Weekend in Montreal

Posted on Jul 01, 2013 by

Hello --

My husband and I have returned from a lovely weekend in Montreal. We first went there in 1967 for Expo `67 and liked it so much we returned a year later. Somehow, although we have been to Canada a number of times, this was the first time we`ve managed to get back to Montreal since then.

Although we generally prefer to stay at B&Bs, I managed to secure accommodations through PriceLine at the Delta Montreal for $64/night. It turned out to be a very good choice. The hotel was clean, comfortable and attractive. Although we traversed much of the city, we never used the Metro. We were in walking distance to everything, and there was a hot tub for Ron`s gimpy leg.

We drove up from our home in Columbia County, NY on Friday, crossing the border at Rouse`s Point. We find this an excellent alternative to the major crossing on I87 at Champlain, since it is only a small detour and there is almost never a wait. We checked in at the hotel and then parked our car at the garage under Concordia University ($18 for the 48 hours we were there) and then walked a pleasant 20 minutes back to the hotel. Later we walked to the Old City where we had dinner -- and, incredibly, were seated next to a couple we know at home!

Saturday we walked, and walked, and walked. I took a long walk before breakfast while Ron hung out in the hot tub at the hotel. Then I collected Ron and we headed for Mount Royal which, depending how you look at it, is a small mountain or a big hill. At any rate we walked to the top. The views are spectacular and it is also a good way to meet the locals. We then walked to the Plateau Mont-Royal section of the city, which is a wonderful, vibrant, ethnically diverse section of the city -- and many kilometers from Mount Royal. A circuitous route took us back to our hotel, where Ron made use of the hot tub again to ease the pain in his leg. We then went back to the Old City for dinner and hung out around the waterfront for awhile, but decided not to wait for the fireworks because the weather looked threatening and we were really exhausted.

On Sunday morning we walked back to the Plateau Mont-Royal. While not as lively as it had been on Saturday, it was a great place to wander. We then returned to our hotel to check out and then spent a couple of hours wandering around downtown before picking up our car. The only downside came on our trip home, which should have taken about four hours, but was stretched to five-and-a-half by severe thunderstorms that were with us for about 150 miles. However, we survived and are eager to return!

Cheers,