Greetings from the Days Inn, Montreal. Just back after an optional evening tour and dinner at 10.25pm with a 6.30am breakfast - so don't expect a long entry of witty prose. Besides, you guys are asleep now. I hope to skype a few people tomorrow from Toronto when we are in for the evening.
Tess is busy playing Words with Friends while I type, sipping 2010 Louis Eschenauer Bordeaux. Cheap at $15 and reminiscent of many Australian Cab Savs. I would like to try another glass of my Founders Reserve Porto as I hate having glass in the luggage but there is only so much I can drink in a night. The room is on the 5th floor and for the price we paid for the tour, roomy and comfortable. Since I gave Tess my sore throat, I'm glad of the extra double bed:)
Began at 7.30 with a great obligatory tour of Quebec by a local guide - from Holland! She took her job seriously and gave us plenty of history but the most interesting snippet was that she loved the dry cold compared with Europe's warmer but damper cold. The old historic part of town is steep but easily navigable and warrants a longer stay. Put it on your list. The locals don't like speaking English but of course need the tourists. We ate like locals yesterday, buying cheese and wine from a supermarket and eating in our room.
After a good morning in Quebec city, we headed out on the road to Monreal - that's how Todd and the French pronounce it. After a couple of hours of driving across flat farmland, we stopped at a Macdonalds for lunch and an hour later, arrived in the old port of Montreal. As Charlie navigated the roadworks entering the city, he quipped that Canada has only two seasons, Winter and Construction. I liked that.
We wandered freely for an hour or so while the bus took our luggage to our hotel (I love that bit) and actually bought a CD from a busker, some postcards and maple syrup in fancy bottles. The cobble stone old town is even easier to negotiate and the natives proved friendly. We barely had time for a shower and a Grolsch before heading off on the night tour, the highlight being the Basilica of St Joseph's, one of the largest in Canada. Very impressive and Todd had timed it for sunset too. It annoys me that I can't place photos in as I type this - maybe next time I will have one of those wifi SD cards, or just a decent phone!
Dinner tonight was excellent - steak - and the old folk we shared with were interesting. Some Aussies and others from Chester way. We all are well travelled. There are two old brothers from Denmark, both doctors who inherited their father's medical practice. Their Mum was a doctor too and one had married a doctor! Lovely old "pensioners". Plenty of good stories on this trip.
Will close now. The port is yet to kick in but I'm sure I will soon sleep soundly - for 7 hours:)
Adieu and Bon Nuit.
Location:Rue Sainte Élisabeth,Montreal,Canada
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