Canada Trip Report (Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Portland ME) 2023

In the weeks before this trip for the annual King Family reunion, there were news reports of the big fires in Canada, and we were hopeful that the smoke effects would not be too bad. This would be a first -- travelling to be in smoke, not the expected scenario of trying to escape California wildfire smoke. Anyway, we flew on a Thursday late afternoon to get to Toronto. The plane was slightly delayed and we arrived in Toronto early on Friday, and weren't settled in bed at the airport hotel until 3am local time (but not too late for our California time bodies, i.e. midnight). We slept somewhat late the next morning, and caught a hotel shuttle back to the airport to pick up the rental car. Here, we got upgraded to an Audi Q5 and as it turns out, there are a lot of Q5's in the Toronto area. We first drove to eat lunch. P had booked our first meal at a French bistro called Le Select, in downtown Toronto. We were lucky to get a close parking spot on the street, and the restaurant was nice, with some good food. We had a foie gras terrine, a risotto, a croque monsieur and a duck confit. Everything except the croque was very good. The croque style was not to my liking -- too much sauce. After lunch, we drove to park in Chinatown to take a look into their markets to see if we could find the very good fish sauce that we'd found last time. Alas, not in stock anywhere, but it was nice to walk around. After that, we drove up to our AirBnb, taking the scenic route through town since traffic on the freeway was bad. We had a glimpse of Casa Loma, which looked pretty cool. The Airbnb was a decent condo a little south of Markham. We met up with the relatives for dinner. The two days were full of food as we met the relatives for two meals each day. The first meal on Saturday was scheduled for pretty early, and we didn't want to get up early, so by the time we arrived, things were wrapping up, but there was still a ton of food left (dim sum), as they ordered way too much. After a quick lunch, we make afternoon plans that included swimming at one of the hotel pools. Before that, we drove to get some butter tarts from the place we accidentally found the last time we were in Toronto. They were still there, and the tarts were just as tasty. Magda enjoyed the swimming, and then we went back to the condo to shower and change for dinner. The Saturday dinner is the dress-up dinner, and it was at an upscale Chinese banquet place that was very good. At the end of dinner, we had a vote on where to hold the reunion next year. I volunteered to plan a cruise holiday for 2023 (as sort of a favor to Aunty Lucy, with whom I and Anthony had discussed a cruise earlier). The alternatives were Nashville At the end, we all squeezed in together for the annual group photo. The final reunion day also started with brunch. This time at Din Tai Fung. Less food was ordered this time. We were allowed to stay on quite some time, and a plan for another swimming event was made, this time at another hotel, so later in the afternoon, this scenario was repeated, and Magda of course had fun again. Then it was the final dinner, another banquet. We were all quite stuffed from all the food over the few days, but it was time to say goodbye to everyone. We still had one more day in Toronto. We drove first to Casa Loma to see what it was all about, but it seemed rather expensive to visit, so we walked around the exterior grounds a bit, and then continued on to the Sheraton downtown. We got a nice room overlooking the city hall plaza, and after going out to get some meringues, we went out again to eat at Alouette. The next day, we went to the airport to catch the flight to Montreal. The flight was slightly delayed, but after we arrived, the luggage too longer than the flight to come out. Finally, we collected the luggage and met Joyce and her boyfriend, and drove to Repetigny in heavy rush hour traffic. The next day, we drove into Montreal to try a Vietnamese restaurant that had been recommended to Joyce, and it was fantastic. We also visited the Jean Talon market where we got some ingredients for dinner -- smashed chicken. And the next day, we were off to Quebec City, which was a straightforward drive from Repentingy, and got into town in the late afternoon, just in time to check into the Airbnb, drop off our bags, and head to Restaurant Taniere. We were initially thinking we'd take the bus, because I was certain there'd be difficult parking, but we missed the bus, and then we thought to see if we could get an Uber or taxi, but no go on those either, so we drove our own car, and as it turns out, parking around the restaurant is pretty easy (and we found the same parking spot both on Thursday and Friday). Restaurant Taniere was a great meal, and that part of town was our favorite part of the old city. After dinner, we walked around some, then drove home. The next day, we drove into the same area and just as we stopped into a place for lunch, there was a period of very heavy rain, so we stayed there until it stopped, then walked around some more in the upper old city, and looked at the exhibition of the remains of the old governers "chateau". Then it was back to Montreal/Repentigny, where on the way home, we stopped again at the Vietnamese place for dinner. I stayed home the next day to work, while M,P,J went out to the playground. Dinner was another version of smashed chicken. And the next day, we were off to Portland. We took quite a while to get to the border, stopping for various things on the way. Once we got to the border, there wasn't much of a queue, and we drove through Vermont and New Hampshire and into Maine, getting to Portland in the late afternoon. We decided to stop at a lobster roll place downtown to start our lobster roll tastings. This place was ok, but not worth it. We then checked into the Airbnb, a nice big house. The next day, we drove to Point Elizabeth and had lunch at "Bite into Maine". Yes, lobster rolls. These ones were great. Then we walked around the lighthouse, scrambling on rocks at low tide, then had ice cream, then picked some strawberries, and then lined up for the Fore St Restaurant mostly to get seared foie gras, but also it was supposedly a good restaurant. We met a man while waiting, who said he thought it was the best restaurant in Portland, and suggested a few dishes. Unfortunately, we were not that impressed, though the foie was pretty good. The next day, we drove up to Georgetown, about a 45 min drive north on the coast, to a place where we could get steamed lobster on the pier. And we also tried their lobster roll. Everything was good here, and we hung out afterwards on the shore, again at low tide so that we were able to scramble on more rocks. The low/high tide difference is pretty large here. Back into town to meet John for dinner at Twelve, which was good, and for us, the best restaurant in Portland. And then it was time to drive back to Montreal. We first stopped to see some Maine crafts, which was interestingly at a service area with a gas station and fast food. We had lunch on the way in Augusta (at State Lunch). We took a detour to stop at The Lost Kitchen, where we browsed their small shop, bought a signed cookbook, and a couple of drinks that we drank while setting at their outdoor tables. While we were there, a car drove up, and hey, it was Micheal, the chef's husband. He stopped to chat with us a bit, and he seemed was the same as how he is on TV. We'll try to eat here one day. After that, we stopped at the Skowhegan Community Center because M was getting grouchy and wanted a playground. The playground was nice, but even nicer was that the community center had decent restrooms. From there, it was a long push on the road to get back. We did a couple of scenic stops, at Flagstaff Lake and nearby, and then stopped in Sherbrooke, at a McDonalds, for dinner, before finally making it home quite late. To end up the vacation, we had a couple more days in Repetigny. One day we again went into Montreal, aiming for a park with a splash pad, which was quite nice (Joyeaux Vikings), had an ok pastry and a quick look at the touristy "old montreal", then ate at a Tapas place we'd been to on the prior trip, which was still good. On the final full day, we stayed in Repetigny. Some shopping, and a visit to a local playground with a splash pad, and a final dinner at a Filipino cuisine place, which was pretty good (Gout a Cebu). [Somewhere in this travelogue, M/P/J went to Montreal via subway and went to the underground mall]