Blog Archives
Montreal
Yes, it was a long day and on top of it all Saturday in the middle of holiday season for many Canadians. Everyone who had a boat of any dimension or even just a wave runner was out drinking, driving, smoking and dragging their children of all sizes and ages on floating tubes in the middle of waterways or wherever they could. Most favored thing to do seemed to be rushing up to our wake and jumping over the waves created and having the thrill of their life doing it repeatedly. We watched in disbelief and waited for some to get lost in the waves of barely 70 or 72 degree water temperature and hoped no one got hurt.
It was a relief getting into the vast St Laurence River and finally give our choked up engines a free range of speed to breath.
It still took us a few hours to reach our destination being Montreal and on the way we passed by enormous cargo ships and even a huge cruise ship. Finally, the great city of Montreal emerged in front of us and our guest for the day, Stephan eagerly named every church, town and any city or building of importance. What a delight to have this wonderful young man on board with us and be able to converse with marinas, dock masters etc. in French. Thank you Stephan!
It was just about 8 pm once we arrived at our dock and were greeted by the not so happy dock master who had to wait for us two hours beyond his working hours and a very happy Sabrina who happily embraced us and welcomed us to Montreal with a basket of fresh strawberries. Thank you Sabrina! You truly are a gem and we treasure your and Stephan’s friendship dearly!
A quick dinner at a bistro in town was all that we could muster for we all were exhausted and barely could keep our eyes open. Great dinner and beautiful company made it all better.
Sunday morning we rested and mid morning our friends returned with bags full of croissants and orange juice to enjoy breakfast with us on the boat.
Than they took us for a tour of the city and all the way to little Italy for food and shopping. The magnificent cathedral of Notre Dame is truly a gem of the city and they say there are a thousand churches in town of which one is the oldest church of the northern continent. Lunch at Stephan’s friends deli was superb! Thank you Stephan and Sabrina!
Afterwards we walked through an open farmers market which brought me right back to my days in Croatia and Germany where going shopping at the farmers market was a regular routine.
We replenished with fresh organic produce and later on ended up having a superb dinner at Stephan and Sabrina’s. Their apartment building is so unique and fascinating that now we understand their love for it from previous conversations. On one side they are overlooking the city and on the other side there is a tropical atrium which stretches out over the entire eastern side of the building. Each apartment has a large deck within the atrium with big planters in which bougainvillea and hibiscus flourish and ponds with waterfalls grace their living space with the calming sound of falling water, tropical plants, palm trees and fish ponds down below. On the roof of the building they have a roof garden where they barbecue and enjoy the sunsets over the city or fireworks crowning special celebrations.
Great day filled with wonderful memories, great food and special people! Can it get better than this?
Saint Jean to Montreal
It is Saturday morning and such a lovely morning is welcoming us while prompting us to continue our journey towards the big city of Montreal. Last night we were visited by our dear friends Stephan and Sabrina who live in Montreal. For them it was as a short 1/2 hour drive to our marina and for us it is 6-7 hour boat ride to get to our next marina in Montreal. It is Stephan’s Birthday and we celebrated in a French Italian way while consuming a delicious meal and tasting some lovely wine at Bistro Pasta Viva.
We are first in line for our next lock #9 right after the bridge which presents itself next to our resting spot for the night. There are seven locks and moving bridges ahead of us but we are first in line which should make our day a bit easier. Yes we are moving at idle speed but we don’t have to wait which is a great advantage for it could take hours more if waiting for the locks and bridges to open.
Saint Jean is an interesting town in the suburbs of Montreal. It has two universities of which one is a military one and the other a good old Catholic one. Both are highly rated and well attended and liked.
As we move on through the canal we have to pass 9 locks of which some are a short distance apart with a basin of water in between them, and than there are three that open lock to lock to lock just as a terraced garden would look like. Fascinating to see and each of them was a drop of 10 to 18 feet with the last one opening into the Chambly lake graced with a fort and rapids on the starboard side and an abundance of happy boaters all over the lake and waterway. After all it is a weekend and the summer weather is fully present. All these old locks are manually operated and extremely narrow but just enough for our beautiful Contessa to fit in by herself.
Finally after a long and tedious ride we have reached the great St Laurence River. What a relief for us and our engines for they want desperately to stretch their legs! Montreal here we come!
Yes it is a relief yet it also means that we have entered a vast body of water fully open and operational to big freighters and lots of commercial traffic. Industry all around us. Where is Montreal?
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