After Vermont, I decided to head up to Montreal after all. I figured I'd skip the Ommegang brewery in favor of a trip north of the border. I'm glad I did.

First thing, after I checked in at the hotel, was to drive to Chambly to find the Unibroue brewery. It took some asking around, but eventually, I found it. Unfortunately, they only offer tours by appointment and there have to be 10 or more people! The restaurant Fourquet Fourchette handles all this, and also serves up their delicious beer with tasty food on the side. The style of food turned out to be what amounted to a salad with your choice of meat on top of it. Pricey too. But still worth it for sampling several FRESH Unibroue offerings in a magical location by the lake.


My favorite is still La Fin du Monde but I was also very impressed by the Blanche de Chambly, being touted on the umbrellas. I hadn't tried it in the States. I'm not sure if I've ever seen it here. Can't say I looked when I lived on the east coast. It doesn't seem to be in Minnesota anyway.


What a lovely place to drink Beer!



I think these were built for a World Fair in the 60s. Now they are condos.











Hey! What...is THAT thing?


As I crossed onto the island to investigate. I had to pass this robot sentry.


...


Turns out it's the "Biosphere" and it was closed at the moment. The early bird (me) does not always get the worm.





My trusty steed patiently waits for me to grab pictures.


What's THAT? a CASTLE??








I biked up a big hill to get to the castle. There was no way to get inside.





This is the bridge I crossed over to get on the island, as seen from underneath.























Hania (who you will 'meet' further down this page) tells me the whole ISLAND was manmade for that 60s World Fair. Very magical, like many things around here.








From the island, I spied a very quaint looking part of town, with much green copper-rust roofing evident. I made my way back around the loading docks and into this "Old City" part of town. It feels like you're in Europe, and not just because all the signs are in FRENCH either.














I wanted to make sure I remembered the name of this place, so I took a picture.











Who is this lady of the market? She looks relatively new! Do they change her up every so often?














I liked the horse and his funny hat. Horses in the US never wear hats like THAT.





Either these are work-guys cleaning a statue, or it's the most well-planned-out graffiti job I've ever witnessed! I didn't stick around long enough to see the final result.








Then I met Hania. We rode on the subway.


Then we went to near where she lives to get real good poutine! Way better than the mcPoutine I had at La Belle Provence the night before.


We went to a farmers market and ate fresh blueberries and pineapple. After that, we watched a movie together: Sicko by Micheal Moore


Near the farmer's market, Hania pointed out these stairs were rusty and interesting looking. Turned out to be one of my favorite pictures of the day.








Montreal was cool. Someday I want to go back.
next stop: the Muster in Deep River, CT

road trip 2007

more pictures at bniblet.com