Continuing in Quebec

The past few weeks have been a real mix of experiences and campsites. We spent time in the vibrant city of Montreal, lingered along the St. Lawrence River, camped in a farmer’s field, drove through a wildlife park filled with hundreds of animals, slept beside water buffalo, and ended up parked in front of a friend’s dock house on a quiet lake. Quite the range of scenery. Through it all, we kept up our cycling – until the temperature dropped to near freezing.

If you remember, Mike and I had been riding Le P’tit Train du Nord, heading south from Mont-Laurier. It’s a wonderful paved trail that began as a railway line before being converted to a trail for bikes. After leaving Mont-Tremblant, we continued south and connected to another trail that led us straight into Montreal and down to the St. Lawrence River.

Mike and I love camping in marinas. They usually aren’t packed with RVs jammed together, and there are always boats around. One of the things I miss most when we’re in the motorhome is being out on the water, so marinas fill that gap a little. While visiting Montreal, we stayed at the marina in Longueuil, right on the St. Lawrence. The photo at the top shows the view of the city from our campsite across the river.

While cycling around Montreal, we stopped at Les Marchés publics de Montréal, an interesting local market. We returned the next day with our car and bikes to continue exploring from there. It was Sunday, and the parking lot charged only between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. which sounded reasonable until we discovered that you couldn’t prepay before 1 p.m. We arrived at 12:30, and the machine refused to take any money until the clock struck one. We weren’t the only ones frustrated; others warned us that parking agents were strict about vehicles with missing tickets after 1 p.m. To make it worse, after waiting 30 minutes and finally paying, we found out that parking was limited to two hours, not nearly enough for our bike ride. We paid anyway and hoped the agents found somewhere else to patrol that afternoon.

Montreal has lots of street parking, and every few blocks you’ll find a few spaces reserved for electric vehicles with charging stations. Since our car or toad as it is known in RV circles, is a plug-in Hybrid that is a very nice touch.

Montreal has also invested heavily in cycling infrastructure. There are dedicated traffic lights just for bikes. We even rode through a bicycle roundabout with bold directional arrows painted everywhere. A few major east-west bike corridors crisscross the city. Of course, we like to wander and explore, which meant we often ended up on busier streets than expected.

We biked to the top of Mount Royal, the highest point in Montreal. As we pedaled up, we watched people walking the same route, more credit to them! Just as we reached the top, we realized you could also drive up. Good to know for next time.

We were in Montreal just before Halloween, and the suburbs went all-out decorating their homes. At one house, the decorations waved in the breeze, and one animated figure actually sang, its mouth moving in sync.

While in Montreal, Mike and I had lunch with a cousin whom I’m not sure if I’d ever met in person. We caught him just before he left town for the winter. It turned into a really nice afternoon. Paul is an avid sailor, and hopefully we’ll meet up again somewhere warm this winter.

One day we visited Saint Joseph’s Oratory. It’s Canada’s largest church and the world’s most significant pilgrimage site dedicated to St. Joseph who, I just learned, is the patron saint of Canada. The original chapel was founded in 1904 by Brother André, who died in 1937 and was later canonized in 2010 as Saint André Bessett, the first male Canadian-born saint.

The Oratory rises more than 30 metres above Mount Royal’s summit, making it the highest building in Montreal. It’s the only structure allowed to exceed the municipal height restriction that keeps all other buildings, even skyscrapers, below the mountain’s peak.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Mike and I joined the combined “Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome” program. Harvest Hosts lets RVers stay a night or two free of charge, at a business with the expectation you’ll buy something. Boondockers Welcome connects us with private hosts who let you park on their property for a few days.

We lucked out with our first Boondockers stay: a large, mowed field on a farm beside a small bay on the Ottawa River. You can see it in the photo above.  The host met us on the road as we arrived and then proceeded to trim a few tree branches as our motorhome was a bit taller than those of previous guests. Our planned cycle route took us right past this farm, about halfway between Montreal and Ottawa. Our intent was to continue cycling to Ottawa and cross into Gatineau, but that didn’t pan out. Cycling in 10 °C weather was fine with warm clothes, but once it dipped near freezing, we called it quits.

The farm sat on the south side of the river near Montebello, Quebec, which is home to the beautiful Château Montebello. I’ve stayed there a few times, and one New Year’s Eve, Mike and I spent a few fun days there with friends.

Bridges across the Ottawa River are few and far between, so we took the ferry over to the Quebec side several times. The ferry ran on demand. It crossed whenever someone showed up, then waited for the next passenger. Quaint and practical.

Near Montebello is Parc Omega, a 2,000-acre wildlife reserve with a 12 km driving route where you can see and feed the animals. Early risers can join a bus tour with feeding stops. This sounds very interesting but way too early for me these days. There’s also a 1.5 km walking trail that we didn’t see but sounded interesting.

We took the self-drive route. They say you can see about twenty animal species living in habitats close to their natural ones, and the park encourages different species, but not all, to coexist. The various wolves are separated from their natural prey by a high fence.

Our visit started with a laugh, well, for me anyway. Shortly after entering, a group of elk surrounded the car. They clearly know visitors mean snacks. You’re told not to lower your windows enough for their heads to fit inside. We cracked ours open just a few inches to feed them safely. One elk managed to slobber all over Mike’s shirt, and another tried to chew on the car’s trim. Mike was not amused.

After leaving our Boondockers stay, we tried our first Harvest Host stop: the Ontario Water Buffalo Company, home of the Buff Stuff store. We stayed two nights and loved it. Behind the RV above was a corn maze for children that we meant to try but ran out of time. The host gave us a tour of their operation. The calf in the photo here was only two days old.

There are typically around 800 water buffalo on site, each named and tagged with a number. They quickly ran out of traditional names, so now they pick a theme like colours, car parts, or tractors and go from A to Z. My favourite was “Dipstick,” from the car-parts series. Who knew that a Lamborghini was a tractor?

They milk twenty cows at a time. The women working there know each one by name, pedigree, and temperament. They even know which cows require extra caution during milking. The milking equipment is attached manually but disconnects automatically when finished which surprised me.

In the photo, you can see one side of the two rows being milked at once. A large pen beside them holds the next group of twenty, ready to rotate in once the current group leaves. Each session takes about ten minutes.

The area around Stirling was lovely to drive through. We had a great lunch in town. It looks like the kind of place that would really come alive in summer when the tourists return.

We began this trip in our new RV by staying with friends, and we’re ending it the same way. We’re now heading home, but first we’ll stop beside a friend’s dock house. They live on a narrow peninsula with water on both sides and plenty of room for us. Life is good.