RV Trip 15 has now begun and the primary destinations for this trip will be New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI. We stopped the first night at Shady Bay RV Park near Lakefield as it was roughly halfway to our first destination of Laval Quebec.

When we left Lakefield the next day, we dropped down to the 401 as that was the fastest way to get to Laval. We had a pretty lunch stop in Napanee to see the waterfalls and where the mills were originally built in 1787. When we entered Quebec, we found the roads in much worse shape than in Ontario with lots of potholes. It was Sunday so traffic wasn’t too bad to reach our VRBO in Laval where we were staying while the RV was upgraded. We moved all of our food and some of our clothes into the VRBO and then walked to a nearby Turkish restaurant. The first thing we found out was that the restaurants in this area tend to have BYOB for wine. Luckily there was an SAQ Express (Quebec government run liquor store) nearby so while Sharon looked over the menu, I walked over to get us some wine. We decided to go for the Surf n Turf platter for two which was excellent and left us with lots of leftovers to take back to the VRBO.

In Laval we were having a company called Volt Energies do a major electrical upgrade to our 10-year-old RV. When we first bought the RV, we had 2 lead acid house batteries and 200 watts of solar with a 1000-watt inverter. Then 5 years ago we had replaced the lead acid batteries with AGM batteries and those were now basically dead so couldn’t carry a charge through the night. Our new upgraded system consists of 2 x 200 A Lithium batteries (which gives us almost 4 times the capacity), a 3000-watt inverter, and 6 x 100 W solar panels so more than 3 times the solar capacity. The project was booked for 3.5 days but with a few configuration changes ended up being 4.5 days which gave us lots of time to explore Montreal.

In order to visit Montreal, we purchased a 3-day Metro pass which really worked out well for our tourist destinations. The VRBO was at the end of the Orange line near the Montmorency station so we could take a bus to the Metro and then travel all the way to downtown Montreal and get off and on based on wherever we wanted to go.

On day one we stopped at Places Des Armes and went to visit the Notre Dame Basilica (1824–1829) which was designed by New York architect James O’Donnell, who introduced the Gothic Revival style to Canada. It became the largest church in North America at the time and remains one of the continent’s most visited religious sites.

Key historical notes:

• The Sulpicians founded Montréal’s first parish here in 1672, replacing an earlier chapel at Pointe‑à‑Callière.
• O’Donnell converted to Catholicism on his deathbed and is buried in the crypt at the basilica
• The basilica’s stained-glass windows depict Montréal’s own history, not biblical scenes — a rare choice
• The interior took a lot longer and was completed in 1879 by Victor Bourgeau

The Basilica is undergoing a major renovation right now (thus all the scaffolding on the outside) to align with the 250^th anniversary in 2029.

Time for lunch, so we headed to Schwartz’s Deli — a spot countless people had recommended. Founded in 1928 by Romanian immigrant Rueben Schwartz, it’s famous for its hand‑sliced smoked meat. They cure the meat for 10 days, smoke it overnight, then steam it all day with their signature blend of herbs and spices.

It’s a true Montreal institution. We sat at the counter while others shared tables — if there’s an empty seat, it won’t stay empty for long. There was a line up out the door and the place was packed. The sandwich was really good, but next time we might stick to just one pickle to share… they were enormous!

We recommend not eating a big lunch and then hiking up Mt. Royal like we did 😊 Jacques Cartier climbed the mountain in 1535 and named it Mont Royal, which later inspired the name Montréal. Today it’s a protected heritage site filled with winding walking paths and viewpoints overlooking every corner of the city.

We hiked up and then right over the mountain, saw the Mount Royal Chalet, Maison Smith that was being renovated, and walked around to Beaver Lake. By the time we reached the far side we were hot, tired, and absolutely not walking back — so we used our metro pass to catch a bus to the nearest Metro station and head back to the VRBO.

We had received an audio walking tour of Old Montreal on an app called VoiceMap from a connection our friend had so the next day we decided to do the 90-minute tour called The Best of Old Montreal – A Tour of Place D’Armes to the Old Port – it took us 6 hours with all our stops😉 Here are the highlights of the tour:  

Place d’Armes — Montréal’s Historic Civic Stage

Place d’Armes is Montréal’s second‑oldest public site, first laid out in 1693 as Place de la Fabrique by the Sulpicians, then renamed in 1721 when it became a military parade ground. It later served as a hay and wood market (1781–1813) before being redesigned as a Victorian garden in the mid‑1800s.

The square has witnessed major events:

• In 1760, French regiments surrendered here to the British.
• In 1775, during the American invasion, the bust of King George III was defaced and later found at the bottom of a well.
• In 1832, British troops killed three Canadians during election‑related unrest.

At its center stands the Maisonneuve Monument (1895), honouring Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, Montréal’s founder, surrounded by figures such as Jeanne Mance and Lambert Closse.

Across from the Monument was Canada’s oldest Bank the Bank of Montreal established in 1817. The outside was grand but the inside was spectacular. We wandered around and visited the small museum where they had a mock up of an early teller’s window and they showed some of the original bank notes the bank had printed. Since our main bank account is with BMO we of course had to take some money out😉

Château Ramezay — Governors, Revolutionaries, and a Century of Change

Built in 1705 for Governor Claude de Ramezay, this residence became a hub of political and military activity. It later served as:

• Headquarters of the Continental Army during the American invasion (1775–1776), where Benjamin Franklin stayed while attempting to persuade Canadians to join the revolution.
• A British governor’s residence (1764–1849).
• Montréal’s courthouse and later the first faculties of medicine and law of Université Laval.
• Québec’s first designated historic monument (1929)

Notre‑Dame‑de‑Bon‑Secours Chapel — “The Sailors’ Church”

Built in 1771, it stands over the remains of the chapel of pilgrimage founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys in 1655. The church was long associated with sailors who left model ships as votive offerings. Marguerite did significant work to build the original community and to establish a schooling system to teach the girls various life skills. We went inside and decided to do the three-part tour that included the museum, the staircases that led to the outside viewing areas, and the stone vault under the church. From the one viewing deck we could see Bonsecours Market completed in 1847 and served as Montréal’s main public market for over a century and briefly housed the Parliament of United Canada in 1849. Its Neoclassical design by William Footner was intended to symbolize the city’s prosperity and civic pride.

This lively square has been a gathering place since the 1800s, historically lined with markets, inns, and civic buildings. It connects the upper town to the Old Port and has long been a center of public life. Down the one side alley we saw the city workers putting up the Bougainvillea branches along the walls and over the arch. By this time, we were getting hungry with all the cafes around, so we stopped at Chez Suzette for some crepes. I had Delice Special which had all the breakfast filings in it (with maple syrup on top), and Sharon of course had the Shrimp Crepe, both excellent.

Old Port of Montréal

After lunch we carried on through the streets of old Montreal and saw the sculpture called Les Chuchoteuses, the back side of Notre Dame, the tragic location of 7 people dying in a heritage building fire in March 2023 where there were illegal short-term rentals, and then we began the walk along the old port. By this time both of our phone batteries were getting low due to playing the Voice tour all day so we kept mine for photos and used Sharon’s with shared ear buds to finish the tour.

For centuries, the Old Port was Montréal’s economic engine, handling grain exports and serving as a major North American shipping hub. By the early 20th century, Montréal was the world’s leading grain exporter and second in total cargo in North America.

The tour ended at the Montreal Clock Tower. Built between 1919 and 1922, the 45‑metre Clock Tower marks the entrance to the port and commemorates Canadian merchant sailors who died in World War I. Its clock mechanism was designed by the same firm behind Big Ben’s. The tower is a Classified Federal Heritage Building for its architectural and historical significance.

After we finished the tour, we decided to go back to Montreal Ferris Wheel and take the VIP tour where you could go in a car that had a glass floor. Some clouds had rolled in so we didn’t have much sunshine on the city but because there were few people riding the Ferris wheel, he let us go around 4 times! It’s the tallest Ferris wheel in Canada at 60 metres high. It opened in 2017 for Montreal’s 375^th anniversary. The anti-seismic foundation can withstand winds up to 240 kph and it operates year-round down to -40 C.

Before taking the Metro back to the VRBO we took a quick walk through the shops in the Bonsecours Market and then stopped at Brewskey Pub to sample an Islay Bunnahabhain whiskey I hadn’t tried before and also a local Imperial stout, both very good. The bar tender let me charge phone enough that we could take the photos😉

The next day was going to be rainy most of the day, so we decided to take the Metro to the Biodome and see the enclosed ecosystem. The building was built as the Olympic Velodrome for 1976 and then opened as the Biodome in 1992. They have recreated 5 Americas ecosystems with 1500 plants and 229 animals. The 5 ecosystems are Sub Antarctic Islands, Tropical Rainforest, Laurentian Maple Forest, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Labrador Coast. We tried to time each area to see them feeding the different animals. Downstairs they had an exhibit that taught us the stages of Taxidermy and some of their specimens are quite important as species go extinct. Enjoy some photos of what we saw.

That evening we went out for Greek dinner with our friend’s daughter Karen who lived north of where the VRBO was located. It was so great to catch up with her since we hadn’t seen her in many years.

The original plan is that our RV work would be completed by mid day Thursday and then we would sleep in it in the parking lot of Volt Energies to test all the systems. We got a late check out from the VRBO for 3 pm and the project manager picked us up to take us to the shop. They finished the 6 solar panel install at around 6 pm and gave us a partial walk through so we could stay in it Thursday night. Then early Friday morning we pulled the RV back into the bay so they could complete the system load checks while we waited in the office. Finally, at around 2:30 Friday afternoon they gave us the fire hose lesson on all the components and tested to make sure everything was working as designed. Here are a couple of photos of the work done.

Leaving Montreal on a Friday night in rush hour heading East was extremely slow so we decided to go to the closest RV park that was open and we got a great site right on the St. Lawrence River.

On Saturday and Sunday, we decided to follow another one of the VoiceMap tours called The King’s Road, A Historic Driving Tour from Montreal to Quebec City. We knew we wouldn’t complete the full route as we wouldn’t go into Quebec City as we would cross the bridge and head towards New Brunswick. However, it was very worthwhile to do all the sections we could and we’ll save the tail end for next year’s RV trip. Here’s a detailed description of the tour.

The King’s Road tour traces the Chemin du Roy, the 1737 roadway that became the longest road in North America at the time, stretching roughly 280 km along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. It was built to link the scattered seigneuries of New France and to create a reliable overland connection between Montréal and Québec City.

Origins and Purpose

The road was engineered under the French colonial administration to unify settlements, support trade, and strengthen communication across New France. Early residents along the route lived in seigneuries, agricultural land grants that formed the backbone of colonial society. Farming, woodworking, weaving, and river-based trade shaped their daily lives.

Catholic Life and Community

Catholicism deeply influenced the communities along the King’s Road. Churches served not only as places of worship but as the social and cultural centres of each village. Religious festivals, processions, and rituals—especially around Christmas, Easter, and saints’ feast days—were major communal events that reinforced social bonds. Missionaries also established early educational and medical institutions.

What You Encounter on the Tour

The VoiceMap tour highlights nearly a hundred historically significant stops, including:

• Moulin seigneurial de Pointe‑du‑Lac — an 18th‑century flour and sawmill preserved in its rural setting.
• Boréalis Museum — interpreting Québec’s once‑dominant pulp and paper industry.
• Notre‑Dame‑du‑Cap Sanctuary — Canada’s national Marian shrine.
• Champlain & Batiscan villages — early riverfront settlements that still reflect the rhythms of seigneurial life.
• Moulin à vent de Grondines — one of Québec’s oldest surviving windmills.
• Presbytère de Deschambault — a heritage rectory overlooking the river.
• Vieux chemin Cap‑Santé — often called one of the most beautiful historic streets in Canada.
• Québec Bridge — a monumental engineering project shaped by both tragedy and innovation.
• Cap Rouge Trestle & Nautical Site — blending railway history with dramatic river views.

Cultural Landscape

Throughout the drive, the tour emphasizes how the Chemin du Roy is not just a road but a living cultural corridor. Stone churches, ancestral homes, orchards, and river views reveal how French colonial traditions blended with the realities of life along the St. Lawrence. Traditional foods, music, storytelling, and craftsmanship all contributed to a distinct regional identity that still survives today.

End of the Journey

The tour concludes near the Plains of Abraham in Québec City—symbolic ground where the fate of New France was decided in 1759. From start to finish, the route offers a layered narrative of settlement, faith, agriculture, industry, and the evolution of Québec’s cultural identity. We’ll complete this last part next year.

The tour talked about the famous Greek pizza at Restaurant Le Grec so we had to make a stop.  The place was packed, including one room where the CBC camera crew was interviewing someone. There were balloons that said 70, so we assumed it was an 70^th wedding anniversary. Here are the best photos from our Saturday morning drive towards Trois Rivière.

Once in Trois Rivieres we decided to park and do a 1-hour VoiceMap walking tour called The Confluence of Rivers Where History Meets. Here is the description of that tour.

The VoiceMap tour The Confluence of Rivers Where History Meets introduces you to one of North America’s oldest cities, founded in 1634, where the Saint‑Maurice River meets the St. Lawrence. The route highlights how this strategic confluence shaped the city’s growth — from Indigenous travel routes to French colonial settlement, religious life, and later industrial expansion.

You begin at the Boréalis Museum, a restored 1920s paper mill that reflects the region’s pulp‑and‑paper legacy. From there, the tour winds through Old Trois‑Rivières, past the Cogeco Amphitheatre, historic streets like Rue des Forges and Rue des Ursulines, and along the riverfront. Along the way, you encounter landmarks tied to the city’s founders, the Ursuline Sisters, and the soldiers commemorated at Monument des Braves.

Architectural highlights include St. James Anglican Church, the Assumption Cathedral, the Old Prison, and the Old Courthouse with its modern sculpture Le Témoin. The tour ends at the Musée Pierre‑Boucher in the historic Séminaire Saint‑Joseph, tying together the city’s artistic, religious, and civic heritage.

Overall, it’s a compact 60‑minute walk that blends colonial history, religious influence, industrial transformation, and riverside culture into a clear narrative of how Trois‑Rivières evolved at the meeting point of its waterways. Here are photos from the walking tour.

Once back on the driving tour we stopped to see the massive Notre‑Dame‑du‑Cap Sanctuary and its very large grounds before continuing to our Saturday night stop which was a Harvest Host sheep farm.

We were a little confused when we reached the Harvest Host (HH) Ferme Marie Moutons because there didn’t seem to be anywhere for us to park as there were a lot of cars along the driveway. It turned out to be families with their border collies to get lessons from the owner of the farm as she raises both sheep and border collie’s. Around 8:45 the lessons were over and then the owner gave a very detailed tour of the farm. We learned all about Dorper sheep which is a South African hair sheep that sheds its wool. She breeds them for meat and only keeps the very best genetic stock. She explained all about how they select which ones to keep and breed to keep improving her herd. After touring the farm, we bought a variety of frozen meat products including lamb burgers and sausages, duck sausages, and chicken thighs.

On Sunday we carried on with the driving tour passing some beautiful old homes along the King’s Road until we reached the edge of Quebec City and then crossed the bridge to start driving on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. That evening we drove to Riviere du Loup and got a campsite on the hill in Parc de la Pointe. If we had more time we would have ridden our bikes along the shoreline path. On Monday as we left Riviere du Loup, we stopped to see Parc des Chutes with the incredibly spectacular 33 metre waterfall beside the Hydro electric station.

This concludes our first blog as we will now exit Quebec and begin our New Brunswick adventure. Feel free to leave us any comments as we continue RV Trip 15.