Montreal, Quebec
The train left on time from Ottawa but this time it's only
a 2 hour trip so I can get some photo's of the passing scenery, again,
much like our south west.
I arrive at my hotel at 5.15pm, and it's dark. There has been a good snow fall here too, it must have known I was heading this way and beat me here. It's bloody cold though. In my room I phone to check the departure time of the tour to Quebec City, of course the office closed at 5, so I left a message for them to call me back in the morning when they open at 8. It's a 12 hour tour so I'm guessing it will be quite an early departure. Another casino visit is on the cards for tonight but there's no way I'm going to make that. I have a stack of washing to do, haven't done any proper washing since I left our Carol's place, so that had to be done and didn't get finished till nearly 9pm and I need an early night to be ready in the morning.
Up at 6, have breakfast and am ready by 7.15, now it's just wait for the phone call from the tour company or from reception to say the driver is waiting downstairs for me. By 8.15 I haven't heard from the tour company so I call them only to find out the bus left at 8am. Thanks a lot, not. I go down to reception to see if they can find out if there is another bus tour I can go on. I wish I could remember my high school French as it's the official language of Montreal and making myself understood on the phone isn't easy, especially with my mixed accent. The receptionist told me the driver had called for me but as I didn't book it through the hotel they had no record of it. I can't for the life of me figure out why it was so difficult. The driver would have had my name on his pick-up sheet, they all have so far, so all reception had to do was call my room and check with me. Oh well, another mishap to add to the adventure, but I wasn't going to let a little thing like that stop me. I found out how I could get to Quebec on my own, easy, get the train 4 stops, go to the bus depot, catch a bus, 2 1/2 hour trip and I'm in Quebec. Then I have to find out how to get to the city so I wander off around the area looking for a shop or something that I think might hold an English speaking person, a travel agency, yep, that should be a good place. The lady on reception didn't speak any English but the young girl did, thank goodness. Her help was much appreciated, she gave me a mud map of the city, said to catch the #800 or #801 bus across the street and to get my tickets from the shop 3 doors down, they are cheaper than buying them on the bus. Finally I am in Quebec city and with mud map in hand I find my way to the main shopping area, I only went down 3 wrong streets, but there is a castle up here somewhere with a tourist information centre where I can get proper maps, souvenirs etc. Travel tip here for you guys. If you are considering a visit to Montreal/Quebec during winter, change your mind right now. I've only been walking 15 minutes and I can't feel my toes. I stop in a shop to buy another pair of socks, these thermal ones just aren't working, neither are the long johns. Again, my high school French would have come in really handy, but I manage to get the girl to understand what I mean, her English is very limited. I put on the 2nd pair of socks and take off again with my mud map to find the castle. Up another steep hill, check the street I'm on and find I'm no closer to the castle than I was when I first started out. None of these streets run in straight lines, or connect with each other very well. It's worse than a bloody rabbit warren. 2 pairs of socks are not working, I still can't feel my toes, so I figure, you can keep Quebec, especially in winter, and I head back to the bus station. I did manage to get a few photo's though without freezing the camera.
Back at the hotel at 7.15 and I'm freezing cold, hungry, would have killed for a cuppa 3 hours ago and I'm absolutely knackered. But I must say I did have fun and am not too worried that I missed the booked tour. I'd have left at 8 and got back at 8 so imagine how cold and tired I'd have been then hey.
Now it's Thursday morning, I only know that because I just checked the date at the bottom right and it's Friday morning in Perth, sorry to confuse you with the times there but I'm actually typing this on Thursday afternoon as the morning was a busy one. Down to reception at 9.15, (had a nice sleep in) right on the dot as the driver for today's tour is walking up to the desk to pick me up. He takes off around town to pick up more passengers for the 10am start. Seems I'm not the only one who missed trips, 4 hotels were checked but no one joined us on the bus. He drops us off at the information centre to wait for the official bus that will take us around Montreal. Guess what, there's a souvenir shop here. I do remember some of my French and read that the shop is closed for the season and will reopen on April 1st. Damn, and it's the only shop I've seen on all my travels so far that sells stubbie holders. Sorry Matt, you're going to have to wait till I come back here another year in spring or summer.
The driver of the tour is a great guy with a fantastic sense of humour. He kept us entertained not only with his official commentary but with some funny little retorts about some of the places we saw, some of the people who lived and are still living here, the irony of some taxes, i.e. one arena is wholely paid for and supported annually by the taxes on cigarettes and alcohol but you can't smoke or drink in there.
It was a fantastic trip with some great views of the city from the top of the mountain that I think is the one I can see from my room window. It was actually quite a warm day too, about -10 I think.
I arrive at my hotel at 5.15pm, and it's dark. There has been a good snow fall here too, it must have known I was heading this way and beat me here. It's bloody cold though. In my room I phone to check the departure time of the tour to Quebec City, of course the office closed at 5, so I left a message for them to call me back in the morning when they open at 8. It's a 12 hour tour so I'm guessing it will be quite an early departure. Another casino visit is on the cards for tonight but there's no way I'm going to make that. I have a stack of washing to do, haven't done any proper washing since I left our Carol's place, so that had to be done and didn't get finished till nearly 9pm and I need an early night to be ready in the morning.
Up at 6, have breakfast and am ready by 7.15, now it's just wait for the phone call from the tour company or from reception to say the driver is waiting downstairs for me. By 8.15 I haven't heard from the tour company so I call them only to find out the bus left at 8am. Thanks a lot, not. I go down to reception to see if they can find out if there is another bus tour I can go on. I wish I could remember my high school French as it's the official language of Montreal and making myself understood on the phone isn't easy, especially with my mixed accent. The receptionist told me the driver had called for me but as I didn't book it through the hotel they had no record of it. I can't for the life of me figure out why it was so difficult. The driver would have had my name on his pick-up sheet, they all have so far, so all reception had to do was call my room and check with me. Oh well, another mishap to add to the adventure, but I wasn't going to let a little thing like that stop me. I found out how I could get to Quebec on my own, easy, get the train 4 stops, go to the bus depot, catch a bus, 2 1/2 hour trip and I'm in Quebec. Then I have to find out how to get to the city so I wander off around the area looking for a shop or something that I think might hold an English speaking person, a travel agency, yep, that should be a good place. The lady on reception didn't speak any English but the young girl did, thank goodness. Her help was much appreciated, she gave me a mud map of the city, said to catch the #800 or #801 bus across the street and to get my tickets from the shop 3 doors down, they are cheaper than buying them on the bus. Finally I am in Quebec city and with mud map in hand I find my way to the main shopping area, I only went down 3 wrong streets, but there is a castle up here somewhere with a tourist information centre where I can get proper maps, souvenirs etc. Travel tip here for you guys. If you are considering a visit to Montreal/Quebec during winter, change your mind right now. I've only been walking 15 minutes and I can't feel my toes. I stop in a shop to buy another pair of socks, these thermal ones just aren't working, neither are the long johns. Again, my high school French would have come in really handy, but I manage to get the girl to understand what I mean, her English is very limited. I put on the 2nd pair of socks and take off again with my mud map to find the castle. Up another steep hill, check the street I'm on and find I'm no closer to the castle than I was when I first started out. None of these streets run in straight lines, or connect with each other very well. It's worse than a bloody rabbit warren. 2 pairs of socks are not working, I still can't feel my toes, so I figure, you can keep Quebec, especially in winter, and I head back to the bus station. I did manage to get a few photo's though without freezing the camera.
Back at the hotel at 7.15 and I'm freezing cold, hungry, would have killed for a cuppa 3 hours ago and I'm absolutely knackered. But I must say I did have fun and am not too worried that I missed the booked tour. I'd have left at 8 and got back at 8 so imagine how cold and tired I'd have been then hey.
Now it's Thursday morning, I only know that because I just checked the date at the bottom right and it's Friday morning in Perth, sorry to confuse you with the times there but I'm actually typing this on Thursday afternoon as the morning was a busy one. Down to reception at 9.15, (had a nice sleep in) right on the dot as the driver for today's tour is walking up to the desk to pick me up. He takes off around town to pick up more passengers for the 10am start. Seems I'm not the only one who missed trips, 4 hotels were checked but no one joined us on the bus. He drops us off at the information centre to wait for the official bus that will take us around Montreal. Guess what, there's a souvenir shop here. I do remember some of my French and read that the shop is closed for the season and will reopen on April 1st. Damn, and it's the only shop I've seen on all my travels so far that sells stubbie holders. Sorry Matt, you're going to have to wait till I come back here another year in spring or summer.
The driver of the tour is a great guy with a fantastic sense of humour. He kept us entertained not only with his official commentary but with some funny little retorts about some of the places we saw, some of the people who lived and are still living here, the irony of some taxes, i.e. one arena is wholely paid for and supported annually by the taxes on cigarettes and alcohol but you can't smoke or drink in there.
It was a fantastic trip with some great views of the city from the top of the mountain that I think is the one I can see from my room window. It was actually quite a warm day too, about -10 I think.