American vanlifers in Quebec find perfect overnight spot for exploring Old Montreal on road trip
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- Опубликовано: 24 дек 2024
- Ep. 264 - What is van life in Montreal like for American vanlifers? We go in search of a place to park overnight and find the perfect spot for exploring Old Montreal as we travel full-time in our self-converted Ford Transit camper van on a road trip in the US and Canada!
FEATURED IN THIS VIDEO:
Old Port of Montreal & Clock Tower Quay: A recreational area with historic landmarks, several attractions, and a good (but expensive) spot for overnight parking
The Old Town of Montréal (Le Vieux Montréal): Features 18th- and 19th-century buildings that have been rescued from demolition. Walking down the cobblestone streets, you feel like you are in Europe.
Bonsecours Market: A restored heritage building that houses art, design and shops.
Place Jacques-Cartier: This famous square connects the City Hall area to the waterfront with shops, restaurant, musicians, artists, and market stalls.
Queues de Castor: Serves iconic Beavertails, pastries like a flat donut or crispy pancake with optional toppings (We chose the Triple Trip - topped with chocolate hazelnut spread, peanut butter, and Reese’s pieces. Yum!)
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel: Historic Catholic chapel built in 1771 featuring unique art & a nautical theme.
Mount Royal Park: This huge and popular park rises high above the city showcasing expansive views of Montréal and the surrounding area.
Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal: The highest building in Montreal and the largest church in Canada (Free to tour, $5 parking fee.)
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👉 ABOUT US: We're Steve and Audra, a van life couple from South Florida who share a passion for cheap travel, nature, wildlife, DIY projects, and adventure! After about 2.5 years, we finished converting our 2019 Ford Transit high roof cargo van into a tiny home on wheels. We've been sharing our experience as we travel the country on a low budget with our cat Lady Gray Gray Gillespie Pinkerton. We invite you to follow along on our journey! If you have any questions, we’re happy to answer! Comment below or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram and we’ll respond as soon as possible. And please don’t forget to subscribe to our channel!
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#vanlife #vanlifetravel #cheaptravel
I’m an American who has lived north of Montreal for 40 years. Quebec is trying to preserve it’s French language. Quebec’s only official language is French, even though it is part of Canada. They even have what we call the 'language police'! (They give fines to businesses whose signs are written bigger in English!). But, I would think they could continue with signage to help tourists.
Hope you still enjoy it!
Quebec s dilemma they are surrounded by an ocean of English speakers but the only place left where French is spoken in North America but come on road signs should be bilingual for,safety s sake.
Thank you for a most relaxing tour of a place I would love to go to.
We're glad you enjoyed the video and hope you can get there sometime!
Such a cool city...feels like visiting Europe without leaving our own continent. Safe travels, friends!
Very cool city!
Ok, great portrait of the Old Port. We live in the huge red brick 9 story building with the 4 tower penthouses across from the clock tower to the right of your car. You did good!! :). Thx guys.
@@Rroll100 Wow, what a beautiful place to live! We really enjoyed our time there! Thanks for watching! 🙂
@@SteveAudra: wish we knew you were coming and we could have spent some time showing you the sight.
Montreal is quite cosmopolitan when it comes to languages but it's the Quebec government that mandates the use of public signs in French only. They always say they are an island of French surrounded by a sea of English. Somewhat paranoid maybe considering that bilingual signs would help visitors.
Les panneaux resteront comme ils sont, t'es pas content dégage .
You drove in front of the armoury of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal. It’s a Canadian Army Reserve unit. There’s a very museum inside.
Regarding signage in Quebec, the provincial government has very strict language laws that are vigorously enforced. French wording MUST be more predominant than English. There is a French language police who enforce the law. It sounds crazy, but that is the way it is. I was born in Montreal and have lived there for 29 years.
You're not going to let the pepper spray go are you??? 😂😂😂😂😂
Well, of course not! 😂
Oh 'Mericans. By the way love the romantic music, very fitting for Olde MoreAl. Are you Guy's going to Dine out?
I took French in high school and I can say Steve was, as the French say, spot on.
😂
@@Every_State_Park But perhaps the cat's French was a bit more spot on, oui?
It is interesting that French and English are on signs in Canada outside of Quebec but not necessarily in Quebec.
Only in the French areas outside of Québec actually such as in New Brunswick where many French Acadians live. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province.
Federally, Canada has two official languages: French and English.
Provincially, Every province’s official language is English except Quebec (French) and New Brunswick (French and English.)
The province of Quebec wants to keep their culture that has been going for about 400 years. They have officials (language police) who can fine businesses for not having French only signs. They have even asked major retailers like The Gap and Walmart to change their signs to French only. Eg. “La Maison du Walmart” instead of Walmart. Literally translated that would be “The store of Walmart” or “Walmart store.”
The language is actually Québécois a dialect of French.
Be safe and great day.
@@frankvanw1, you describe well the concept but exaggerated a bit how things works in regards of language law. However, Quebec French is not a dialect at all. It’s more like old Normand French that is still talk by older person in France. It’s a accent, not a dialect.
@@cotepierre68Acadian French is a very old as well, pre-Parisienne French being chosen as the " standard" and mixed with Mi'kmaq words due to the close relationship between the two peoples for almost 150 years ( before the horrific Deportation of the Acadians).
Hello I guess you both really liked Montreal it’s changed since I was there 40 years ago there are some beautiful shops there I hope you enjoy your time there have a good week ahead here from Ontario Canada ❤️❤️❤️❤️🇨🇦🇨🇦😎
@@mikemckinley1031 We did enjoy it! Thank you!
Beaver Tails were originally an Ottawa treat mostly associated with their wnter festival, Winterlude. Now you can get at nearly every touristy spot in Canada. Ottawa is only a couple hours drive from Montreal and well worth a visit.
A viewer from Ontario recommended the Beaver Tails. We'd like to get to Ottawa something although we don't look forward to future border crossings! Any recommendations for an Ottawa visit itinerary?
@@SteveAudra Parliament Hill, Sparks Street and the Byward Market are must do's and all are next to each other. While in that area check out the Chateau Laurier and Major Hills park. The US embassy is also located between the park and the market area. Ottawa has a lot of museums and a National Gallery. Next to the gallery is the Notre Dame basilica that is free to enter if open. Also check out TD place and Bank Street in the Glebe. Ottawa is also famous for Shawarma with tons of places to try.
Steve lookin at pretty old building
and AND
Pretty young Quebeckoise ! ! ?
good video and i wish you good luck in all your lives
Dude the dollar sign or any currency sign in the French language is after the number, in English spoken costs we also put dollars after the amount. French isn’t that difficult , I do agree the road signs should be bilingual though.
@@TheNewfoundout He's kidding! 🤦🏼♀️
@ ok all good is it for for aesthetics we in the English language say the amount like five dollars put put the $ symbol be before the the amount because on this I think the French way makes more sense IMO.
Great video. We were on a cruise that left out of Boston. Stopped at Bar Harbor Maine and through Nova Scotia. We then proceeded on to the St. Lawrence Seaway with stops in Quebec City and Montreal. As you said, reminds everyone of old Europe. Loved your choice of music. I think you need
To slip Steve some Uppers. His excitement level seems low. Good thing he has you Audra. While there we had no beaver tail, but did have Poutine. Cheese Curds. Very tasty! Rob
Thanks, Rob! 🙂 He was probably still too traumatized from the border crossing. That cruise sounds amazing. Maybe that's how we should get to Canada next time! Lol!
As a Canadian it drives us nuts because as long as it has French on it then it can be imported. Doesn’t have to have English in it anywhere.
Thanks for the video
Thanks for watching!
It is unfortunate that you did not visit Mount Royal and its belvedere. You had a magnificent view of the city of Montreal. On Rue de la Commune there was the history museum of the founding of Montreal. The Olympic stadium and the Botanical garden are unique in the world.
The capital city of Quebec is the cradle of French speakers in America. Old Quebec and its Frontenac Castle are truly European in style. Next to it are Montmorency Falls which are higher than Niagara Falls. And in Tadousac and the north coast you could see whales on the St. Lawrence RiverThank you for coming to see us and see you next time my American friends. 😊
@@regentmartin4854 We tried to enjoy that view from Mount Royal (in the next video) but the road up into the park was closed. We would love to get to Quebec City and explore that area sometime. It sounds beautiful!
Well done and another score with the score of this video. I have always been curious about how much French influence was still in effect in Montreal. The cities architecture and views all seem like it it was worth the trip even with the few extra rubels you paid.
Those rubles completely blew our budget! LOL! Steve did a great job picking out music for this one, didn't he?! Montreal is definitely a beautiful city! We hear Quebec City is also not to be missed.
I've been in CANADA for 50+ years, and I haven't had Beaver Tail😂
Can you really call yourself a Canadian then? 😆
Quai is dock
In Florida, signs are bilingual in Spanish areas because Florida is English, and Spanish is fueled by the nearby Latin America. Quebec never was English speaking, ever. And unlike Spanish in the US, French is losing ground in Canada. It only regained some backing from France since a few decades. Before that, Quebec ensured most of its survival through an abnormal growth rate, artifically maintained by the local Catholic Church. To illustrate, I personnaly have 30 cousins. It must also be mentionned that for a time, signs in Montreal and Quebec were in English only, despite French being an overwhelming majority in the province. Some stores were (and still are in some places) refusing to serve in French. All of it triggered and still triggers a strong counterreaction. In Quebec, French is the master culture and language, but English is also powerful for historical reasons, because of Canada's position in North America, in the Commonwealth and as international language in the world. Also, English Quebecers are better business people then us we must admit, thus they are wealthier. If you come visit, my best advise would be to aquire a French-English app that will help you around. If it still intimidates you, know that the level of bilingualism is higher in Quebec then elsewhere in Canada, especially in the Greater Montreal, and in particular in Montreal's West Island, the the core of English Quebec. A lot of them even don't speak French at all. If you're unconfortable with a French immersion, I recommend to start from the Western Montreal. Montreal is losely cut in two by the Main street, or the Saint-Laurent blvd. This cut even shows when you look at the city from the South Shore. My mother went to London and told me on her return that London was looking very similar to some areas of the West Island. I could confirm it by watching videos of live walks through London. Montreal is a mix of London, Paris and New York.
Comment!
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I'm glad you made it there it's nice to see how other people live.!!👍
The kitty seem to like the French little birdies !!!
✌️♥️😎
Kitty liked the French birdies indeed! 🙂 We would love to spend time in the smaller towns instead of just a bigger city but we only had so much time.
Montreal is one of the safe city of North America and I am suggesting to you go to the capoital Quebec city and than St-Anne de Beaupré on the North Shore of Quebec city.. So let me know what you are thinking of all what you have seen so far. We have a different way of living in some ways. You will find the difference eventualy. Bienvenu au Québec.
We would love to get to Quebec City! We have heard it's beautiful and very van life friendly! We would also like to get to some of the smaller towns.
Plus 10 rubles... 😂
We're glad someone gets Steve's humor! 😂
Im glad your luck improved once you got to Montreal, my birthplace. Steve, the $ sign after the price is a French thing. IN English-speaking Canada, the $ Sign is before the price just Ike innthe States. Quebec is very narrow-minded about language. They're too insecure about losing French to also allow English signs. "Quay" is actually a British term and is pronounced "key".
Thanks for correcting us about the pronunciation. We had no idea! We understand them wanting to preserve their heritage BUT...
@SteveAudra I know they go overboard with the French only nonsense. That's the main reason my dad moved our family from Montreal to Ontario when I was a kid.
as we saw in the video, most signs are bilingual. As for the parking meters, all of those i have used have a language selector.
Wow, thanks for calling us narrow-minded 😡, in case you didn't know there are a lot of bilingual signs in Quebec. Actually you can easily live and work in Montreal without having to speak french because english has taken over so many aspects of our lives. Bonne journée quand même!
@suzannebastien2918 The truth hurts, eh? From outside of Quebec, the province's discriminatory language policies are often seen as narrow-minded. Your next door neighbour, Ontario, allows businesses to have signs in whatever language they like. In Markham, a Toronto suburb where most of the population is Chinese, you'll see strip malls where with no English signs, only Chinese. They'd never be allowed that kind of freedom in Quebec.
Wow, that was crazy, bear spray is ok but not a 1 ounce bottle of pepper spray. Weapons of mass destruction....are you kidding me!
That's was Steve taking liberties with sub titles. You know you can never take anything seriously that Steve does!
I like Steve’s wit.
@SteveAudra 🤣 that's what Roxanne said too.
Hilarious work Steve!
@@frankvanw1 Thank you all! 🙂
Trust me we NON Québécois CANADIAN, and by the way Steve, if you keep making fun of us we will send you back, and we will keep Audra 😉
By the way QUAY is pronounced KEY...😊
Steve makes fun of everything so you probably won't have much luck there. I'm glad I can stay though! 😆
In Quebec it's pronounced 'KAY' and the english word would be Pier.
The French had a bit of a rough time under English rule
And did devellop a bit of a chip om their shoulders
And the French signage is just one of the push back
(the parking meter, and transit have english menus and nearly all Montrealers speak YOUR language)
Imagine for a moment that one of the State was a mostly Black run State
You.d have probably even more push back
I'm not sure how wanting to keep their heritage is a chip on their shoulder. It seems fair.
I do not know but the english wording have 40 percent of french in the english speaking. Please do your research before you are laughing the way it is pronounced. A quay is a dock for english.
We weren't laughing at the way it's pronounced. Steve purposely says things incorrectly and or makes up the meaning of things even in the US. It doesn't matter whether it's French or not. I was laughing at Steve. He knew quay does not mean parking lot. We did think it was pronounced "quay" like it looks though. We've been told it's pronounce key or cay. It's actually also a word in English vocabulary and means a structure built parallel to the bank of a waterway for use as a landing place.
Montreal is a city that is visited by usage of public transit. The use of a vehicle is unnecessary, why would anyone rely on these is beyond me? Unless they come from our undeveloped neighbour south of us, maybe?😂😂😂😂
Even on a financial stand point, after parking, use of fuel and time wasted. Transit cost for visitors (without any restrictions/island of MTL) only11$/person on a daily pass, a 3 day pass is a mere 21.25$ and a weekly pass is offered at the insanely low cost of 31$ (4.43$/day).
We live in our van and travel to new places by driving our van but once we got to Montreal we parked the van for 24 hours and used our legs for getting around! I did see recommendations for using public transportation to get around versus driving in the city. If we had stayed longer, that probably would have been a good option for seeing more of the city. (Although obviously there are cars everywhere in Montreal so some of your fellow residents must not be using public transportation!)
I am a Greater Montreal resident. My first language is French.
You are right some of the signage should be in both French and English and that would be very helpful to get around and to where you want to go.
But I would say, like you probably experienced, you can pretty much get help or be served in English everywhere you went.
Hope you really had a great time travelling in the Province of Québec ( Kaybec ) QU is prononced K like in Keep. ;-)
I’m starting to detect a lot of whining about Canada, especially from Steve. He looks miserable. $15.00 max Canadian for all day parking at Mount Royal is not bad at all with the conversion to USD btw.
@@mreppen1 Steve is not whining about Canada. We are a channel that focuses on doing things inexpensively. $15 isn't as bad as it could be IF you are parking all day but we weren't going to stay in the park all day. We were gathering info, getting the lay of the land and we were hoping to come back and spend more time there possibly. We share info about what we find. Cities (not just in Canada) can be more expensive and a little more challenging to visit in a van. Thus, we don't visit cities as often or stay for as long because everything has a cost unless we get lucky and find some free parks or parking spots.
Steve and Audra video and a BIG eagles win! Qui pourrait demander plus?
@@frankwolf389 What more could you want? Nada!
Quebec has a serious inferiority complex. The language police (I wish I was making that up) will fine businesses if any other language than French appears too prominent. You'll notice many signs that do have English, will have the English listed below in a much smaller text.
Also, they also use a comma in place of a decimal. For example, a price in Quebec would be listed as 4,97$ but in the rest of Canada we would write $4.97
Inferiority complex? The language is a heritage, and they want to keep it intact.
good video and i wish you good luck in all your lives
@@manomenon1 thank you!