Montreal, QC

Sometimes the routes here in Quebec are difficult to find… We decided that today we would take the “scenic” way from Quebec City to Montreal, instead of the highway. Trouble was, it took us at least a half hour of weaving through streets and detours to find Route 132. Thankfully we had gotten up early so the time loss wasn’t a problem. Or at least Meg’s got up early, mornings and I don’t agree with each other…




And in the end, the “scenic route” ended up being an awfully lot like the highway. Farmland as far as the eye could see once again, just with a huge cliff down to the St. Lawrence River on the other. Scenic enough. We pulled into the KOA campground outside of Montreal about noon. Walked into the registration desk and were instantly greeted in English. Sweetness. Found out though that the last shuttle to the city had already left… Not to fear, there is a metro! And handy, printed out, English directions! Oh the luxury!



We found our way to the Metro stop, parked, and by 1:30 we were there, strolling through the streets of Montreal!! From the beginning we had already known that there weren’t really any specific sites that we had to see or take tours of. Montreal is most known for its’ nightlife and restaurants. And since we are on both a tight budget and a tight schedule, that doesn’t leave much for us…



Except for one of our patented, walk all around the city, see the sights, and really get a feel for the place, tours…



We started at the waterfront and ate our lunch…

But the bees and legless seagulls wouldn’t stop bothering us…

So we headed back towards the old part of the city…

And up into the main plaza…

And that was it! We’d seen Montreal! Time to head home…



Just kidding.



We kept walking. And walking. Good thing we have our long strides!



We checked out the local Notre Dame esque church…

Megs was enthralled with the light up walk signs…

I tried to pose like them…

Making our way further from the old city, we began to see the transition to newer buildings. But we noticed that there always seemed to be a nice balance between the new financial & educational buildings and the smattering of historical buildings still standing.

I really liked the building facades. It made for a really nice streetscape.

It was good that there was so much great stuff to see when you look up because, for the most part, the city parks were pretty terrible. Random patches of concrete, tar, and wood platforms. Benches set awkwardly close to each other, or haphazardly spread around a metal grid. I think maybe a lot of it stems from back in the 60s when they hosted the Olympics and whatnot… Maybe we are just growing too picky.



Came across the Palais de Congres, which was really cool…

And finally we went back down to the water to relax for a little bit. There is a large pedestrian walkway that extends the length of the waterfront. And it was a constant flow of walkers, bikers, rollerbladers, and folks happily toiling away on these strange contraptions…

We also saw tons of people riding the same bike with the word Biki on it and decided to investigate. It is a cool automated bike rental system that is set up all throughout the city. You pay your fee and swipe your card for the $250 per bike deposit, then the machine releases your bike and away you go! I remembered that Sara’s friend Bradley has actually been implementing a similar system at Maryland, so I snapped a photo of the setup. I forget the name of his product, but I’m sure my lovely gf will oblige me with a comment. :)

So about 5:30 or so we took our leave of Montreal, QC. We both felt we had really succeeded in getting a feel for all the city has to offer. It is a great blend of new and old. Tourism and Educational Institutions. European and American influences. We decided it was a mix of Washington, DC and New York… Like DC in that it many of the buildings had that monumental feel to them, as well as the fact that it didn’t seem like anyone actually lived there. Like NYC with the building facades and general feel of the streets, except that it was really quiet in some places. And much cleaner of course…



So there you have it, Montreal. Tomorrow we say goodbye to the Province of Quebec. Good bye to French! We are getting up early and plan to spend the morning and early afternoon seeing the national capital of Canada, Ottawa. Then we’ll be back across the border and visiting Syracuse, NY. I was there once before and there is a BBQ place I have been looking forward to checking out again!!!