More from Kathy

A further thought..Betty said the tri-city tour is out of the beaten track for most people. Mostly people go to Toronto or Vancouver unless you are somewhat leaning more toward La Francophonie then one may venture to Montreal, but Quebec City is really not enroute for most people. Pity, since QC is such a LOVELY place, so filled with history..and so beautifully picturesque like Europe in N.America and so close.

For those of you having any trepidation about living "a la francaise" for a few days, let me remind you that Mme Mok and Maryknoll did give me a GOOD Education (ahem, Theresa!), and that I did learn French from Form 1 onwards till Upper 6, did my degree (in French) at Ottawa Univ and am truly "bilingue". ie I really "parlez" so you will have your own personal tourist guide!! My husband also hailed from Montreal, and I lived there for 11 years so know the city quite well!

Ideas of distances....Ottawa is 5 hours (by car) from Toronto, 2 hours (by car) to Montreal and 2 hours (by car) to QC. So by the time we load up, bus down, unpack, get settled in hotel, it should give us all 1/2 day of leisure (or touring) or whatever and 1complete day of sight-seeing (or even just sitting in Mount Royal, relaxing or shopping)...whatever your little hearts desire. Same for QC, and both have "old cities" you can discover. Start reading up on your guide books now and see you in 2007 in SFO and 2008 down East!

Kathy Elarte