Ottawa River, Montreal, Chambly - Late August 2007
Leaving Ottawa we spent a couple of days at a free dock at the Casino du Lac-Leamy located on the Ottawa river a short distance from the Flight of Eight locks in Ottawa. The Casino offers free dockage - complete with hydro (power) - so it seemed like a good idea to come in. The only tiny issue was getting under a rather low 12 foot fixed bridge on the way in. We went really slowly and were able to get under with the radar arch tilted back with no problems.
The next night we headed a bit farther down the Ottawa and tied up at Marina Montebello for the night. This marina is close to the Chateau Montebello, supposedly the largest log cabin in the world. We arrived a few days after the 'Three Amigos' summit meeting in which Bush, Harper, and Calderón - the leaders from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico - met there. We spoke to some folks who traveled through the area during the summit who told us they were escorted through the area by heavily armed guards. We spoke to some of the folks working at the Chateau who said they were glad that the summit was held there, but even happier when it was over. They all looked a bit 'shell-shocked' from all of the high-level security and relieved that it was over with no issues.
Following is pictures of the Chateau. We walked over from the marina and had a wonderful dinner at the restaurant there.
A black squirrel (you don't see too many of those!) and the chapel on the grounds of the Chateau.
Heading down the Ottawa river, we tied up at the St. Anne de Bellevue town dock and took the commuter train up to Montreal for the day. St. Ann de Bellevue is a wonderful little down at the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers. It was a Saturday and we were lucky enough to come into Montreal on the day that they was a street fair in the old part of the city.
Some of the wonderful buildings in Montreal's historic district.
We found our way into Montreal's Chinatown district while we were out wandering around.
We made our way on the subway over to the island where the 1967 Expo and World's Fair was held in Montreal and found the U.S. Pavilion - which looks like a huge mesh dome. The geodesic dome was designed by Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller. It houses a museum dedicated to finding ways to live on the planet with minimal impact to our resources - a subject Fuller spent many years studying.
The picture to the right is of an interesting looking restaurant in Montreal - called the 'Maison Hantee.' Didn't eat there, it looked a little too scary for me.
Leaving St. Anne de Bellevue, we entered the St. Lawrence seaway heading north. There are two large ship locks on the seaway between the Ottawa river and Montreal. We had to pull over at the first one and wait while this large ship locked through ahead of us. It's always interesting to watch these big boys come into the locks. They pretty much take up the entire lock going through.
We headed north to Sorel and then south down the Richeleu towards the town of Chambly and the start of the Chambly canal. We really love this town. It has a wonderful gourmet grocery close to where you tie up above the locks in the heart of the town. There is also a micro-brewery in town and a really wonderful spot for breakfast across the street from Fort Chambly. We took a wander around the fort after breakfast one morning.
Updated May 4, 2008