JUNK BOAT TRAVELS: Levis

Showing posts with label Levis. Show all posts

09 October 2022

Day 34 Levis QC to Montreal QC

October 7 2022

Dark and gloomy as we headed out.

What should have been a 3 hour drive ended up being 4 hours due to traffic leaving Levis and entering Montreal. We also had the most rain we've had the entire trip.

As we left the hotel, which is on the side of the highway I checked the traffic and there was a 103 minute delay on highway A73 south which runs from the US border to northern Quebec. 40 minute delay on A20, our route.

The culprit.

I can't help it, the colours are magnificent. Mother Nature outdid herself this year.

Unusual saints.

It is a challenge for English drivers figuring out the signs.

And then it rained.

No idea what this is, anyone?

One of the bridges to get onto the island of Montreal, where it is illegal to make a right turn on a red light.

Shell of the US Expo 67 pavilion.

Crossing Pont Champlain.

The Samuel De Champlain Bridge, colloquially known as the Champlain Bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge design by architect Poul Ove Jensen and built to replace the original Champlain Bridge over the Saint Lawrence River, between Nuns' Island in the borough of Verdun in Montreal and the suburban city of Brossard on the South Shore.

The new span is located just north of the original Champlain Bridge, which is currently being demolished. The new bridge carries eight lanes of automobile traffic of the A-10, A-15, and A-20, with one lane in each direction dedicated for buses. It also includes a multi-use lane for cyclists and pedestrians. The central portion of the bridge deck, still under construction, will carry the South Shore branch of the forthcoming Réseau express métropolitain (REM) automated light rail system. At 60 metres (200 ft) wide, the new Champlain Bridge is the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world that uses two planes of cables.
It is one of the largest infrastructure projects ever built in North America and with an estimated 59 million vehicles a year, one of the busiest crossings on the continent. It is built to last 125 years with the usage of stainless steel and high-performance concrete, and replaces the previous 57-year-old bridge, which has become functionally obsolete and its structure having been degraded by the repeated application of de-icing salt.

I have read Montreal bloggers talking about the pink house and we went by it!!

The Malting plant and elevators were built in 1905 by the Canada Malting Co. Large cement silos were added in the 1940s to store the barley.
The company exported the malt along the Lachine Canal, and when the canal closed to commercial navigation in 1970, the transportation cost rose to the point that the company abandoned the site in 1980.
Since then, it's fallen into disrepair. Windows are boarded up, brick walls are crumbling, and the façade is covered in graffiti.

It's still a mystery as to who climbed up and painted the cabin pink and decorates the houses for the holidays.

We check in to the Hilton Garden Inn and head out to family for dinner.

08 October 2022

The Postmaster's Bakery

Linking up at Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share

Sunday Salon

Sunday Post

Oct 1 2022 - Halifax NS

September 2022 - St. John's NL *

* The Postmaster's Bakery is a luxury B&B in the heart of St. John's.

Saturday Oct 1 - North Sydney NS to Halifax NS We breakfast in our room before getting on the road to Halifax around 10. We had to do some sorting of clothes between suitcases.

It is 11 C at 9 AM and very sunny.

We finally stopped in Antigonish for a light late lunch of Greek salad and mushroom soup.

The sign mentions Peace by Chocolate and then had some for sale.

Here is their story.
For nearly 30 years we created and shipped our specialty treats all over the Middle East and Europe.
Like much of our homeland, in late 2012 the original Hadhad family chocolate factory in Damascus, Syria was destroyed in a bombing that forced our family to leave everything behind and flee to Lebanon.
For three years we found ourselves as refugees with little opportunity or hope. Our lives had been forever altered and we dreamed of being able to once again live lives we could love. When our family was invited to Canada, our dreams came true. With the support of our new community of Antigonish and the people of Nova Scotia, we have rebuilt our chocolate company and are once again doing the work we love.

Currently 100% of their proceeds are going to Hurricane Fiona relief - one peace can't hurt.

Here is a clip from a movie recently released, telling their story.

Getting into the downtown Halifax area was interesting due to the damage done by Hurricane Fiona. Macdonald Bridge was still closed.

Finally we found our hotel The Hollis. We were upgraded to a suite (at their prices we should)!

We walked down the street for gluten free pizza at Piatto Pizza, John thought his GF was equal to and almost better than Libretto's at home.

Sunday Oct 2 - Halifax NS

We had a good night's sleep and headed to breakfast at 10:15. We both thought it was our best breakfast on this trip, fresh, hot and lots of choices, although not free, except for Hilton gold members as we are.

It was a very cool morning so we just lounged about until 1 when we headed out and decided it was too chilly as we are both just at the end of our head colds. So we picked up BBQ chicken and fresh bread for dinner and spent the afternoon in. It is our first down time since we left home a month ago!

We finalized our plans and bookings for heading home. We will be home next Saturday!

I also placed an online grocery order for delivery on Sunday as it will Canadian Thanksgiving.

What better on a cold afternoon as John watched football. This was really nice and spicy. Canadian made, we can find it at home. Matt and Steve's spicy Caesar with extreme bean brine.

Monday Oct 3 Halifax NS to St. Martins NB We enjoyed another breakfast at the Hilton and hung around until 11. It was a blue sky cold morning, 4C when having breakfast.

Click here to see last week's murals in Botwood NL.

There were no hotels available in St. John NB, none! Seems AWWA is in town.

The American Water Works Association is an international, nonprofit, scientific and educational society dedicated to providing total water solutions assuring the effective management of water. Founded in 1881, the Association is the largest organization of water supply professionals in the world.

So I booked in St. Martins 45 minutes away - Beach St. Inn for two nights.

Beach St. Inn

Our room is lovely.

I had also made a reservation for dinner in their restaurant. John had a steak and I had the lobster panini with potato salad. We had a great server and again the next night - Matt.

Tuesday October 5 St. Martins NB

Paul, the owner, greeted guests and served coffee. Breakfast was included and was very good, they even had gluten free toast.

We decided to take advantage of the incredible weather and spend time around here, too nice to drive to St. John. We had been in St. John NB in 2014. More photos here including the Bay of Fundy 2014.

Click here for our day.

Bay of Fundy

Ice cream for lunch.

These free libraries were scattered around town.

Back into town for a drive.

What a surprise these days! Housekeeping actual came by and asked if we needed anything or wanted our garbage taken. This hasn't happened once on this trip when we had multiple overnight stays.

Dinner at 7:30. We shared a beet and goat cheese salad. John had mussels and I had salmon.

Wednesday Oct 5 St. Martins NB and we had another good complimentary breakfast before packing up.

We headed back to the Bay of Fundy to see it with the tide in.

We took an afternoon break at King's Landing.

Kings Landing is a living history museum with original buildings from the period of 1820-1920.

Although Kings Landing is not and never was a real village, New Brunswick and the areas surrounding Prince William were primarily settled by Anglo-American Loyalists from the Thirteen Colonies, who were called the United Empire Loyalists in Canada; Scottish, Irish and English immigrants were early settlers as well.

The chipmunks were loving the seeds.

Making Christmas puddings.

Glorious weather!

Our destination for the night is The Quality Inn and Conference Centre in Edmundston NB. It has a pedway to the Grey Rocks Casino where we dined.

Thursday October 6 Edmundston NB complimentary breakfast.

The view out our window.

Today is a shorter drive so we checked out at 11 and we also gained an hour when we crossed into Quebec.

We are in the Hampton Inn in Levis. It is a new hotel in a new vibrant neighbourhood. The hotel doesn't have a restaurant but there are at least three within feet of the door.

We chose Cochon Dingue, a French style bistro.