Our incredible urge for pasties temporarily blinded us on the way to Sault (pronounced Soo) Ste Marie and we ended up taking the southern scenic route from Marquette. After filling up with a beef pasty, we started over the bridge to the Canadian Soo ready for a quick border crossing to make up for lost time. Apparently the Thule box, Georgia plates, and Chris’s statement that he had been to Canada while on a Scouting trip to the Boundary Waters 20 years ago set off the silent alarm. We were told to go to the immigration window where we waited while they ran a criminal background check on us. Fortunately they found us suitable for Canadian soil and we ventured on, determined to make it to the Quebec border.
After another 6 hours or so of driving we had made it to Greater Sudbury and decided it was time to set up camp. We saw Fairbank Provincial Park on our map and made our way up a long gravel road, not knowing what we would find on the other end. What we got was a campsite steps away from the water, biffs with hot water showers and ceramic tiles, and cheap canoes for rent. Triple score! We decided we’d wake up early and take a canoe ride at daybreak the next morning, before heading off to Montreal.
Our campsite from Fairbank Lake
We set the alarm for 6am and drifted off to bed with the whooping loons, and surprisingly woke to the sound of raindrops on the tent. So much for canoing! But it was a good excuse to sleep in and by the time we crawled out of our sleeping bags at 9am the rain had slowed to a trickle. We decided to go ahead and paddle, even though it would mean getting to Montreal later that evening.
Paddling around the old meteorite crater
After putting up the canoe, grabbing a quick shower, and breaking down camp, we chugged back along Trans Canada 17. We chugged and chugged and chugged and 9 hours later we were on the outskirts of Montreal, looking for the hostel we’d found online and caught in Montreal’s version of Saturday night fever. By the time we checked in and parked (a feat in itself) it was close to 11:30 and way past our bedtime. We spent the next morning wandering around a completely dead Latin Quarter, practicing our French and munching on crepes.
Pittoresques maisons victoriennes de Montreal
Canadian graffiti
Now this is some window art!
We soon headed out of Montreal and worked our way down to Vermont (with a much smoother border crossing, thank goodness). The international portion of our trip proved to be entirely too short-lived, but we’ll certainly make our way back to Montreal in the not-too-distant future for a faux-European fix.
Leave a comment
Comments feed for this article