Saturday
We head to the McCord Museum which is a bit of a disappointment in terms of good hand-on history for kids; good thing it was free the first Saturday of the month (and no, that was no coincidence). But the exhibit about Canadian winters hits a chord as we watch old footage of how they carved ice blocks off the river, and play a few smashing rounds of table-top hockey. (Hey this is still a museum - shh! - stop that cheering!)
Then we are in Lachine: the adults tour the historic fur trade warehouse while the kids discover archeology first hand. Recreating the old voyageur days in a rabasca canoe, we paddle up the St Lawrence. Along the way, costumed interpreters encourage us to sing old french voyaguer songs, the local priest gives us his blessing, and we are good-naturedly taunted by calls of mangeurs de lard.
But that's not all. Now we get a tour of the Lachine Canal and it's workings - they keep 'ecofacts' of the past canals. And if not for these canals, Montreal could never have become the rich, successful port it was/is. After another museum, we find a park full of art installations and a place to gorge ourselves on frites
finally some other kids with dirty faces
there's a space exhibit too -
Rob finds his old computer
And the boys are fascinated by the huge touchscreen that delivers all the Lego Star Wars / Thumb Wars youtube clips you could possibly want
we peel them away and arrive in Lachine (so named because past these 'rapids' lay China - according to Cartier)
Rob and I, in our fine beaver felt fashions
The kids in the distinct ceinture fléchée
another ecofact: a stone step stool for getting on your horse
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