '74 sites as well.
Looking forward to seeing all of you again!
CHEERS!
Debbie
deborah.bolduc@rbc.com <mailto:deborah.bolduc@rbc.com> or debolduc@videotron.ca <mailto:debolduc@videotron.ca>
| you got all of us, BUT we love you anyway. have a nice day!! all of you who are focusing on this, drop it. gotta be some news out there. carolyn. |
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