Not everything is French in Montreal

Parc d'Oka, Quebec, Canada

Reluctantly we pulled up stakes and headed off one of our favorite little islands, Ile d'Orleans. It's definitely a different vibe on Monday mornings than on Sundays. Very few of the cider shops, wineries, patisseries that cater to the weekend crowd were open. It was nice driving by all the little farms and having the place almost to ourselves. The St. Lawrence River was very calm and the early morning light made for some great photography.

Driving around Quebec was a breeze and "voila" we were on our way to Montreal. As Ned mentioned last night, our last visit to this part of Canada was our fall tour of 2009. How different it is seeing these same places in the summer! Tourist season officially opened on Sunday and it was like someone just flipped a switch. Was it only a few days ago we were wearing layers, enjoying the cooler weather and had most places to ourselves?

Rather than just visit the historic part of Montreal I thought it would be fun to visit "Little Italy" and embrace my Italian culture. The largest ethnic group in the Montreal area are Italians. Many of them arrived after the end of the 19th Century and after World War II. I envisioned this area would look and feel like North Beach in San Francisco. We thought it would be fun to take a break from seafood and, of course, potatoes and splurge on an Italian meal. By the time we actually found the Little Italy section, no easy feat without google maps or trying to navigate this crazy busy city, we were a little disappointed. Yes, we saw a lot of Italian flags flying and an occasional shout from groups of people spilling out of bars and dressed in similar attire, but this seemed to be more about Italian solidarity around the World Cup than anything else. Nothing grabbed our attention, we didn't see any quaint little cafes dotting the streets, only clogged traffic and tons of construction. So without any disrespect to my Big Nana Ella Maria Ramassa, we decided to forego Little Italy.

I also read about this Jewish Deli, Schwartz, that has been serving "smoked meal", or what we would call corned beef, sandwiches since 1928. It's been written up in everything from the New York Times to travel blogs and seemed a Montreal institution. We decided instead to embrace our inner Jewishness. The traffic, congestion and noise of Montreal seems more aligned with New York City than Quebec. We were delighted to find a parking spot only a few blocks away from Schwartz. Unbelievable!

Schwartz isn't so much a restaurant as a crowded narrow room with picnic tables and chairs. People were lined up down the block and we were told the line never seems to go down. The entire width of the place couldn't be more than 20 feet, and that included the kitchen, bar stools and table. (If you look closely in the 4th photo Ned is wearing a green shirt). We were placed at a table with a very nice family from Vancouver. I think you can order 4 things on the menu, but just about everyone just orders the "smoked meat" sandwiches. The size of the sandwiches could rival any good Jewish Delicatessen in NYC! Wowza. After that artery clogging sandwich we walked back to our car and discovered our first ticket of the trip. Apparently that magical little parking spot wasn't so magical after all! Turned out to be the most expensive corned beef sandwich we ever had!

Next destination was heading for historic Montreal. Again, we couldn't believe the difference in energy, people, and commotion from visiting here in late fall and during tourist season. We walked along several cobblestone streets, had fun taking photos, visiting shops and a maple syrup museum. My favorite part was talking with a woman whose family makes the maple syrup. They do it all from tree to syrup, including packaging and selling direct. Boy, could we relate to that!! We were going to go for a bike ride along the waterfront, but in all honesty the crowds were so overwhelming we decided to just head on out for our campground of the night. It took us several hours to get off the island. We were missing Quebec, with its cool breezes on the promenade, great views and manageable traffic.

We finally arrived at Parc d'Oka, a Quebec National Park, and it felt so good to be back in nature. I think our Nevada City origins are coming through because we definitely enjoy the laid back vibe so much better than the big city. This park is huge! It is a lush, heavily wooded forest with 814 campsites. The upside is we can barely see any neighbors the sites are so heavily wooded.

Ned and I are exploring the park and took a ride down to the beach. We thought we were the only people here, but heard some commotion on the beach. Several good natured fellows are lighting off fireworks and sending up fire-lit floating balloons on the beach, in the sunset. Apparently, they are celebrating someone's birthday. Even better news, the beach cafe has wifi!