Ottawa - July 19 and 20

July 19
After a long day of driving we crossed the Ottawa River  and arrived at the Canadian Parliament.

As we entered Ottawa we were greeted by the statue of Samuel Champlain.

Samuel Champlain's Statue

We were soon wandering the manicured lawns of power as we explored Parliament Hill.

Emma at the Canadian Parliament

Clock Tower

Emma by the Main Entrance to Parliament

Walking around the parliament grounds

Emma at the Women are Person's Monument

For Emma, this statue was probably the highlight of our tour.

Parliament Buildings - West Wing

War of 1812 Monument

Emma really got into the spirit as we admired this statue.

Chateau Laurier

Rideau Canal

The 202 mile Rideau Canal connected the Ottawa River to Kingston on Lake Ontario. It was built in 1832 and is the oldest continuously operated canal in North America. It was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 Locks on the Rideau Canal

 Rideau Canal

 The lock was full

 Rideau Canal

Emma and I enjoyed watching the boats traverse through the locks on the Rideau Canal. It was quite the process to raise your vessel from one water level to the next.

 Boat entering locks on the Rideau Canal

Ottawa River by Parliament Hill

Depending on how you look at it, this was the start or end of the Rideau Canal.

Sonaa after a long day of tramping around Parliament Hill.

July 20

Today we crossed the Ottawa River back into  Quebec. Our destination was the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau.

Canadian Museum of History

Emma entering the Canadian Museum of History

Foyer of the Canadian Museum of History 

 Killer Whale

Spirit of Haida Gwaii by Bill Reid

I love this statue but prefer the "Jade Canoe" version which was located in the foyer of the Vancouver Airport. It looked good in white plaster but it really looked better in green coloured bronze.

After visiting the museum we walked outside to the plaza that looked out over the Ottawa River to Parliament Hill.

Plaza by the Canadian Museum of History

 View of Ottawa from Gatineau

Parliament Hill from across the Ottawa River

Parliament

Park stature constructed from plastic bottles

We were impressed with innovative public art and this modern sculpture composed of plastic bottles really fascinated us. It was a good thing I stopped to admire it or I would have missed the shy groundhog sitting quietly under a nearby tree.

Groundhog 

Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica

We drove back into Ottawa to visit the National Gallery. This proved to be a challenge as we had to circle in the RV for quite awhile till we lucked into a parking spot.

National Gallery of Camada

 Also, it was a very hot day and we did not want to leave Sonaa in the RV. The solution was to stagger our visit to the gallery so one of us was with Sonaa.

This worked out well, particularly for Emma, who was spared my running commentary about the history of Canadian art. 

National Gallery of Canada

I've always enjoyed visiting the National Gallery as you got to see the early Canadian art.

 Six Blackfeet Chiefs - Paul Kane in 1859

Not surprisingly, there was a very good collection of art from the Group of Seven.

Tom Thompson - Pine Island, Georgian Bay, 1914-16

The bending conifers reminded me of the photograph I took earlier at Georgian Bay Islands National Park.

 Arthur Lismer - The Guides Home, Algonquin, 1914

 A. Y. Jackson - The Red Maple

J.E.H. MacDonald - The Tangled Garden 2016

  Lawren S. Harris - North Shore, Baffin Island II  1936

There were many other excellent Canadian artists represented in the gallery as well.

Carl Shaefer -  Ontario Farmhouse  1934

There were a few representative European artists like this iconic Fernand Leger.

Fernand Leger - The Mechanic  1920 

Sigh, too soon it was time to go. After one longing backward glance we fired up the RV and headed out of Dodge.

 Maman Spider in the plaza beside the National Gallery of Camada