Montreal: As near the coast of Europe as it is to Vancouver

In my last post I outlined our day in Montreal. As we travelled in to the City I was again reminded by Drew's reading of the Rough Guide to Canada that "Montreal is as close to the coast of Europe as it is to Vancouver, British Columbia." This puts the scale of the rest of our journey into context. Vancouver, which is effectively the last point in our Road Trip is still 2,297 miles away from here. That is a larger road distance than from London to Oral, Kazakhstan or Tbilisi, Georgia. It is further than the North-South trip from here to Mexico City. However you look at it, it is a long way. 

Overnight in the suburbs of Montreal

Tonight's stay is at the Quality Inn and Suites, Brossard, Montreal. As I plan our holiday we focus on staying in the centre of City's/Towns at the beginning and end of the holiday (Marblehead, Vancouver and Seattle this time) and once or twice during the journey (Banff in this year's case). Otherwise our accommodation needs are for hotels that are an easy route to the Autoroute or Highway (Canada's equivalents to the US Interstates) as the focus is on getting back on the road for the next part of the journey. So as we stayed in Levis, just outside Quebec on Monday Evening, so Tuesday saw us in Brossard 9 miles away from Downtown Montreal. Also as with Quebec the journey across the Bridge on the A10 was slower than planned due to major road works. The 9 miles took us 41 minutes. We settled into the room, unpacked and I began to fight with the wi-fi system, which was very poor in the room, though the room itself was delightful.

Dinner

In conversations online over the last few days I've been asked how we pick our places to eat. Essentially we have two approaches. For a place where we are planning to stay for some time (See the list of four places above) we use Trip Advisor and Google to identify places and often book ahead to be sure of getting a table. In a place, like tonight's, where the focus is on breakfast and an early start, we look for restaurants that are reasonably close to the Hotel. Well tonight's could not be closer as the restaurant Paolo Guttuso is in the same building as the Hotel. This is very unusual for a Quality/Comfort hotel. In fact I think it is only the second I have seen. Paolo Guttoso is a small Italian restaurant with two branches, one of which is here in Brossard.

Our problems with the language was eased as we can both read and speak restaurant Italian quite competently 😉

I opted for Salsiccia con pepe e funghi (Italian sausages sautéed with vegetables served on a bed of salad with a balsamic reduction) and Drew went with Bruschetta Calabrese (Tomatoes, peppers, garlic and red onions on toasted bread).

My sausage dish was way bigger than I was expecting yet, strangely, it was not very long before the dish was cleared. Drew also eat all four pieces of his Bruschetta, though he did complain that it was almost as big as him.

My Salsiccia con pepe e funghi

Drew's Bruschetta Calabrese

For Mains I had Vitello Parmigiana (Veal cooked in a tomato sauce with parmesan and mozzarella cheese) and Drew opted for Tortellini Ametriciana (Bacon, red onions, mushrooms, olive oil, garlic and rosé sauce over Tortellini Pasta.) My veal was perfect, light with the rich tastes of Italy dominating. The Curly Fries were crisp and had a rough exterior texture making them much better than ordinary chips for mopping up the tomato and cheese. Lovely. The Tortellini was creamy, which wasn't what Drew was expecting, but it was tasty all the same.

Vitello Parmigiana and curly fries

Tortellini Ametriciana

We went back to the room, and after the intense heat of the afternoon in Montreal I had fallen asleep by 9.30pm.