Day 18, July 27, Sunday, Montreal, Quebec Canada

We decided to not take the car into Montreal and bought a three day pass for the Metro (subway).  To catch the Metro, we drove about 20 minutes to the Longueuil station.  The station brought back memories as we have been there before.  Unlike NY, the Metro is not air conditioned.  Our first stop was the Jean Talon Market, a  huge marketplace with lots of goodies to buy.  However, without our car nearby, we did not buy anything since I did not want to carry it around all day.  We took the Metro to Schwartz’s Deli for smoked meat and then after about a 20 minute walk, we arrived to find a line out the door and around the block.   We changed plans and headed to La Banquise for poutine.  After another long walk, we found another long line.  We changed plans again for Ma Poule Mouillee.  We had been there before (in 2018 ) and had a great meal of poutine.  Their line was shorter and so we decided to wait.  A hot hour later, we finally got inside where we found it hotter than outside.  We ordered the chicken and chorizo poutine in grande size as Rosemary said we will share.  Well, even with the two of us we could not finish it all.  Aaron and I had this dish in 2018 and it was great.  This time, not so much.  Next we walked to Cha Do Raku, a tea shop where Rosemary bought some tea to take home.  Next we wanted to go to Fous Desserts but the web said it was closed so we walked to another patisserie, Hof Kelsten, which the web said was open.  We began a long walk along the pedestrian Rue Mont Royal and happened to find  Gong Cha so we stopped in for boba teas and air conditioning. We then continued on and found the web was wrong and Hof Kelsten was closed.  We turned around and walked back the entire Rue Mont Royal to another patisserie, O Petit Paris.  Success, it was open!  Rats, no more almond croissants.  We had to settle for a chocolate croissant and a kouign aman.  On the way to the Metro, we stopped at St. Viateur Bagel and bought a half dozen sesame bagels.  A light dinner back in the coach was a salad and sesame bagel and a kouign aman for dessert.  An exhausting day!  I don’t remember being this tired when we were here in 2018 or it being this hot.  I blame global warming, not old age!

Day 19, July 28, Monday, Montreal, Quebec Canada

Today we began with a visit to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts via the Metro.  This was Rosemary’s desire to attend an indoor activity to avoid the outdoor heat.  I did not disagree.  Although we were here in 2016, I do not remember the museum being spread out over three buildings, one of which appears very modern.  We could not make heads or tails of the museum map even the English version, so we think we covered it all but who knows. Lots of interesting art and also lots not so interesting.  We departed and took the Metro and a 22 minute walk to Lester’s Deli.  We shared the Smoked Meat Special which was a big sandwich with fries, coleslaw and pickles.  Rosemary had a little meat, a little fries and a little coleslaw.  The rest was mine and it was delicious and plenty filling.  Worth the trip and I am no longer missing Schwartz’s!  Next we walked to Fairmont Bagels where we got a baker’s dozen of 11 sesame and 2 pumpernickel.  Just about right around the corner was Boulangerie Guillaume.  Again no almond croissants so we had to settle for a chocolate croissant again.  Again, a light dinner in the coach of eggs and bagels followed by our pastries.  Tired again but well fed.

Day 20, July 29, Tuesday, Montreal, Quebec Canada

Today we decided to take the car into Montreal.  The Metro seems to have too few lines which makes for more walking in the heat.  We visited the Biodome which is like an indoor zoo but with 5 different ecosystems.  The first zone was the Tropical Rainforest which felt like Florida - so maybe Montreal does not quite have our hometown humidity.  The last zone we visited was the Subpolar Region the entry of which was an ice cave.  We enjoyed the puffins and penguins and stayed awhile to enjoy the cool temperature.  We ate our packed lunch in the car with the a/c running which kept us nice and cool - an advantage with our new tow car (a PHEV).  For those who don’t know yet, in February my old tow car was t-boned and totaled - but I survived with no major injury.  Next we drove to Mont Royal to get a view of the city.  Apparently we ended up on the side away from downtown and did not get to see the downtown.  Next we drove to the Atwater Market.  Much smaller than Jean Talon but has everything you could want.  We bought some lettuce and pasta for dinner and a chocolatine aux amandes (chocolate croissant with almonds) for dessert.  Since Rosemary desired to have eggs again for dinner, the pasta was something just for me - gorgonzola and walnut ravioli - as Rosemary won’t eat gorgonzola.  It was so good it did not need any sauce.  Not too tired today - the car made the difference.

Day 21, July 30, Wednesday, Bellingham, MA (340 miles)

We departed Montreal and this time crossed the border on Highway 225 instead of an Interstate.  A very rural spot and we had no wait for the border guard to greet us.  We provided our passports and both vehicle registrations answered a few simple questions and we were let in.  This is the first time coming back into the US where they did not enter the coach to look for tomatoes and stowaways.  Trump would not be happy that he could not eat our tomatoes - if we only had any!  At lunchtime we were near Montpelier, VT, so we decided to stop at Bragg Sugar Farm about 9 miles outside of the town.  We had stayed there overnight in 2014 and it is the best maple syrup we have found.  We have ordered syrup from them ever since.  After sampling the 4 varieties, today we bought another gallon (very dark robust taste) and saved the shipping cost.  As a courtesy, Bragg gave us a free maple ice cream  which we enjoyed after lunch.  A bit of a long travel day as we checked in to Circle CG Farm Campground (FHU) about 6:30.  Dinner was thanks to Aaron who made our dal and baked our brownies.