This is my first time posting in this community which I have recently found. I'm happy to have somewhere to share my time off experiences. This post is about my time off last weekend.
My weekend starts on Sunday since the restaurant where my partner and I work, is closed. Sunday Monday and Tuesdays are free for us to do what we want. Living in the bull's eye of the city of Montreal, without a car has made it so we haven't had interest in roaming too far. We really missed camping.
Since we no longer drive, camping had been out of the question, until we did some research and found a campsite which is just outside of the city that is accessible by public transportation.
Two weeks ago we went to this place. We had heard there were ferries on the weekend that would take you to the Island where the campsite is but we weren't sure. We asked for a ride instead. We would return by bus. It didn't work out. We were told there were no ferries to get off the island on week days. We had to walk 2 hours to the gate with our things, and ask to be picked up.
Our first trip to the campsite at Iles De Boucherville Quebec
That time when we were there with our little tent, we saw several ready to camp tents that were the size of a small cabin. This looked luxurious and we were a little envious of our neighbours. When we got back we looked into it and decided to splurge the next time and rent those tents for a couple of nights. They were 100 dollars a night plus admission to the park for each of us. We were happy we booked it when we did. After that there are no more available on our days off.
We also did more research and to our surprise, we found out that ferries run from the Old Port of Montreal straight to Boucherville which is right across from the Island. This dock is a 20 minute walk from our apartment. Things were looking up. We booked a ticket on the boat and off we went.
We packed our things and loaded them up in our new wagon that we bought and ran off. We were running late but we got there only a minute late. The ferry was still there.
The captain and helper were extremely nice and professional. The service was welcoming which made the ride a pleasure. It wasn't a big ferry but there was plenty of room. We were told that we could stand outside once we started going.
This was the first time after living in Montreal for over a decade that we saw the city from this perspective as well as ride on the St. Lawrence river.
I was really pleased at the speed in which the ferry was going. I get bored easily but it was quite exciting to ride the bumpy waves as we watched the city become a skyline.
The river was loaded with people having fun on the water. I felt like I had been living in a hole for a while and just came out to find the world in action.
We used to work in this neighbourhood of the old city. I had gone by the clock tower everyday for years, never seeing it from the water. This is a memorial for sailors, constructed 100 years ago.
There are several islands in the St. Lawrence by Montreal of which most are connected by bridges.
One has a large amusement park on it called La Ronde, which I have never been to and at my age, I have no desire to. My partner of 20 years is 15 years younger then I, and has been there as a child. He was born in Montreal and moved to Ontario where we met.
Living in the city, a minute from work has me forgetting to look up to see blue skies. I had almost forgotten how blue they can be.
As we rode along, we could see the city getting smaller with beautiful dramatic clouds hovering.. I really loved the feeling of leaving for another destination. I love travel and this is as good as it gets with the world as is.
It seemed like a few minutes had gone by when we reached the first destination. From there we caught a small shuttle boat to the island 5 minutes across the river. When we got there we asked why they don't operate on weekdays. He told us they do. We had walked with our things for two hours the first time, when we could have jumped on a boat. The information was confusing on the website.
Our tent was a 4 minute walk from the shore. All together it took us 40 minutes from Montreal to our campsite.
Marc picked and reserved a site that was the most private and set back from the path.
The veiw in the back of the tent was glorious especially early evening, I thought of how some people in the world just live like this.
I noticed wild flowers that I feel I have never seen before. It could be that I have never noticed.
I also noticed that the colours of wildflowers seem to always be shades of purple and yellow. Perhaps this is just in the North.
The ready tents are equipped with a propane stove and cooking supplies and a mini fridge. I was surprised that it even came with porcelain plates. I had to be careful not to break them. I am a breaker of all things breakable.
Marc and I eat only plant based so we don't eat typical Western breakfasts. We also have breakfast when many people have lunch. After a couple of coffees made outdoors, I made soup for lunch. With the equipment provided it was easy to concoct a lentil curry. Most people I know would not be eating such things while camping. I suppose if you live where such food is common, that would be another story.
With a wonderful fire pit, we had a great way to have a barbecue. I brought a brick of tofu and made some skewers after marinating for a while.
The last time we went camping I made pizza. It's hot these days so raising a yeast dough is easy when you leave it for a while in the sun.
Pizza on the barbecue is more challenging for me, but it's far more satisfying to have pizza that was cooked on a campfire.
Some people in the world have no ovens so they may only cook on fire. I could live this way.
When we arrived we were warned about raccoons. We had already experienced their confident thievery the first time. When we got the warning we kind of thought yeah we know. This was a warning about them opening the door of the tent so we should keep the latch on with a peg in the latch. We thought they would never attempt this if we were beside the tent so we didn't bother with the peg in the latch.
One evening we sat by the fire and I happened to look back at the tent, when I caught a raccoon opening the door, then went inside, so it seemed.
We jumped up so fast and ran inside with our flashlights. There was nothing inside. He must have slipped out. My nerves were on edge at this point.
It's easy to forgive the pesky critters, when you confront a baby deer near your yard the next day.
After two nights camping, we had to vacate the site and catch the ferry back to Montreal. It landed us back at the Old port where we started our journey.
We were tired and hungry, so for the first time in over two years, we decided to eat at a restaurant. It was relaxing to go there, but the food was not worth talking about.
Marc reminded me that it's about not doing work making food when we got home. That was something I strongly agreed with, since I would be the one doing it.
We finished eating, grabbed our wagon full of supplies, then headed toward our apartment. We had parked the wagon outside of the restaurant patio next to our seat. This area is full of tourists. Some stared at the wagon which I was a little embarrassed about. We heard someone say after looking at it "Indiana Jones".
The whole two days gave us perfect weather. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Now that we were walking home, we could feel a strong wind and a few drops. It would take us twenty minutes to a half hour to walk home. We were getting nervous and started walking faster. Relaxing time was over.
We wondered if we should take a metro but it would only be one stop then we would have to walk from there. We walked down a quiet street with homes on each side. At this point the clouds burst starting a downpour. We were going to get soaked along with our things. But by some divine intervention we turned our head and there was a taxi parked, in the most unlikely place. He was available so we tossed our things in the trunk. We were home in minutes and mostly dry.
I told the driver to stay inside and keep dry but he insisted that he help us. I had already paid and tipped him very well. We were very thankful that he was there at the right time to save us from a torrential downpour.
That was our weekend which seemed short but fullfilling.
Thanks for dropping by and have a great week.
design by: @KidSisters
Thank you for your support!
I'm glad to hear you found a ferry at the Old Port and then a shuttle boat to get you to the island! What a blessing! And that "ready tent" looks like a small hut, much nicer accommodations this time! Whoo hooo! I often do a "late breakfast while everyone else is eating lunch," too, and the lentil curry sounds like a wonderful breakfast to me! Love that skyline and all the lovely things Mother Nature shared with you this trip! 😊
You and I are late nighters I guess haha. Yes it was great and we kick ourselves that after 10 years and more of living here, we didn't discover that we could do these things. Now we can't get a reservation on our days off anymore so I must savour the memories.
Thank you so much!
hello dear friend @carolynstahl good day
What a thrill to have found that incredible place to camp, there is nothing more satisfying than spending time in contact with nature
I'm sorry you had to endure the downpour, the good thing was that we got the taxi
I take this opportunity to wish you a splendid day
Hello my friend! It was a wonderful time to be surrounded by nature. It may be the last time for the season. We can't find a free spot anymore on our days off. We think it's due to staff shortages. We have a problem here with people not wanting certain jobs. We at least had a couple of experiences and from now until winter we will have to go to the park. It rained on these current days off though haha. Thank you and have a wonderful day!