Montreal and "Smoked Meat" Sandwiches

We pulled into Camping Alouette RV Park, located about 15 miles from Montreal. We will stay here three nights and had already decided that since Montreal is such a huge city, we would take a Gray Line bus tour to view the city. We chose this park because the bus will pick up in the park and take you down to the Gray Line station. The tour was about $41.00 per person (senior rates) and it was well worth it! We were picked up at 8:30 a.m. and would return to the park around 4:30 p.m.

Montreal has a population of approximately 3,800,000 people within a 55 kilometer distance. The French colonists were the first to arrive in Montreal, followed by the English, the Scottish and the Irish. Today, 80 distinct ethnic communities are represented in its population. It boasts a rather large underground pedestrian network which appears to just be one continuous mall, leading you by any kind of store you can imagine and almost any type of fast food spot. It definitely makes Houston’s underground look pretty pitiful by comparison. George is trying to decide which direction we need to go in the underground tunnel.

One of the first stops on the tour was Notre Dame Basilica.

A stone church was built between 1672 and 1683. It was located right in the middle of Notre-Dame Street. By 1800, many parishioners had to listen to mass in the square in front of the chapel because it was no longer large enough to accommodate everyone. The west tower, called Perseverance, was the first of the twin towers to be constructed. It was completed in 1841 and houses the great bell, which weighs 10,900 kg. A 10 bell carillon is housed in Temperance, the second tower, which was completed in 1843. The magnificent interior is sculpted in wood. Paintings, sculptures and stained glass windows illustrate biblical passages as well as 350 years of parish history. The organ has four keyboards, 99 stops and approximately 7,000 pipes.
Old Montreal allows you to wander down narrow, winding streets dating back to the origins of the French colony. There are many splendid buildings from the 1700’s and some of the most remarkable 19th century Victorian commercial buildings in North America. This charming historical setting has some superb public squares, five history museums, over thirty art galleries and numerous boutiques and sidewalk cafes.

Our tour also took us by the Biodome which recreates four of the finest ecosystems of the Americas, complete with plants, animals by the thousands, cliffs and waterways, and even the climate itself. A tour of the Biodome covers the lush, humid and hot tropical forest; the Laurentian Forest, where beavers, otters and lynx are waiting; the St. Lawrence Marine Ecosystem, with a basin of 2.5 million litres of salt water and which is home to an astounding variety of birdlife and underwater fauna; and finally, a visit to the two Poles with a chance to admire penguins and auks at the same time.

The Biodome stands in the shadows of the Montreal Tower at Olympic Park. Built for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, the Olympic Stadium is the park’s centerpiece. It is topped by the tallest inclined tower in the world, Montreal Tower. After riding in a cable car up the incline, the Observatory provides a view on a clear day of up to 80 kilometers in every direction.

Mount Royal Park is affectionately referred to as “the Mountain” by locals and has become the preferred viewing spot for nature lovers, bird watchers and sports enthusiasts. The numerous paths and superb lookout points offer hours of recreation. Though we had a cloudy day, you could still see quite a bit of Montreal from the top of the park.

The same architect who designed Central Park in New York also designed Mount Royal. There are beautiful flower gardens throughout the park. Also, found on the slopes of Mount Royal are two of the city’s oldest cemeteries, Mount Royal which covers 165 acres and Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery which is Canada’s largest cemetery. Since 1854, more than 900,000 people have been buried there. Nearby on the parks outskirts, are the campuses of two universities as well as Saint Joseph’s Oratory which welcomes pilgrims annually. It is one of the world’s most visited shrines. The basilica’s huge dome reaches 97 meters and is second only in height to Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The shrine, devoted to Saint Joseph consists of a primitive chapel, a votive chapel, a crypt and a basilica large enough to accommodate 10,000 worshippers.
The road leading up to Mount Royal allows interesting views of homes costing upwards of a million dollars.

When the bus brought us back to the station, we decided to go to Dunn’s which was recommended by a lady who was born in Montreal. They make a sandwich called “smoked meat”, which we would probably call a Reuben in the States. A lady sat down next to us who was from Montreal and had been to Dunn’s many times. She told us how to order the sandwich and to have them exchange the fries for poutine fries (fries with a brown gravy and cheese curds). It was very delicious! We had had poutine fries out at the desert this year when Wally and Sam had made them for one of the happy hours. Then the lady said we couldn’t leave without having a piece of the Dunn’s special cheesecake! By the time we left, we could hardly waddle out! But it was delicious and we have now been thoroughly indoctrinated to French Canadian food.

Though the day was cloudy and rainy, we enjoyed the tour thoroughly and were very thankful that we did not have to drive ourselves into the city. After a full day of riding around and walking, we decided that we’d take a day off to catch up on some housekeeping items and relax before heading off to our last city, Old Quebec.

We’ve found the Province of Quebec to be a real challenge. Everything is written in French and that is most all that is spoken here. Many of the tourism employees will speak English but a lot of the residents either can’t or won’t speak English. The grocery stores are quite frustrating as all the aisles are labeled in French and we found ourselves going up and down all the aisles to look for the items we wanted. We’ve also found that things are getting more expensive the farther east we go in Canada. I think we will definitely be ready to start slowing down and taking life a little easier after our next few day in Old Quebec. We have decided to drive around the coastal road of Quebec to Perce and then on down to New Brunswick. We’re not sure what we will encounter, but we thought it would be a lovely drive and are looking forward to getting away from the cities. Of the three cities we have visited so far, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal, - Ottawa is our most favorite. It is definitely the smaller of the three and has a nice mix of old and new. All signs are in both English and French and the Rideau Canal is a very beautiful walking, running, and biking trail. Large boats come down the canal, park and spend the evening in Ottawa.And of course, we loved the Beaver Tails which are whole wheat pastries stretched to the shape of a beaver’s tail and float cooked on Canola or Soya oil. They are served piping hot and topped with your choice of several delectable toppings such as cinnamon and sugar, chocolate, nuts, etc.

We’ll be looking forward to our next city visit in Old Quebec in the next few days so we hope you will join us. By the way, does anybody speak French????