Lake Saranac is very close to Canada, about 2 hours or so, which was too close for us to pass up. So, we planned a quick trip to Montreal, Quebec and Quebec City, Quebec (addressed in a separate post). Keep in mind, we were still trying to stick to our budget (or at least not travel quite as luxuriously as we typically do when we have jobs). On our way up to Canada, we stopped for a shower at the YMCA in Plattsburg, New York (about 30 miles south of the border). This is a great trick if you have a YMCA membership – it will work all over the country! We had not showered for a few days, so this was necessary and well worth the quick detour. We then headed to Montreal.
I have never crossed a border by car where there is a border control station (have crossed many times in Europe). It was as simple as one may expect; our passports were examined, and we were asked why we have so much stuff in the car! There were more questions about our current chosen lifestyle than anything else. It was pretty much a straight shot to Montreal from the border. We parked on the street in the outskirts of center city Montreal. We could pay for up to 3 hours at a time, which we did just to be safe. We were first looking for the tourist center to get ourselves situated, pick up a tourist map of Montreal, and get free wifi to contact our Airbnb host. We found a relatively cheap place 13-seat burger/poutine restaurant for dinner called Pitita Patata (around $5 burgers and $8 poutine, with $20 64 oz. pitchers of beer). While we were eating dinner, it started downpouring (think flooded streets downpour). We waited until the storm generally passed before walking back to our car and heading to the Airbnb for the night.
Since we are on a budget, we rented a room from a woman in Montreal. This included a shared bathroom with our hostess and a parking space (awesome perk since [free] overnight parking seemed to be at a premium in Montreal). We’ve never rented a room in a shared situation with the host/hostess. Overall, the experience wasn’t bad. We did feel a little intrusive occupying the same space (especially bathroom) as her, but we weren’t in the room enough for it to be a problem. The place itself was very convenient for walking around Montreal.
For our full day in Montreal, we started with a nice walk over to a bagel shop (St.-Viateur Bagel) in a nearby neighborhood that we found through online reviews. Again, trying to stick to relatively cheap meals. We then headed to Mont Royal, which is a large park (old volcano) located next to and protected by Montreal. It offers a lot of public open space (e.g., lakes, picnic tables, playgrounds) and great trails (running, walking, biking, etc.) to the top where there is a great view of the city. We noticed many people using the park for their workouts. There is also a chalet building at the top with bathrooms, water fountains, and shops – provides a nice break once you’ve climbed up the steep paths.
From Mont Royal, we headed back down into the city, specifically to check out the old Montreal area. We stopped in a patisserie shop to split a sandwich and chocolate croissant on the way to the Notre Dame Cathedral located in the heart of old Montreal. Though it costs $8 (CAD) for each adult to access the Cathedral, it is well worth the price as the interior is decorated beautifully. There is a 7,000-pipe organ, which was being played during our visit and the exterior stained-glass windows tell the origin/history of Montreal.
Following our visit to the Cathedral, we headed in the direction of dinner. Friends of ours had recommended a restaurant, Au Pied de Cochon, which we wanted to check out. Note that this dinner was not going to fit within our budget, but we decided that it would be worth it. We also did not have reservations so had no expectations of being able to be seated. But we decided to head that way anyways. On our way, we noticed a few signs for Cirque du Soleil (we did know that a performance was in town, but near the piers), so we wandered over to see what was happening. Turns out, Cirque du Soleil was putting on a free show along St. Denis Street every hour. The next show started in about 20 minutes, so we decided to stick around to watch. There were three “stations” or performance areas set up for different acts. The first one was a tight rope act that lasted about 10 minutes – the performer was able to walk, somersault, swing, jump, and slide on the rope. The second consisted of an acrobatic aerial performance on an elevated, large ring. We did not watch the third act as it continued down the street in the wrong direction and we were getting hungry. There was also a group of Cirque clowns that were directed crowds from one stage to the next, performing little bits in between the acts. All in all, it was a great, FREE show that we were lucky to run into!
When we got to the restaurant, we asked if there was any space available for two people. The hostess was able to squeeze us in on the end of the kitchen bar, which ended up being a great seat because we could see all of the meals being prepared! We ordered the foie gras nigiri and a charcuterie board to start, followed by the “Melting Pot” dish (a small sampler of many pork dishes) and the pork shank special. We were stuffed by the end of the meal and couldn’t try dessert (which was probably best for our budget). We would highly recommend this restaurant to others. After dinner, we walked back to the Airbnb through the park. There were a lot of people out, gathering for what appeared to be picnics and drinks. There was also an adult league baseball game going on, which we thought would be fun to watch. We rushed back to the Airbnb to grab out bottle of wine and hurried back to the game. We got back just in time to watch the last out (strikeout). Both teams hung around for a while afterwards, hanging out with their teammates and families, so we also stayed and drank our wine on the bleachers. Once we finished out wine, we headed back to our Airbnb for the night since we were heading out the next morning for Quebec City.
Amazing post. Have you ever heard of Hillary Clinton at the bilderberg conference?