Montreal, QC

On the surface, it seemed like any other big North American city if it weren't for French speaking. And Old Montreal, the Montreal version of French Quarter that is only more upscale -- no seedy Bourbon street. Industrial buildings and Valero refineries dotted the outskirt of the city. Then we went to Jean Talon Market that looked more like a traditional Korean outdoor market than North American. And the mannerisms and attitude of people are definitely more French than American.

The phone stopped working as soon as we crossed the border. I postponed booking a room just to make sure that we don't run into a problem at the border and we had to scramble to find a public wi-fi. We were going to Universite Shebrooke dorm, but it was 20 miles out of the way. So we settled for Motel du Paysan, a cheap roadside motel. No roaches, but it had refrige and microwave making it easier to cook.

2 days of whirlwind coming up from White River Junction along "Quiet Corners of Vermont" followed by an Montreal tour, and I was pretty tired this morning. So we are staying here for one more day to rest. Two days of activities followed by one day rest seems to work well these days. And that is an improvement from the original plan of one day activity and one day rest.