Tuesday 28th Sept - Saint Sauveur to Shawinigan

We decided to take the scenic route through the mountains via Saint Gabriel which is on the shores of Lake Maskinongé, in the shadows of the Laurentian Mountains.  I would imagine that had we been able to see much beyond the end of our noses, it would have been beautiful - still it had a kind of ghostly charm.

Had lunch in a greasy spoon diner which was absolutely nothing special.  As we drove onwards, the weather cleared slightly and we had a few photo opportunities along the way.........

 We continued to Shawinigan which was about 170 km from Saint Sauveur.  Shawinigan has hills, rivers and the Parc national de la Mauricie.  We took a walk along the banks of La petite rivière Shawinigan which was a 2 minute walk from our hotel which had plenty of colour.............

Plenty of wildlife, squirrels that shout at you, chipmonks and the occasional two legged ones...........

Finished with a nice steak at St Hubert.

Off to Quebec City tomorrow.

Monday 27th Sept - Montreal - Mont Tremblant - Saint-Sauveur

Weather warm but damp today with rain forcasted.  Will be our first real spell of rain which is a shame as we're travelling into the Laurentian mountains.  We drove straight to Mont Tremblant for a picturesque drive through the forests on the way up to the mountain and stopped near the top at a resort with a lake.  Unfortunately it was grey skies and so the colours don't stand out as much as we would have liked - C'est la vie as they say round here.

Then it was back to Saint Sauveur which is a pretty little town which has sprung up to serve the skiing and golfing tourists. 

The hotel is superb with a warm pool (although Jean would dispute that) and the biggest jaccuzi I've ever seen, it was about 6 feet wide by 30 feet long and it was hot! 

The rooms are described as condo style and had kitchen and sitting areas.

 Off to Shawinigan via Saint-Gabriel tomorrow.

Sunday 26th Sept - Montreal

More sightseeing around the dock and market area local to our hotel.  Then it was off on a journey via the Metro to the Olympic Stadium - the locals call it the "Big Owe" as it took 30 years for the taxpayers to clear the debt (Montreal held the Olympics in 1976).  I suspect that London 2012 will be a "Bigger Owe"!


and the Botanical Gardens.  Probably the best Botanical Gardens we've seen.  Here are some of the pics.

hgfhghg

Then it seemed right to round off the evening with a picher of sangria and a pork hock!

Off to Mont Tremblant tomorrow, staying at Saint Sauveur.

Saturday 25th Sept - Montreal

More sightseeing starting at the Marche Bonsecours with the Chapelle Notre Dame do Bon Secours next door.  The market (with the dome) was not we were expecting with just touristy things of no interest but the church was lovely - very light inside.



Then a long stroll in the sunshine to the next Notre Dame - the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.

Then it was a trip on the metro to Lionel-Groulx for the Marche Atwater which was a proper market where we were able to buy our lunch from the various market stalls.  We gave the lobsters a miss as they looked a bit cramped up in their tank.

The pumpkins were out in force again ........

And the cheeses were very smelly!!!!

We'd read that you get great views over the city from Belvedere Kondiaronk but in that area of the Parc du Mont-Royal, the map wasn't very precise and certainly didn't have any contour lines.  We took the metro to Edouard-Montpetit which took us half up the mount on the other side to Montreal and we had a 45 minute uphill walk through the most beautiful, peaceful and huge cemetry we've ever seen.  Eventually after a couple of hundred steps, we got to the Belvedere which gives superb views over the city.

 
 Superb views from the top with some lovely foliage colours..............
 

Well we came up a hill (as they say) but we definitely came down a mountain.  Bob & Selma would have been proud of our hiking prowess.

By the time we got to civilisation and found a bar, we were in dire need of a sit down and drink.  Jean had her first pint of sangria.

I thought I was doing well to capture a picture of Jean, smiling, with a map of the metro behind her......

 But after she took a picture of me, I realised why she was smiling - I'd suddenly become a player in a film about depressants!

Time for dinner - here you are Sam, some more food! Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich and Fish 'N Chips

More sightseeing tomorrow.