10/15–Montreal to Burlington VT

We are on the road around 9, out of the city easy peasy, and through the border in no time (the border patrol guy takes one look at our passports and says “wow, these are super-sized!”).

We drive toward Burlington through the Lake Champlain area, stopping at the visitor’s info center where the ladies there were so very helpful!  The lake and brightly colored leaves are beautiful around here. 

We meander down the two lane highway, skirting the lake, looking for a picnic spot. All the parks are closed for the season. So, we ended up waiting to eat until Burlington, where we sit on a great park bench over looking the water.  Cool!

Full from our sausage and cheese, we begin our Vermont culinary tour (well, culinary is a stretch, but….) as we head to the Lake Champlain chocolate factory for their tour.  It’s a very informative half an hour, all about where they get their chocolate, how it is made, their products and their new artisanal chocolates they are developing.  It’s not actually a “tour”, since we are sitting on a viewing platform, listening to the lecture and looking at the factory through a huge plate glass window, but its still pretty interesting.  And of course, the chocolate samples are great, but the actual chocolate for sale is so pricey we pass (yeah, well, what can I say?).

And yes, those are chocolate bunnies on the left! They’ve been making them for months and storing them in their warehouse for Easter.  Unbelievable!

Next, we head to the hotel to check in, knowing the room won’t be ready but wanting to make sure we get a room with a refrigerator. We organize that, then move on to the next stop on our tour:  the Magic Hat brewery. 

Here, we take a self-guided tour through their wacky place. Very fun – love the way they market and promote themselves.  They’ve got some great memorabilia in there too! Like all their beer signs, a spin wheel of a bunch of their beer taps and this spooky sort of Buddha looking huge face hanging in the hall.  Oh, and the Mardi Gras cut out…yeah…odd..but..hey..it is Magic Hat at its finest!

After watching the bottling process (which can mesmerize you for hours!), we end up back downstairs in the tasting room where we both find some beers we really like (yep, even I had a couple I’d drink!). 

Six pack later and we’re out the door back to the hotel to check in.

Organized and rested, we head to dinner at the Upper Pub café, the bar portion of the Windjammer restaurant in the Best Western. You’d not think of going to a hotel to eat, but this place was great!  We shared a pork burger (Long Trail Ale brined pork loin, ground with pancetta, pepper jack cheese & sautéed vegetables, topped with tarragon aioli – I’m trying to recreate the recipe!!!) and a maple chipotle pulled pork sandwich that was just fantastic!  And too much food!

We haul ourselves back to the hotel and collapse on the bed!  Tomorrow the long road (ha!) to White River Junction!

10/14–Thanksgiving day in Montreal

It’s an awful day! Dreary, rainy, misty. We decide to explore the underground (which Turgay has told us is “just shops” ) so we can at least get some walking in this morning without drowning.  The underground is, well, just shops!  It’s a series of underground malls really.  But we don’t care, because we just want to walk and stay dry. We manage to get all the way around to the train station, then turn back.

Back in the room, we have a late breakfast/lunch, then decide to brave the weather and head to the old port area.  Nothing much going on down there except tourism! But we happen to luck into a celebration though – Canada has declared 2013 to be the year of Korea (and Korea has done the same for Canada) to commemorate the partnership during the Korean war.  There are 2 Korean ships in port and their military band, dancers, color guard and Asian fighting teams are here.  In addition, Canadian war veterans are also in attendance to receive medals (one of whom didn’t RSVP but showed up anyway and causes quite the agitation with one of the organizers – we of course feel his pain!).

It’s a very interesting presentation, and the traditional dancing is great.  After standing there for the better part of an hour though, we’re ready to celebrate ourselves with a beverage, so we duck into this great brew pub – Les 3 Brasseurs – or the 3 brewers.  It’s a great place, and a shame we’ve already had lunch because the food looks good too.  Instead we warm up with beer and wine, then head back out and walk back to the hotel.

We also decide to cook in this evening as well since it’s icky weather and we don’t want to walk all the way down to the restaurant we had found.  More sausages from the grocery store (these things are GREAT) and we are set.  Frittata with broccoli and cauliflower, sausages (leftovers for lunch tomorrow) and all our stockpiled desserts!  Then MNF.  All is well in Montreal!

10/13–Montreal

Another astonishing day! Not a cloud in the sky. We head down to the Atwater market to rent bikes for a ride around the canal and the St. Lawrence river.  We take the subway, then walk past the market as they are beginning to open.  Ah…fall…

We are early – of course – but then the rental guys are late!  We have a few moments of worry because it is a holiday weekend. But eventually, they all show up, we gear up and off we go.

The bike paths are fantastic – there are miles and miles of them from which to choose. We had decided to bike down the canals and then loop around on the St. Lawrence past the rapids and back into Atwater.  All told, it will be a 20 mile bike hike through spectacular trees and parks. Fabulous!

Our first stop is the Parc Rene-Levesque, which is a narrow island at the end of the bike route, perched like a finger pointing out in the St. Lawrence. It’s stunningly green, with interesting but slightly odd sculptures placed about.

After a quick stop here, we wanted to find a café for cappuccino, but the area the bike guy told us about doesn’t really look promising. So, we head out around the loop that will take us through neighborhoods and parkland by the St. Lawrence.  We actually stumble upon a little corner store and café where we sit in the sun, warming ourselves with the rays – and the caffeine!

Back on the paths, we loop down and around some beautiful river scenery, old stone buildings…

…and a windmill of all things!

More stone houses, and more gorgeous parks with fall colors aflame in the trees.

We finally make the last turn out of the park, and immediately get lost trying to find our way back to the market and the rental kiosk.  There is some construction going on, and while all we have to do is follow the bike path, it mysteriously disappears right when we need it most! After a couple of wrong turns, we finally make it back and turn our trusty rides back into the bike guys.

Then, it’s off to the market for lunch. It’s a nice little market, with incredible produce at really good prices – none of which we can use since we’re at the end of our accommodations with cooking facilities.  Darn! But it is fun to walk around, and lunch at an Italian type deli is great – hot Panini – chicken with pesto and cheese for me, an Italian hoagie for Ed.  We’re satisfied!

We head back to the hotel to rest for a bit, but it is such a beautiful day we don’t want to stay inside for long.  So, we decided to walk up to Parc du Mont Royal.  And wow what a walk…UP for sure!  But when we get to the main entrance, we’re surprised with a huge drum circle!!! 

Too wild – they are here every Sunday afternoon – just like our Friday nights in Asheville. Very fun to stand and watch all the gyrations and thumping going on in the afternoon sun.  Cool!

Back at hotel we relax and watch some football.  Then we troop off to St. Laurent street (where all the bars and restaurants are in this area) for a Portuguese dinner!  We found a great little, local restaurant called Jano that reputedly has the best roasted chicken.  We’re game!  And Jano lived up to its reputation – definitely.  A cozy little place where everyone was friendly, smiling, happy and helpful. The food was excellent and in vast supply.  Yes, the chicken was the best! I had a chicken breast, Ed had a combo – all incredibly good.  A couple of beers and wines, and we were ready for our invigorating walk back home.

Football for dessert (LOL) then bed!