Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal

It’s virtually around the corner from our hotel, so we walked over to see it on this cold and rainy day.

It’s our first visit to the church in many decades. It was raised to basilica status by Poor John Paul II during his 1982 visit.

We caught most of a brief English language tour, and the guide explained it was an urban legend that Montreal’s Notre Dame was modeled on the one in Paris.  Its exterior was actually modeled after Westminster Abbey. That makes sense.

The interior is as impressive as we remembered.

Montreal Embassy Suites

We took the shuttle to the airport, climbed aboard Bus 747, and rode to a Metro stop. It’s rainy so we estimated correctly that it was worth transferring, as the Embassy Suites is just around the corner from the Place d’Armes stop.

From there it was indeed a fairly quick walk to the hotel.

A bonus is that our room is already ready, so here we are, a relatively leisurely 80 minutes after leaving our first ES.

Yes, that’s a “fireplace,” not a microwave, complete with a remote control.

And a jetted tub! Not bad.

YUL Embassy Suites

This property is about a 20-minute free shuttle ride from the airport departure level (door 8).

It has the feel of a new hotel, but was converted from a Comfort Inn and Suites, explaining why one can book a non-suite room, something new for us with this brand. We did stay in a suite.

In any case, our suite was comfortable, the employees are friendly, and the breakfast was good.

We bought a three-day transit pass at the airport for about US $15 each. Today we’ll hitch a shuttle back there, then take Bus 747 into downtown Montreal and our next Embassy Suites.

Another year of Hilton status beckons.

Best Cheap Air Canada A330 Seats

We paid a little extra for the second exit row.

Really weird in that two woman stood in front of us and chatted for the first three hours of the flight.

A flight attendant asked quietly if they bothered us but we didn’t mind. There was a lot of room when they finally went back to their seats.

Now we’re waiting for our hotel shuttle at Montreal YUL.

YVR AC MLL

Going through domestic security at Vancouver International Airport is such a quiet experience compared to certain other places.

We don’t recall visiting this Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in the domestic area. It’s busy but still quiet and pleasant.

Welcome to Canada!

And after some breakfast we’ve found a quieter corner.

Fall Commercial Crab Season in Blaine WA

A beautiful day... this boat is based in Wrangell, Alaska.

Lunch at R&H, Lansdowne Mall, Richmond BC

We were just here last weekend, stopping by for a snack with our Australian friends, Bill and Sue, before putting them on their flight onward out of YVR. We're usually here for the xaio long bao (soup dumplings), but today we were tempted by the combo of Braised Beef Noodle Soup and eight Steamed Dumplings. They make their dumplings in-house.

A very big lunch for about US $10 each and quite delicious. We got caught in the beginning of the afternoon rush (more of a jam) down Highway 99 to the border, but lunch made it well worth it.

There are eight more dumplings in the steamer basket on the bottom - no dinner for us tonight!