Stapleton Travel Blog

On a day that we had nothing planned, it will be raining all day. We decided last minute to take a boat tour up the St Lawrence river to see the Montmorency Falls.

We shared a table with Leslie and Cici both from Canada ( via UK and Rhode Island). Uneventful trip but nice company. Leslie said he had an ancestor who was a surveyor and surveyed the highest mountain in India many years ago. The English decided to name the mountain after him. Mount Everest!

As we wind down, Quebec City is a place that can be a four day/three night visit for the most part. We did enjoy not having to fight the big crowds that the cruise ships will bring.

One local store owner told us Quebec City gets busy in June until September.

Still raining as we make our way to restaurant Simsemilla outside of old Quebec City.

The Montreal Canadians were playing the Buffalo Sabres tonight so it was only us and one other table at this rustic restaurant.

We chose the fixed four course meal with wine pairings and were blown away. At one point the server was explaining all the layers we had on our plate and I noticed the ingredients were moving. He explained the mixture of hot and cold was causing this. So frickin cool.

We will have fond memories of our Quebec City trip.

Today we toured the Citadelle. While waiting for the tour to start, I was the lone sentinel on duty.

They took us down to a place that had loopholes where they would fire from.

Sounds boring but got to reach the highest point in Quebec City. Nice views, glad we went.

We then passed through Porte St Louis where there were busts of Winston Churchill and FDR.

We walked outside the walls of Old Quebec City along Grande Allee to the Plains of Abraham. We went by a nice park where the flowers were starting to bloom.

From there we headed to Ave Cartier where we had some quiche at Les Cousins a neighborhood lunch spot. The area is known for its many local restaurants as well as the lamp shades they decorate their street lights with.

For dinner we went nearby to BEClub. The naming convention is short for Quebec-club. It was a small restaurant where the owner served the customers and was very engaging.

We ordered the”orange wine” which is a thing here and a specialty wine. There is nothing “orangey” about it but tasted nice.

At one point the owner wanted to take our picture for his restaurant’s social media account when our entrees arrived. He said being by the window, the orange wine and the fact that we were photogenic would be great. I can’t argue with the guy; we’re adorable!

Seriously, best meal we’ve had yet. Even better than meals we had in Paris.

Bon appetite .

Spent time doing what we like best which is just walking around Old Quebec City. Still chilly here so Beth went shopping for gloves.

Went inside Notre Dame church. It was nice ( and warm).

We continued our “walk n’ talk” down to the town mural.

Next was Place Royale which was a quaint plaza.

Beth at this point was in full shopping mode. She got a Christmas ornament and a bucket hat for gardening!

There were a few things I would have liked to do (like a private tour of Chateau Frontenac) but these were already booked before we got here and it’s not even crowded yet. Lesson learned.

Tonight we are going to take a 30 minute walk (actually it’s 25 minutes, the other 5 minutes is me looking at my phone trying to determine where we are) to restaurant le cocher Penché. It is outside the walled city of old Quebec City so it should be interesting walking the “mean streets of Quebec”.

Dinner was great. The restaurant has a Michelin star but not overly fancy. As we sat and had dinner, we watched the few cooks in the kitchen and a couple servers seamlessly handle everything. Merci.

Since Massachusetts is close to Canada, we decided to take a trip to Old Quebec City. We are staying at Hotel du Vieux Quebec. It’s one week before their tourist season begins so it’s not that crowded. Temps are still cool here 40 – 50 degrees.

We took a short walk down to Chateau Frontenac. Walked inside as well. It has such an old world feel to it.

For dinner, we will head down to le lapin Sauté restaurant in the Petit Champlain area. The restaurant is known for rabbit and duck which I had in a casserole. Not bad, first time having rabbit. We also had a traditional poutine (with rabbit added). Poutine is basically fries, cheese curds and gravy (we chose mustard) but is basically food you eat when it’s 3:00 in the morning and you’re drunk.

We walked down to the Petit Champlain area using the “breakneck stairs”.

After dinner we took the funiculaire back up instead of making the long climb back to the hotel. Hard to pass up on something that starts with the word “fun”!

Bonne Nuit.

Took the RER-B3 train back to CDG airport this morning as we say farewell to Paris. The trip went well, better than I expected since we spoke almost no French. I think it’s important to stretch yourself and go places that don’t speak your native language.

Back to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Au revoir.

It’s our official anniversary today and we spent the morning oversleeping in bed. Felt great to not have to get up to meet some ticket schedule time.

Heading to see the Arc de Triomphe and walk a bit on the Champs-élysées.

The AdT (1836) was to honor those who fought in the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars. We climb stairs to the top but there was no rooftop view today.

We were able to walk on the Champs-Elysées with no cars because they were beginning to have a Chinese New Year celebration.

Beth and I have been here for 4 days now and we’ve only fallen down on the walkways once each. We don’t fall well anymore either but we’re fine.

For dinner we went to Restaurant Georgette in a St Germain neighborhood west of Luxembourg Gardens. Another good choice and they kindly gave us some champagne to celebrate our anniversary which is today.

At one point the server is taking my plate away that is completely empty of food and jokingly said “ oh this is a good plate, the chef is very sensitive”.

We never did make it to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Maybe next time.

Today we headed over to Sainte Chapelle chapel to see its stain glass. Today was cloudy so we didn’t get the full effect.

A short walk away was Notre Dame Cathedral. We walked right in without any waiting. We didn’t even have a reservation.

Hard to believe that there was a major fire over 5 years ago. It looks great inside.

We then had a quick bite (quiche Lorraine) at a boulangerie to end the morning. Best, quick and inexpensive way to get something to eat in Paris is at the bakery.

We also saw some Camino shells as we were walking today. That was cool for us.

Took the metro in the afternoon to complete our touristy trifecta to see the Eiffel Tower.

Before dinner we stopped in at Sainte Sulpice church that began construction in 1650+. This was a very old looking church and was also in the DaVinci code movie. It was worth seeing.

We finished the evening at a forgettable restaurant near the Luxembourg Gardens. One more day in Paris to go.

Today we went over to the Louvre Museum. In the 13th century it was a small fortress and expanded to be a palace in the 1600s. In the late 1700s it became a museum.

The highlights at the Louvre are the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. Venus de Milo dates back to 120 BC and discovered on a Greek island in the 1820 and the artist is unknown.

We were there for 4 hours and finally became “museum weary”. Surprisingly, there is a limit to how many nude paintings and sculptures you can look at.

Afterwards., we headed to a streetside cafe to have some cafe au lait. It’s 45 degrees but people are still sitting outside which is cool.

I decided that I must eat “at least” one delicious desert each day while l’m here.

As the 40 year wedding anniversary Paris tour continued, we took a 30 minute walk along the left bank to le vent d’armour restaurant. We passed by Notre Dame cathedral on the way which is across the River Seine.

The restaurant only has 7 tables which made for a nice quiet evening. We were served by a very cordial owner.

At one point as we were looking at the desert menu, Beth said “if you’re in Paris you got to have Crepes Suzette”. The owner overheard her and couldn’t hold back his laugh.

Bonne souirée.

To celebrate our 40th anniversary, we are headed to Paris. We’ve never been there so it seemed like the perfect time to go. It won’t be warm in Paris but right now Massachusetts is frigid. Forty to fifty degrees will feel balmy.

Selling our house in Cranford NJ and moving to a new home in Framingham MA has been exhausting. We are looking forward to just taking it slow and enjoy what Paris has to offer.

I do love that emergency exit row.

After taking the metro from the airport we dropped off our luggage at our hotel and walked over to the Musee d’ Orsay. The top floor had many paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir and many more artists from the 1870s to the early 1900s.

Very tired at this point since neither of us slept well on the red eye flight from Boston. Getting much needed rest at Hotel du Danube in the St Germain district on the left bank of Paris.

Visiting Paris in January/February does have its advantages as we are not fighting the huge crowds and lines that they would have in the summer months

We decided late to go find an interesting French restaurant for dinner close to our hotel. We decided on Racines des Prés. I saw that they had counter seating where you could watch them cook. When we got there, they had a surprise menu where the chef determined what to give you. It was a great evening and a shout out to my brother in law Rob who taught me always to choose the counter….. that’s where you meet people.

Sunday, we head east to Taughannock Falls near Finger Lakes in NY.

We made a stop for a wine tasting at Knapp winery. One of many wineries along Lake Cayuga. Cool. Nice vibe. Nice people. Helped the local economy by buying a couple bottles of wine to go. That’s called a “Win Win” (which BTW is one of my favorite sleeper movies starring Paul Giamatti).

We got to Taughannock Falls and just started walking the North Rim trail which led to the South Rim trail which led to another trail that went up a mostly dry river bed and dead ended at the bottom of the falls. After back tracking we needed to finish the rest of the North rim trail to get back to our car. All in all an unexpected 6.8 miles.

Our stay for the night is at a place called New Park Venue and Suites near Ithaca. It has a very “Twin Peaks” vibe to it. Maybe we’ll get lucky and see Kyle MacLachlan tonight!

Monday, we headed to Middlebury VT where a lot of my Stapleton ancestors lived for at least a generation.

We are staying at the annex behind the Middlebury Inn. I’ll only show the Inn as the Annex is a bit underwhelming. When we walked into our room, Beth initial reaction was “Oh boy”.

I will show you our state of the art phone.

Tuesday, we took a walk to see a few buildings that are still standing that were once owned by a distant ancestor of mine , John Sargent.

He first owned The Logan House on 2 Park St.

What was once a hotel is now split between two shops of which one is a cannabis shop.

The other hotel he owned was called the Sargent House on Court St. This looks more like a boarding house now.

Middlebury is a tiny town in Vermont which can be walked very quickly.

This ends my history tour for today. THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER…

Wednesday we headed to Newburyport MA coastal town. Off and on rain today on our drive. Walked a little bit around town as we did our laundry in a local laundromat. Parking is tough here but we got one of the 3 free spots at our Hygge House accommodation. It is centrally located which is great for us.

It was good to go out to dinner with Beth at a dog friendly tavern. Macy was well behaved. She likes a sidewalk cafe.

Thursday morning spent exploring the northern end of Plum Island which is ten minute drive from Newburyport. Sleepy ocean front community. It seems to be slightly off peak season here so the crowds are not too bad.

I highly recommend visiting Newburyport for a couple days. Very relaxing and dog friendly as well.

Friday, we head down to Framingham MA to see the status of our new home. Inside seems to be finishing with painting and there is outside grading still to do. Tentative closing date is now Sept 11 but we’ll see.

Saturday we head to Jersey to see my mom and brother. The road trip officially ends. Now we just need to work on getting through the closing, moving, etc. and hope Sept 11 closing actually happens.