Souvenirs From The Road: A Busy Day in Montreal!

One of the beautiful sites we visited.

First of all, we were so awesomely lucky in having the easiest border crossing ever! I still can’t believe it. Maybe because it was raining, a busy port, or just a real talkative guy that wanted to know all about Texas. We made it to our campground where we’re meeting up with the rest of our group. We ventured out to get a few groceries and some adult beverages. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with the French language and signs. And a few hiccups to get the phones to working correctly. Geez.

Maybe we were glad for the rainy border crossing.

Montreal! What a busy, awesome day! The weather is good, although it got a little hot this afternoon. We boarded our tour bus at 8:30 and headed for Historic Old Montreal. We picked up our tour guide who was absolutely wonderful! Our first stop was at the Roman Catholic Catheral of Montreal. It was beautiful! There is a side room where the archbishops are buried.

Burial place of the archbishops

Burial room

We were served poppyseed bagels when we returned to the bus. They say Montreal is known for their bagels. I’m not so sure I enjoyed it that much though.

Next stop was the Notre Dame Basilica. And wow!!!! Pictures don’t do it justice! First of all, when you enter you will notice that the floor slopes down. A difference of about 3 yards. It was designed this way so those in the back can see just as well. If you want to have a wedding here, it takes 2 years to reserve. Also the stained glass windows – nothing Biblical here. They represent Montreal history. And the only person buried here is the architect, who was converted to Catholicism on his deathbed so he could be buried here.

Notre Dame Basilica

Before microphones, this is where the priest would preach from. In the center of the church

Notice the detail of the carvings. This is pine.

This is a smaller chapel. Used a lot for weddings, as the bigger chapel has to be reserved two years in advance. Celin Dion rented the big chapel for her wedding.

There are 7,000 pipes in the organ.

The stained glass represents history of Montreal, not Christianity.

This was sectioned off for the very wealthy.

Center of the room where the priest would preach from.

You just can't imagine the beauty.

Montreal is an island. And when the World’s Fair was here, they built several islands (by excavation). Pretty interesting. There is a clock tower here that commemorates those lost at sea.

United States Pavilion when you look up.

United States Pavilion

This is a weekend of a national holiday – St. John the Baptist. Traffic was horrible in town. If we had to drive on our own, I would have turned around. Road blocks everywhere. There was a Lions Club Convention, and a parade, and a bicycle race. But our driver did great when he took us for a ride on the Formula One Racetrack Grand Prix! I want to see you drive a 43’ bus on this route. It made for a good memory.

Can't you just hear those cars speeding by? Our bus wasn't very fast lol.

Next stop was Mount Royal Park. It rises majestically up in the middle of the city. It is a symbol of the city’s heritage, history, geography and inspiration. There was the longest hillside cemetery. We had lunch in Mount Royal Park. The same architect that designed Central Park also designed this park.

The road had a barricade where we were going to get out for a walk and see and visit with the Canadian Mounties. Shucks. Did you know that 80% of maple syrup for the world is done here? They are the largest exporters.

We didn’t visit the Tower of Olympic Stadium, which has 67,000 seats. It’s kind of an eyesore. You see the tower that leans? It’s supposed to operate opening the top of the dome. They said it worked once. It had to be programmed 24 hours in advance. It’s nickname is “owe” because it’s always being repaired.