Bienvenue au jour 2!

Aujourd'hui, nous avons traversé la frontière vers le Quebec,Canada, et maintenant nous ne devons parler que le français. Or not...

A kiss at the border. Farewell, USA! Bonjour, Quebec!

Today we left Lake Champlain, and stopped at Canadian Border Control before heading into the Richelieu River. Under the "cool, calm, and collected" eye of Capitaine Richard, Linda took the helm and guided the boat (unevenly but ultimately in the correct direction) through a significant portion of the river.

Being from Southern California, we were delighted and refreshed by the miles and miles of green grass, trees of all shapes and sizes, abundant flower boxes and colorful planters. And best of all...the promise of a real storm!

A perfect summer cottage! This one is only missing a little sailboat.

We crossed under our first bridge--quite a sculptural marvel--

and docked at our home for the night along the riverfront at Saint Jean sur Richelieu.

It was dripping pleasantly (like an Oregon summer) when we hopped off the boat to hunt for a late lunch. Knowing Mondays didn't offer many "ouvert" options, we felt lucky to find the to-go entrance of the local pizza place open and the chef eager to feed us properly. Being a chef (rather than a cook) he changed our order to ~~fatten us up~~ make sure we enjoyed his specialty poutine, homemade croutons, and Caesar salad dressing.

Rick is in "poutine heaven.

To walk off those calories, Mike and I grabbed rain jackets and explored the township--which was charming and truly felt European. As non-Europeans and non-Quebecois, we were not prepared for the weather that began to pour down on us. As resourceful Americans, we found a museum to duck into and spent an hour happily dry and learning about the regions' ethnic melting pot, pottery origins--both practical (think earthenware jugs, chamber pots and ultimately toilets) and beautiful (Wedgwood vases and containers), as well as early industry.

The twelve-year old in me wants to make inappropriate jokes, but the grown up who had to use an outhouse with a huge spider hiding inside is TRULY GRATEFUL for this practical pottery!

American, Isaac Merritt Singer's revolutionary home sewing machines were manufactured in this region of Quebec where they avoided political and economic complications (tariffs).