to make it through our packed itinerary in canada, we
rode on coach canada through gray line. it is definitely an
affordable and hassle-free way to travel between these cities..
although i would probably have done better to space the
days out more since we were hopping on & off buses all weekend,
it ended up working great for us and got us where we needed!
we ended up LOVING montreal, but it got off to
a bit of a rough start -- by our own fault.
here's a little travel fail confession for you:
after falling in love with niagara falls and exploring toronto,
it was off to montreal. because this city is about 5-6 hours
away and we only had a few days on this trip, i had the bright
idea of booking an overnight bus so that we could spend as
much time as possible in each place and get the travel part
done during the night. although we loved coach canada
on this trip {like i said above}...we did not do as well trying to
sleep overnight on a bus -- haha, my bad call on that choice!
we boarded the bus at 12:30 AM after a fun night in toronto
and arrived in montreal the next day around 6:00 AM. in
my adventurous travel mind, i pictured us getting off the
bus and starting our exploring right away..nope, this was
not happening. the weather was a lot colder with a storm
brewing, and we had hardly slept all night on the bus.
we were also 3 hours ahead of our normal time, and
our first two days had involved crazy wake-up times. it
was one of those low points on a trip after 2 AMAZING
days! we knew our hotel didn't have check-in until 4pm,
but we went there anyway...and we are so glad we chose
the hotel we did. we walked into le hotel st. martin
particulier at 6:30 AM and were greeted with the nicest
concierge i've ever met, a warm fire, and to our luck--
a ROOM! somehow no one had stayed in our room the
night prior, so we got to check in, turn on the fireplace
in our room, close the shades, and cuddle up for a few
hours of delicious sleep before taking a hot tub and
going to explore montreal. i promise i have never been
so happy for a warm bed than after that bus ride, and we
already loved this darling, charming hotel from the get-go.
it completely saved us and now i know -- no overnight buses!
(i will still take overnight trains though - those work for me :)
^^ it's french, it's charming, it's beautiful...it's a fabulous hotel.
^^ cozying up by the fire with a french newspaper while
chase checked us in...truly went from agony to ecstasy so
fast after dragging bags through the cold street on no
sleep to relaxing in a gorgeous hotel in this french city!
our warm + cozy room was calling my name, and after
napping i took a hot tub to warm up -- then we were off!
this hotel already felt like home with the comforting room,
incredibly nice staff who welcomed us, and the warm fire :)
i will be back to this place!
more of our montreal fun is coming in the next post, but
we did want to share the other comforting part that helped
us get ready to take montreal on: a meal at restaurant
l'academie: french + italian fusion that satisfied our
major appetites after lots of travel! this restaurant is
absolutely gorgeous inside and has great comfort food.
pretty lighting + warm soup to start ^^
i went for the spaghetti bolognese because i had heard
about their bolognese sauce ...it was so rich and filling &
delicious. i needed some carb loading for all our walking!
chase went for the lasagne which was as good as it looks ^^
we ended the night with a dip in the pool overlooking
montreal. what a day of comfort provided by this
restaurant and hotel. now that i showed you how
we got settled, i can't wait to share the rest
of montreal with you!
xo
That bathtub looks amazing! I want one like it! Glad you liked Canada! It's a great place.
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