Day 65 – Sunday June 24, 2007 – Montreal, Quebec
Yes, since Montreal is still in the province Québec, French is the primary language here. Unlike Québec City though, English is definitely more prevalent. We spent the night in Laval, Québec, just outside the city of Montreal. I was excited when we were able to book the Radisson here for less than it cost for the uncomfortable hostel beds in Québec City. After a little research, I found out that the Montreal Metro (subway) had a station about a mile from our hotel. We decided to take the subway into the city in lieu of our car.
After a twenty-five minute ride, we exited the subway in the financial district of downtown Montreal. Without much planned, we quickly found a tourist information center in order to get more information. The tourist information centers here in Canada are among the best I have seen. They are very well organized and the people are incredibly friendly. After a few minutes of talking, the guide gave me a map and explained some of the places that we might want to see in our limited time. In following his advice, we would walk through the financial district, around Chinatown, into the
One thing that we noticed right away, was that downtown Montreal has a Catholic Cathedral on almost every block. These buildings are all very elaborate and beautiful as well. The one we were most interested in seeing, was the Notre Dame Basilica, which is a replica of the one in Rome. In order to reach it, we would have to walk through the tall buildings of the abandoned (It was Sunday) financial district. The Notre Dame is stunning on the outside. Since admission would’ve set us back $10, we decided against going inside. What has the world come to when they start charging to see a church? Oh well!
After seeing the Notre Dame Basilica from the outside, we walked through the very busy outdoor market in Chinatown. We made quick work of it though, since most of the items on sale were junk and overpriced. When we emerged from Chinatown, the scenery changed quickly to the charming architecture of Old Town. The architecture is similar to that of Québec City, but the buildings seem to use much more brick.
Back at the port now, we walked around for about 30 minutes before deciding to head back to the Metro in order to go out to St. Helen’s Island. When we arrived at St. Helen’s Island, it took a while to get our bearings straight. The island is made completely of land fill, as they used the dirt excavated during the initial construction of the Metro in the 1960’s. The island is perhaps most famous for hosting the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair. Much of the infrastructure from the World’s Fair still exists, including La Ronde, a theme park on the far north end of the island. Initially, we walked around the island for about thirty minutes and saw the biosphere (one of the World’s Fair Pavilions), a vibrantly colored rose garden and even a busy aquatic center. After a while, we decided to head to La Ronde, since it is now owned by Six Flags and thus is included with our season passes. Oh the joy! By the time we reached La Ronde (about a thirty minute walk from the Metro station) it was 4pm. The plan was to spend a few hours there before hopping on the subway back to the hotel.
We want to thank everyone for the comments and emails. Your support is truly appreciated and keeps us going.
The Coomer Family
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Hi Coomer Family!
I’m from Canada (1 hour south of Montreal) and I’ve been reading your blog since the beginning. It looks like you enjoyed your time here in Québec! I just wanted to tell you the reason why all the stores were closed on june 24th (because they usually are all open). June 24 is “Quebec’s National Day”. So we celebrate as much as you american do on the fourth of july and almost every store is close. So I hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Canada and the rest the world.
Karine
MY COOMER FAMILY IT’S SO GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU ONCE AGAIN. OH IT LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL IN CANADA!! GIVE GLEN OUR REGARDS!! WHILE YOU’RE AT IT JASMINE GIVE GLEN A BIG HUG AND KISS FROM ME AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY WITH HIM… I HAVE ALWAYS HEARD VANCOUVER WAS JUST GORGEOUS. I’M ENJOYING TRAVELING WITH YOU GUYS SO MUCH THAT IF I GET TIRED I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW YOU ALL MUST FEEL. WE LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH AND TO SAY WE MISS YOU WOULD BE PUTTING IT MILDLY!! ONLY 11 MORE DAYS AND YOU WILL BE HOME TO VEGAS FOR A LITTLE WHILE ANYWAY!! HAVE A VERY SAFE AND ENJOYABLE TRIP COMING HOME!! LOVE MOM AND MIKE OR GRANDMA AND GRANDPA MIKE
hi everyone i see you are at Montreal i it looks like a fun place to expro i see the buildings are nice the old city looks nice all it lok s fun thanks for showing us,
I JUST READ WHAT I WROTE AND ITS 7/10 AT 11:10 am OUR TIME. lOOK AT THE ONE ABOVE & IT SAYS 6:06 PM. WHATS WITH THAT?
TALKED TO GLEN LAST NIGHT AND HE TOLD ME YOU WERE VISITING HIM TODAY AND TOMORROW AND WOULD BE STAYING WITH HIM. HE SAYS VANCOUVER IS THE PRETTIEST! YOU’LL HAVE A BALL. GIVE HIM A BIG HUG & KISS FOR ME AND OF COURSE TO ALL OF YOU. I’M ENJOYING YOUR TRIP IMMENSELY. WHEN YOU GET BACK TO VEGAS WISH YOUR DAD THE BEST FROM ART & I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEND MORE PICTURES VIA THE INTERNET. YOU GUYS LOOK SO GOOD.
LOVE U ALL!!!