Day 29 - Drive to Montreal

About every second or third day we have a long driving day to get us to our next destination. In this case it was over 8 hours of driving (plus extra time for bathroom stops and meals) to get us from Oromocto to Montreal. We enjoyed the well maintained divided highway and 110 KM/H speed limit in New Brunswick. In Quebec we were back to construction, one lane roads and 90 KM speed limits. On top of that there was a terrific rain storm which reduced the visibility to almost nothing for a few minutes. 

This rest stop was nice though, with huge trees so we took a short stroll around to stretch our legs. 

Luckily we have started gaining time as we drive west. We gained an hour going from the Atlantic to the eastern time zone so we made it to our Airbnb in the late evening. The Airbnb was above a Greek restaurant in the Plateau Mont-Royal area which is a very vibrant, dense urban area. 

Our Airbnb host greeted us and told us where to park. Without a residents pass the parking options were limited and we have such a long truck they were virtually nonexistent. We found pay street parking about a 20 minute walk away and were  so grateful that we could fit the truck we didn’t mind! Also it was 8:45 pm and pay parking ended at 9:00 pm so it wasn’t a big expense. But parking the truck would be a major focus of our time for the time we were in Montreal! 🤦🏻‍♀️

(It looks like a lot of spaces but without the residents pass we couldn’t park here. We could park further down on the left but it was full of cars).

But in the end the 20 minute walk back was a lovely way to be introduced to the neighbourhood. There were people out strolling, riding their bikes, cafes, restaurants and stores were buzzing with people. It was a lovely night for a stroll and and ice cream cone. 

This was an interesting amalgamation of infrastructure and public art. The bottom part was a storm water retention pond and the top was a light sculpture that looked like a cloud (Sam was the one who figured out it was a cloud)  

We meandered our way back through some lovely pedestrian streets. Here are some old chairlifts as benches. 

Across from our Airbnb was a hydrant hooked up to a sprayer. A nice way to cool off after our walk! It was a long day but a great start to our time in Montreal