The Help (Part 3)

    The train ride to Quebec City was long. The first stretch was to Montreal by a late night train. I had a sleeping berth. That was a new experience. I didn't really sleep much though. I never slept well in new places the first night and I missed my own pillow. The change over in Montreal to another track to get to the Quebec City train meant I had to be able to read the posted schedules. They were in French! It was then that I got very excited. I had arrived in a French speaking environment. I was able to get myself to the correct platform to be on the 10am train to my final stop. The last portion of the journey took another five hours. Final stop was Ste. Foy Station where I would be greeted by Mme Amyot as outlined in a letter she had sent to me.
   It was early afternoon when the trained pulled into the station. Not everyone was leaving the train but I was very happy to. On the platform I waited a bit. As the locals cleared I saw a lovely blond lady dressed very stylish heading in my direction. She had a photo that I had sent her so she could spot me and it had worked. In no time she held out her hand to welcome me. I felt a sense of relief and a tingle of terror at the same time. Would I be able to meet this lady's expectations? It was clear to me that she came from a higher social class than the immigrant family one that I was used to. She introduced herself as Monique in perfect English and invited me and my luggage to follower her to her car which turned out to be a Pontiac convertible with the top down! Wow! It was automatic too! Back home I drove a 1960 VW beetle with standard transmission.
    The ride to her home took us along the St. Lawrence River, past a seminary then up into a residential area of fancy, well maintained, luxurious homes in Sillery. She made some polite remarks to me about the area but I was too busy trying to take in all that surrounded us. It was my first ride in a car with the roof down and there was much to see. She pulled into the driveway of a  house on Rue Oak. It was to be one of my homes that summer.

The arial view shows how gorgeous their property was. The swimming pool would be one of many favourite places to pass time with the children. It was also the site for some amazing social gatherings that I was allowed to be a part of until it was time to get the children off to bed. A few times I was even allowed to return and join in once they were asleep.
Hope you'll be back for the next part of my adventure.