O Canada...

So our plans after Maine were to head to Burlington, VT, and then up to Montreal but after MANY recommendations to go to Quebec City, we opted to head to Canada straight away. 

This was our first border crossing with Fran and will be likely the easiest one we have on this journey. We didn’t need much, just our passports and a Rabies Certificate for Miles. Passed over our documents, the agent asked to have a look at Miles (who was sleeping on the floor in between us and couldn’t be bothered to be woken even after being picked up so the border agent could get a glimpse), and he sent us on our way!

We drove straight to Quebec City where we found parking a couple miles from the old city. We were able to walk through a park to get there, the same park where the British fought the Canadians during their revolution. The town was SO clean and felt like a small French City. There happened to be a 10 day long music festival going on right in the center of town and we ran into a couple who wanted to say hi to Miles. It’s really the only reason strangers talk to us, Miles reals 'em in. He’s just so cute and welcoming, people can’t help it! They were on their way to the festival to see Lynard Skynard and we got to talking. They also have a camper van that they use on weekends and drove to Quebec City for the show from Montreal. They were also parked in a parking lot for the night. We told them we were heading to Montreal next and Amelie graciously offered to show us around when we got there. So we exchanged contact information and went about on our walk. It’s so amazing to me how nice people are, and coming off a high from our great experience in Maine we were excited to get to Montreal to meet up with a local to show us a bit of the city.

Before that though, we were on a mission to find some poutine! As we walked through the Saint-Roch neighborhood we spotted a bar playing the Women’s World Cup where USA was playing Netherlands. I'm not much for soccer, but there's just something about being out of the U.S. and your home team playing a sport on TV that you feel obligated to watch for the chance that they win so you can cheer with all of the locals and bask in the glory of the USA being the greatest country on Earth in women's soccer. So we stopped, we drank, we cheered. Go USA!

Beers for our girls.

After that it was REALLY time for some Poutine so we grabbed ourselves a couple different kinds: smoked meat and cheesesteak. Delicious!  It was so nice to be walking around a city and splurging on delicious foods that the region is known for, pretending like we didn't have a budget for the afternoon :)  It's a fine balance we've been juggling on this trip when it comes to knowing when to splurge and when to hold off.  For instance, pizza sounds good to me all. the. time. I would eat it every single day if I could. I think I crave it more now than ever; mostly because we don't have an oven in the van- I can't even make it! But let's face it, if we aren't in NY, Italy, or an overpriced artisanal pizza restaurant, then it's just not worth it and I know I'd be disappointed if I spent $20 on a mediocre pizza. So we have come to an agreement on what we should splurge on when it comes to food. If we are in a new region and they are famous for something and it's not going to totally break the bank (i.e.- the triple Michelin starred restaurant that everyone is raving about), we splurge.  We splurged in Maine and got some fresh caught lobster. And we splurged in Canada.... continue reading for more delicious foods. Or stop now if you haven't eaten your breakfast yet.

Poutine!

After Quebec City we headed to Montreal.  We had our first Walmart overnight parking lot experience and honestly it really wasn't bad! The next morning we drove to the top of Mont Royal and had a beautiful view of the city.  Montreal is such a cool town. I kept trying to think of other cities to compare it to but it deserves its own classification.  A food city, a French town, Canadian friendly feel, artsy, lots of character. Just overall really cool. It is dirtier than Quebec City, and honestly that made it feel more like a "real" city to me. Maybe because we lived in San Francisco for so long, not sure. But the grime in the areas we were in, I loved.

View from Mont Royal.

We heard Montreal was known for its bagels.... which seemed odd, but what do I know? So we went to St. Viateur Bagels. (Thanks, Nicole for the rec!) I can't even describe in a way that would do these bagels justice, they were that good. They were better than any NY bagel I've ever had... and for those of you that have had a legit NY bagel, you know that's saying a lot.

THE BEST BAGELS.

After our bagel find, we met up with Amelie- the girl we met in Quebec City! We had a couple drinks with her at Le Darling while we chatted about Montreal, its history, van life, etc. She was absolutely lovely and we are happy to have had some time to connect with someone born and raised in Montreal. We walked around St. Laurent Street and she talked with us about some of the mural artwork on the buildings surrounding us.  She also recommended a smoked meat deli, Main, and because it was another Quebecian famous food item we had to have it! I loved this more than the poutine I had the previous day... it was like a Jewish deli that you'd see in NY but their meats are steamed and then smoked so they remain moist. Really regretting sharing a sandwich with Zach because I could have eaten one on my own!

Montreal street art.

Main smoked meat sandwich.... drool.

After Montreal, we were ready to get somewhere more remote, so we started heading to Lake Superior in Ontario.  We found a campsite right on the beach and it was so peaceful after a few parking lot nights! Parking lot nights are generally fine, but you have to be more discreet. Lights out when the sun is down, no leaving the doors open, etc. On the beach with no one around, there is no need to be discreet. Loving everything that Canada has to offer, and we've only scratched the surface. Excited to explore Alberta and BC in the next few weeks. But first.... Poole's Paradise & US National Parks.. stay tuned!

Shots from our campsite.

Miles protesting coming back to the van for dinner.

Post dinner snuggles.