Crazy is as crazy does! Today we start our drive. First we had breakfast at a place open 24 hours called Normandin. The waitress was happy to see us two Texans and seemed to enjoy practicing her English on us. She spoke very well with short sentences. Heather is getting better remembering some basic French. I am still struggling with French and English! We had a very different breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed it. Le petit déjeuner était très bon. Okay I used Apple Translate…

On the road we went. At 100 kilometers per hour is 62 mph. It seemed so slow after be able to drive 75-85 mph in Texas. We drove from Quebec City to Montreal in about 3 1/2 hours. We wandered and milled around The Olympic Park, the Bio Sphere, Bio Dome, and attempted to go to The Notre-Dame Basilica. We failed miserably on the Basilica. We couldn’t find parking within a mile of this beautiful Church. Even driving by it through the narrow streets was almost impossible. I did manage to squeeze by a crowded 4-5 thousand people with no idea of how we drove around them. Including 2-3 hundred scooters, bikes, and tour buses. Multiples of Police directing traffic. With this being a Tuesday afternoon CRAZY busy city.

We even stopped and shopped at a Staples downtown Montreal. We both had to use the washroom. (restroom) Anyway we got back on the road in bumper to bumper traffic for the next hour and a half in the rain.

Once out of Montreal we headed to find dinner. We ended up in Baton Rouge! Oops must have taken a wrong turn in Albuquerque! Actually we did end up at Baton Rouge Grillhouse and bar. The food was ehe. Over priced burger and fries and chicken burger with sweet potato fries. We had an appetizer of blackened Brussels sprouts that were pretty good. It was still raining when we left. At least the traffic had thinned. Next stop Ottawa Canada.

It got dark on us as we arrived at our hotel. The parking lot full. School buses everywhere. We got a parking pass and was told to park in the back. Completely full and all sorts of examples of rude and privileged parking. There was one and a half spots left between two big newer pickups. Each was angled crooked. I parked between them right down the middle of a parking spot line and I will look like the jerk in the parking lot! So I took a few choice pics in case anything happens.

So tired 😴 Glad to be out of the car. Ottawa and its suburbs hotels are all booked. Multiple events are happening this week. A World Medical Conference and many sporting events. Just no hockey games here yet.

The Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal vs Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris France. A cathedral is a church managed by a bishop or archbishop responsible for the administration of a diocese. A basilica is a title given to a church in recognition of its religious, historical, architectural and artistic value. Pope John Paul II elevated Notre-Dame Montreal to the rank of basilica in 1982. It’s still a functioning church that hosts music venues for its superior acoustics. It is where Céline Dion got married, and had her late husband’s funeral and he was buried in the churches cemetery nearby. We wished we were able to take the tour with some pictures. It has some amazing stained glass murals. Maybe if I have to fly back to Quebec to get my underwear box if customs denied it I will have another chance to see it. 🤞

A man’s car breaks down and he gets out and starts looking under his hood. A giant moose 🫎 walks up takes a look and says “You got bad spark plugs!” and trots off. The man calls out a tow truck and the mechanic shows up and asks what seems to be the problem. The man explains a giant moose 🫎 said it was bad spark plugs. The mechanic then asks “Did the moose 🫎 have huge antlers and did the right one have a big chip?” Yes said the man. “Ohh I wouldn’t listen to him, he doesn’t know anything about cars!”

Know that I fix everything but I can add guacamole for $3.00!