Big Trip 2014 - Montreal

From Champlain, New York, we crossed the border in to Canada. A big event due to being able to use my passport for the first time. Once we were allowed in, we drove up to spend the night in Montreal. It was a little confusing at first, switching over to kilometers, and seeing road signs in French. But we arrived safely, and other than having to listen to bad covers of French power ballads, we were none the worse.

View from our window at the Holiday Inn Longueuil

The steeple in the top photo is for the Cathedral of St. Antoine de Padua. It's a beautiful historic church that contains some of the remains of the original Fort Longueuil

We attended Sacrament Meeting at the Longueuil Ward. The service was all in French, so I didn't understand a thing. But the ward members were very friendly and welcoming. The church is on the same property as the temple, which is currently under renovation. The members currently drive 6 1/2 hours to Toronto if they want to go to the temple. The renovations on the Montreal temple should be completed sometime in 2015.

After church, we checked out of the hotel and drove into the old city to do dome touring. I really enjoyed Montreal. It was very walkable, historic, and clean. The layout reminded me a bit of New Orleans, without all the garbage.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Entrance to Chinatown

Waterfront park

InterContinental hotel.

For lunch we stopped at a small restaurant, where we tried the regional dish of Quebec, called poutine. It's french fries, smothered in gravy and cheese curds. It was oui magnifique!

We still had a long drive ahead of us, so we were only in Montreal for a few hours. But I loved it and would go back again in a heartbeat.

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