Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec

We left beautiful Montreal at 8 a.m. on Monday, July 9 in order to get in line for the first lock of the day, the Lambert Lock on the St. Lawrence.  Because this is a commercial lock we had to wait for a huge ship to lock through from the other side.  We saw it towering above the lock wall as it emerged.  

It wasn’t until 10 a.m. that we were able to lock through.  

Several pleasure craft were going through with us so we had to raft up to a beautiful black 54 foot Carver.  The couple onboard were very friendly French Canadians who had owned a condo in South Florida for 30 years.  We had a great time chatting with them as we locked through.  Rafted behind us was a Florida couple and their granddaughter who were aboard a Mainship and who had just come from the same Yacht Club of Montreal where we had stayed.

Our destination for the day was Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, a charming village that is also a suburb of Montreal.  But first we had to travel through one more lock at Côte St. Catherine.

When we arrived at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue we tied up at the free town dock wall adjacent to several waterfront restaurants.  We walked a block into the village to check it out.  It had a number of shops and restaurants and we found a traditional Irish pub, Cavanaugh’s, where we each had a beer.  

Dinner on board was light but good - a big salad with a crab cake.  As Lynn updated the blog, Jonny went out to meet our neighbors. A number of boats were tied up at the dock. Right behind us was a very lively group from two boats rafted up to each other.  

They, along with two other groups that we met in the locks, encouraged us to stay at the Fairmont Chateau Montebello which is supposed to be fabulous.  Originally we were not planning to stop there but by the following morning we changed our plans and decided to indulge ourselves!