[ road trip day 1 ~ montreal ]

OUR ROAD TRIP to Maine started with a 5 hour drive from Toronto to Montreal. Since we had to break up the long drive to Maine, we decided that spending a day in Old Montreal would be a great way to kick-start our vacation.

We chose a small boutique hotel in the heart of Old Montreal ~ Hotel Nelligan...

An old stone building, the hotel was fantastic ~ I loved the exposed brick wall in the room, the fireplace and the sleek bathroom. The service was superb and the bed ridiculously comfy ~ I would highly recommend this hotel if you are headed to Montreal.

We started the next morning with a breakfast crepe on a patio...

...and spent the rest of the day strolling the narrow, cobbled streets, taking in the old architecture and looking in galleries...

...and of course we had to stop for some traditional Quebec fare ~ poutine {fries covered in cheese curds and gravy}...

...and some cookies from the cookie truck...

But my favourite part of the day was browsing along Rue des Artistes {similar to the artist alley in Quebec City}...

...where we met Marek Olechowski, an artist originally from Warsaw who has been painting in outside, plein air work for over 30 years...

...we were immediately drawn to his style and fell in love with this scene of an outdoor cafe about a block from where we stood {it came home with us}...

We ended the day with a lovely dinner at Gibby's...

...and a stroll afterwards to walk it off...

It may have only been a day, but it was a great way to start our vacation! 

Have a great weekend and next week I'll give you a glimpse of Portsmouth, NH ~ our next stop on our road trip to Maine.

lisa