Autumn is Here

I've heard that the leaves have really started to change up around Barrie.  We see some leaves changing and certainly a few trees that "shed" earlier have lost their leaves, but mostly leaves are still green and clinging onto the trees.  Once in a while we have a chilly morning where I need to wear the fleece and the windbreaker, but generally it hasn't been too bad.  Of course, then just as I am getting used to that, we have a really warm day or two in a row!

Quebec City was as charming as ever, though I didn't have a lot of time to do touristy stuff.  I did break away from the conference to go the art museum.  I was kind of excited that my hotel had a deal where I could register for a free two-day transit pass, and I managed to use that to get over to the art museum.  I nearly missed my stop!  

I am particularly glad that this museum is also a member of ROAM, so I got in free.  (I also practiced my French, which is so incredibly rusty, in the museum and to a lesser extent on the bus.)  The museum is in preparation for a new expansion, with a pavilion dedicated to Riopelle, but that means that everything has been contracted down into a single building with one floor for a special exhibit and the other two floors with just a few highlights from the collection.  And the main reason to go, to see Riopelle's enormous panels dedicated to Rosa Luxembourg, was completely off-view!  I would have been pretty outraged to pay $25 to see that.  Fortunately, I did see the Riopelle on a previous visit, though I'll need to dig out those photos.  (Hopefully they aren't just completely missing like the AGO O'Keeffe photos!)

I was not pleased that I waited and waited and waited for the bus, only to take a couple of photos of a nearby church and then having the bus blow by me, not even slowing down to see if the couple on the bench at the bus stop wanted to get on the bus!  Incredible.  I was so angry.  It was quite a wait for the next one, so I walked about halfway back to downtown and finally the next bus pulled up, though this one didn't stop in the right place, and I then had to retrace my steps to get to the conference centre.  So generally I was not impressed with the transit in Quebec City, and I was completely horrified at how the pedestrian scrambles were implemented.  I didn't think anything could be worse than Toronto, but I was wrong...

That evening, I did walk around the old town a bit, though the sidewalks were damp, and I was in uncomfortable shoes, so I didn't go down a few particularly steep hills and stairways.

Definitely the trees were in their autumnal glory.

Overall it was a nice trip, and of course the conference was interesting as well.  I will have to pull something together to see if I get approval to go next year when the conference is in Winnipeg (perhaps a bit less competition to get in for that....).