Montreal est fantastique!!!

 

After departing Ottawa via the scenic "flight of 8 locks", we continued along the Ottawa River which later joined the St. Lawrence Seaway.  The Seaway had 2 commercial locks we had to traverse (MUCH bigger than the locks we've been through so far) and different procedures (not difficult though, thank goodness).  


Picture of Oceanus (anchored) with a very large tanker passing close by ("Was that 5 short blasts?")
Photo courtesy of our traveling companions on Midnight Star (thanks, Lisa and Bill!)


Huge commercial lock designed and operated primarily for container ships (but they tolerate and accommodate personal watercraft).  They do not allow personal boats to transit the lock with any commercial vessel larger than 100 meters, or if they are carrying any type of hazardous cargo (those sound like reasonable rules to us!)



Midnight Star tied up and ready inside one of the locks along the way



A successful lock transit!!!


On Friday, July 7 we made it to Montreal in Quebec, Canada - such an incredible city!  We stayed at THE BEST marina ever, which is right by the "Old Town" section of Montreal - The Montreal Yacht Club.  The river current made it a bit challenging to get into the marina (running 5 knots against us), and our slip was a little "bouncy", but the location was perfect, and the staff were "magnifique."  




Many wonderful meals and delicious French pastries (OMG) were definitely enjoyed during our visit.  We took an evening bus tour (double decker - open air topside) that was great, except that the tour guide's English was not quite as good as he thinks it is (very highly accented and difficult to understand over the audio system).  We enjoyed the sights anyway LOL.

The unexpected highlight was an evening laser light show inside the breathtaking Notre Dame Basilica of Montreal (where Celine Dion was married BTW).  It was simply spectacular, beautifully orchestrated, and a must-see if you are ever in Montreal!!!  The link below has more information if you are interested:

AURA light show - Montreal

A secondary highlight was that Sheryl was able to occasionally utilize her many years studying French (albeit several decades ago).  She was able to hold very rudimentary conversations ("Bonjour - comment allez-vous?"), ask some basic questions ("Ou est une bonne boulangerie?"), and make some simple statements ("Il fait tres chaud!").  It was a proud moment when a French speaker exclaimed "Perfect!" after Sheryl's attempt to express something fully in French!!!!  





Unknown building in Montreal (couldn't understand the tour guide)


Unknown statue in Montreal (couldn't understand the tour guide)



The Montreal Yacht Club



Notre Dame de Montreal



View of the city from "Mount Royal" from the tour bus





In "Old Montreal" - Vieux Port de Montreal





A map of the "Triangle Loop" we are endeavoring to complete


Oceanus and her crew departed Montreal on Sunday, July 9 and continued northeast up the St. Lawrence River to our "turnoff" at the city of Sorel to start a leg of our journey on the Richlieu River (and Chambly Canal) - heading south once again!  More locks, of course, but they have gotten quite routine by now (I believe there are about 20 more locks left to go before we get home!!!)  We have just stopped in the city of Chambly and are tied to the canal wall, where we'll likely stay for a day or two while we explore this quiet and charming city.  Hopefully the rain will stop soon (but we're grateful for the cooler temperatures anyway)!!!





We hope you will enjoy the pictures, and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again before too long!!!!


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