Reflections on a zero day

I'm glad I visited Quebec.  It was more touristy than I liked, but the old city is a very pretty place.

I left to travel back via the "Chemin du Roi".  This is a very old road  (it claims to be the oldest highway in North America).  It now largely follows a modern road (2 lane ---a number of expressways run parallel to it) from Quebec to Montreal.  The road is much more interesting than the expressway I drove in on.  Beautiful vista's look out over the St Lawrence River, and you can detour off the modern road and visit some really old villages.  Many of the houses are in the 17th and 18th century style and there are some that are  indeed from that era.  All in all, a pleasant trip back from Quebec. 

During all this driving in the province of Quebec, I listened to a lot of radio(French spoken on the radio is a little easier to understand than the street French in Quebec City).  It's interesting that, although the topic doesn't seem to come up much in the rest of the world, the Quebecois  on a daily basis still discuss separation from Canada. At least on the radio.  It didn't help that the current Prime Minister of Canada just appointed a new communications director who doesn't speak French.  It left the Quebecois pretty mad.

In the spirit of not driving 500 miles days anymore, I stopped in Plattsburgh, NY and ate at a Tibetan Restaurant.  What a Tibetan Restaurant is doing in Plattsburgh  is a little unclear, but since I ate arguably the best Thai meal I ever had in Galway, Ireland, I know longer ask those questions much.  The meal was quite delicious.

So now I'm back in the Catskills.  I got some laundry done, bought a proper cable so I can play music in my car using the radio and I'm just lying around reading.  This is pleasant down day.  It's hazy, hot and muggy out, so no pictures.

Tomorrow I head toward the Shenandoah Valley, which I'll take some time to really explore on Tuesday.  Then I'll visit Monticello and explore Thomas Jefferson's legacy  on Wednesday.  Then I'll visit with some friends in Charlottesville and head home.