21 Comments

Posted on February 7, 2016 by gardeninacity

A Civil War Adventure Story

Book Review: Junius and Albert’s Adventures in the Confederacy, by Peter Carlson

Well, I’ve used up the material from all of our 2015 travels, and the garden is still frozen. This seems like a good time for a book review. And no, it’s not about gardening.

This is a very good book with a very dumb name. The title, which seems to reference a teen movie franchise, really trivializes the story.

That said, anyone interested in American history (and especially the Civil War), should find this account both entertaining and fascinating.

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Posted on February 5, 2016 by gardeninacity

Montreal Miscellany

We flew back to Chicago from Montreal on a Sunday, but we had a few hours to enjoy the city before heading to the airport.DSC_0447

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Posted on February 3, 2016 by gardeninacity

At the Inn of the Frog Eaters

After our visit to Reford Gardens we drove about 40 miles east to the village of Le Bic. There we stayed at a place called Auberge du Mange Grenouille, which means, according to Judy, either the Inn of the Frog Eaters or maybe the Inn of Eating Frogs.

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Posted on February 1, 2016 by gardeninacity

Reford Gardens Part II

Reford Gardens hosts an International Garden Festival, consisting of show gardens put together by artists and design teams from around the world. As the website says, the Festival is a “forum for innovation and experimentation.” The 2015 festival had 28 gardens that were on display from June through September.

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The Crabapple Walk is on the way to the International Garden Festival
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Posted on January 30, 2016 by gardeninacity

Reford Gardens, Part I

After we reluctantly left Cap Chat, we headed back towards Montréal along the north coast of the Gaspé Peninsula. On the way we stopped at the Reford Gardens, also known as Les Jardins de Métis.

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Posted on January 27, 2016 by gardeninacity

Wind and Water

So here are another two sites that we visited in Cap Chat.

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Posted on January 25, 2016 by gardeninacity

A Hike in Gaspe National Park

Just a few miles south of Cap Chat is Quebec’s Gaspé National Park. The park is full of rugged beauty and two mountain ranges, the Chic-Choc and the McGerrigle (both excellent names that seem to promise high adventure, if you’ll pardon the pun).

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Posted on January 23, 2016 by gardeninacity

Cap Chat, Quebec

Cap Chat is a village of fewer than 3,ooo people about midway up Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula. Judy and I spent five days there in early September.

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Posted on January 21, 2016 by gardeninacity

Dufferin Terrace, Quebec City

I was so disappointed to learn that “to duffer” is not considered to be a verb in Quebec. It would be so wonderful, after all, if Dufferin Terrace were a terrace made for dufferin’, which is to say, acting like an old duffer.

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Posted on January 19, 2016 by gardeninacity

The Gardens at the National Assembly of Quebec

Let us now move from southern California to Quebec, at the opposite end of North America. You may recall that Judy and I were in Quebec in late summer, and we spent a couple of days in Quebec City, where we visited the gardens of the National Assembly building.

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