Fresh with ginger pigtails in our sights, and lobster in our tastebuds, we headed west of PEI to Canada, but not ordinary Canada, French Canada! A chance to get some of our mediocre French back on, we were off to Quebec. But before we could get there, a stopover for pasta dinner at a picnic table on the edge of the river, overlooking the world’s longest covered bridge; who would have thought?
Quebec greeted us with a warm glow of familiar French language, friendly Canadian people, and old European winding streets! Unlike France, we were happy that the opening hours followed the North American mantra, rather than the French slide rule version. Arriving late, we checked into our motel, and hit the old city. Due to the many reports of labyrinth-like, narrow, one-way streets in Quebec we parked just outside the old town. We thought back to the harrowing times in Europe where both wing mirrors touched walls, and it was this fear that caused us to opt against driving and instead walk into the old town. We soon found out that again the North American version of small, and narrow, was nothing compared to the one way streets of France and Spain.
Our time in Quebec was short but memorable. A very classy dinner of Poutine (a dish I had been looking forward to ever since I heard of it), a further addition to the “most photographed hotel in the world”, and a lovely pint in the old docks summed up a lovely city. I think it may have been the hefty price of accommodation in Quebec coupled with the glowing reviews we received about Montreal that caused us to only stay one night and move on.
Feeling a bit over tacky motels on the edge of town, and their unrealistic pricetags ($80-120!!) we thought that a shot at a B&B might be the option. We couldn’t have done any better if we tried! We arrived at “À Acacia du midi”, and for the next 2 days we felt at home. Emmanuelle was the owner, and Phillipe was the resident chef, due to language barriers we instantly latched onto Phillipe. His English was almost as good as his myriad of anecdotes (which were amazing). We both bounced around travel tales before we walked down the street and hit the plateau to find some bargains.
The funky shops, cool bars and hip restaurants were just what Kam and I were looking for. With our impending trip to vegas almost upon us, we needed to get some new duds, so we weren’t wearing our fleeces and hiking shoes into the swish clubs. 3 pairs of shoes, 2 shirts, a dress and a belt later, we realised that just before labor day was SALE time! Happy with our purchases, a celebratory pitcher of Sangria, and an Asian dinner topped off our first night in Montreal.
The next morning we lazily woke to the most amazing breakfasts; homemade bread (damper if you can believe it??), homemade muffins, homemade banana bread, and our choice of one of 7 options all cooked up fresh for us. I chose quiche and Kam the crepes, both of which were amazing. Both due to our late awakening, and the hefty portion sizes, we left not needing food until 6pm that evening. We did a walking tour of the city, walking down into the old town, past many funky shops, and enjoying the fabulous location of the B&B. On our return to the Plateau, we strolled through the amazing park, which seemed to be filled with half the population of Montreal, all of which playing some kind of sport, or game, walking an animal of some kind, or eating a picnic or barbeque with friends. The whole city was alive in this park, and everyone was so happy and energetic. Kam and I could see ourselves living here…
We again headed to the funky pubs and bars of the Plateau, where we sat listing to local DJs (on a Tuesday night), and sipping some local brews. Another lovely dinner at a great restaurant, and the two of us didn’t feel like kicking on, but we didn’t feel like sleeping. We went back to our B&B and cracked open a bottle of red, and whisked Phillipe from the kitchen before he had a chance to head to bed. We sat up and continued swapping stories; him of living with indigenous tribes in Canada, and working in the merchant navy delivering goods in an icebreaker. We had such a great night, having a long conversation with a local, the likes which we have been looking forward to since starting our journey.
Day 2 at the B&B again saw the fabulous breakfast we experienced yesterday, this time we could savour some new options. After a further walk around the city, we reluctantly decided to head off away from Montreal and back into the USA. Obviously Phillipe had also enjoyed our company, as when we returned to pay our bill, he had prepared us a food basket full of fresh bread (still warm), muffins, banana bread, tea and more. We had such a great stay here, and if anyone is looking for somewhere to stay in this wonderful city, “À Acacia du midi” would be on the top of our list!
We quickly re-packed the car, and hit the road. We were off to Vermont!
