Chateau Montebello, QC - 6/27/12

We left St. Anne when the lock opened at 9 a.m.  We had moved our boats from the wall to the wall painted blue which indicated we wanted to lock through.  

St. Anne

Before we left town Ricki walked around and took pictures since it had rained hard the day before and we couldn't get any.

St. Anne

St. Anne

Ottawa River

It took about half an hour to lock through which raised us 35 feet.  Our next lock will be 65 feet and it also will have a floating dock inside.

Ottawa River

First part of our trip today was a little rough with gusts of winds to 40 knots which made some 4 footers on the bow.  This guy was out in it with a tiny sailboat.

Different Door - Gulitine

We had a very short wait on lock #2 which was 30 miles from the last lock.  The door went up like a garage door because the lift was so high.

Kyakers  Leaving Lock

When it opened we heard a bunch of voices and when it opened out came all these kids.  The last person was an adult and he stopped by our boat to ask questions about the loop since he has a dream of doing it.  His parting note was that "it was a lifetime of fullness".

Inside Lock

Very tricky getting in to the dock with a NW wind that whipped through the door.

Clearing Pass

Each Canadian Lock checks our pass to make sure we have taken care of the fees.  Our pass is a season one that gives us dockage and lockage in all Canadian Canals.

Chateau Montebello

We checked into the marina which was one of the most expensive we have seen and walked up to the hotel. It is awesome but none of our inside pictures turned out.  This dress code is indicative of the place.

Swim Pool

By staying in the marina we had priviledges to all the amenaties of the hotel

Hotel

The hotel is owned by the Fairmont Hotel chain and is the worlds largest log structure.

Mascot

We saw this guy in the lobby on our way through and tried to talk to him but apparently he only understood French.

Hotel

Critter

Sunset

Dinner on Quest with Marc since Michelle is still not quite up to par.  Tomorrow we travel to Ottawa and should get there by noon so we can look around.  Ricki & I will leave Friday morning for the Rideau but Michelle & mark will probably stay another day or so.

Our position here is:  N 45  38.623  W 074  57.105

Sainte Anne Bellevue, QC

Leaving Old Port Montreal

We left Port d’Escale at 7:30 to go 3 miles downstream to another marina to get fuel and a pump out before starting back upstream for 39 miles to Sainte Anne.  We were joined by Murial June as we passed the cut to Port d’Escale and continued about 3 miles to the Sainte Lambert Lock on the St. Lawrence River.  Allen (Murial June) had checked the internet site for the locks and it indicated we would be able to lock through after 10 a.m.  We got there at 10 and after purchasing our transit tickets for the two locks we would got through today at $25 each, waited until 2 p.m. before we got our turn.  We waited while three ships went through the lock then the lockmaster informed us the breaker on the lock doors had malfunctioned and we would have to wait for it to reset.

When we finally got into the lock with three other boats, they had us raft up 3 deep which didn’t make sense in such a big lock.  They threw lines to the boats on the wall which we were one of those, and then we had to work our butts off to hold everyone in place.  Next lock we were lucky and got to raft against Marc’s Ark and watched them work after waiting another hour for a ship to pass through downstream.  Marc's Ark & Quest turned onto the lake toward the Ottawa River and Muriel June continued south on the St. Lawrence.

We got to St. Anne at 6:50, tied to the lock wall and walked a very short distance in the rain to a neat restaurant where we were the only customers.  Tomorrow we will pass through this lock then have a long run to Ottawa.  Unfortunately we will only spend the night there and will get started up the Rideau Canal Thursday so we can get to NY the first part of next week to meet Christine and Dianne for a few days in the 1000 Islands. 

N 45  24.217   W 073  57.194

Leaving Old Port Montreal 

Fuel & Pump Out

Buying Tickets for the locks

Big Boat

Waiting to lock thru

Ticket Machine

Instructions

Rafting Up in the Lock

Next Lock Waiting

Another Big Ship

Michelle holding us off the Wall

Dinner

Our Server

The Restaurant

Port d'Escale, Montreal, QC - 6/25/12

Slight change of plans today.  Early this morning Marc came to the boat and told us Michelle was not feeling well and probably had a virus so we all decided to rest today and start off again tomorrow.  Marc & I walked to a marine store later in the morning to see if we could acquire some maps for the Ottawa River and Rideau Canal which we needed but it was still closed due to the holiday yesterday.  This apparently a place that stays up late and sleeps in late because we saw no one on the streets shortly after 8:30 a.m.

The two of us also walked to an IGA later in the morning to pick up a few things.  Groceries in Canada are very expensive. Example ... a pound of bananas was 99 cents and a coffee cake was $5.99.  Gasoline is priced by the liter and is $1.40.  We have to get fuel tomorrow and I can't wait to see what that will be!

Quest & Marc's Ark in the center

 Mid afternoon Ricki walked around the wall of the marina to get some exercise.

Tourist Traps

 The marina wall is lined with little shops on the west wall where a large tour boat loads.

For Rent

 These 4 passenger bikes can be rented and used to get around .

Park

There is a large grassy area with a pond between the marina port and the street where folks either lay around or sit with their feet in the cool water.

Tomorrow if nothing happens we will join Marc's Ark and another looper boat Murial June to head for Ottawa.

Port d'Escale, Montreal, QC - 6/24/12

Our Sunday started off as it should, up at 7 a.m. so we could make the short walk to the 9:30 services at Basilica Notre-Dame.

Another neat area

We walked by another pedestrian walkway that looked so peaceful with lots of seats and trees.

Basilica Notre-Dame

We got to the church at 9:15 and sat in awe of the beauty of it.  This was the only picture we got of the inside because we found out they don't want cameras, movies or cell phones in there.The service was in French but it was similar to what we are used to seeing.

State Adult Beverage Store

Across the street was the liquor store which is normally open on Sundays from 8 until 5 but since this was a holiday weekend it was closed.

Basilica Notre-Dame

Street Sign

We are slowly learning pieces of the French language and can recognize words on menus.

She found a Christmas Shop

One of Ricki's hobbies is to get a Christmas ornament in each place we visit and since we have traveled so much over the years, our "travel tree" is getting pretty full.

Gay Section

After lunch on the boat we joined Marc & Michelle on a Gray Line bus tour of the city which was most interesting.  Montreal has so much history that dates back in time from invasions, wars and even the Olympic Games several years ago.

Our Driver

Both levels of the bus were full but it was a hop on/hop off type tour so we eventually worked our way from the first level to the top open level.

Museum of Fine Art

We stopped at the museum and spent about 45 minutes enjoying various pieces of art.

Family ?

The Thinking Man

We waited for the next bus outside the museum at 3:05

Just Married

St. John Church

Our tour took us by this church which is the 3rd largest in the world and built entirely with contributions. We also went by the Notre-Dame catholic Cemetery which has over one million folks buried in it.

Our looper friends

Montreal

Another stop was on top of Mont-Royal which is a mountain formed from volcanic activities centuries ago. It provided great views of the city plus had a huge park that was absolutely full of people enjoying life.

Eye Candy

Good thing I was here or Ricki would have brought him back to the boat.

Another looper couple on Blue Moon which we first saw in Waterford, stopped by and chatted plus offered to loan us the maps we needed for the Ottawa River and Rideau Canal.

The four of us enjoyed dinner at a French restaurant later in the evening then turned in for the night.  Tomorrow we get moving again on the St. Lawrence into the Ottawa River thru a couple locks to Sainte Anne.  Just for the record, we have gone through 23 locks on the Champlain Canal making our total to date of 55 locks.  We will go through another 80 plus locks to get to Lake Huron.