Eric’s Dream

..Ottawa, Parliament, and yes….More Snow.

Ahhhh,,rest.

I managed to sleep in a warm bed last night.  I’m not sure how “where I sleep” has become such a topic of conversation, but it seems to be something of interest these days.

So, I had a good night sleep and I’m ready to head to Montreal.

The Great White North

While driving to Montreal, I saw a sign for Ottawa and debated whether or not to go.  I knew that I would probably be giving up a day of walking around Montreal if I did decide to make the two hour trip farther north, but everyone has said that Montreal is a great place for food and the nightlife and these are two things I’m not exploring, which means Ottawa is my choice.

Two hours after the highway diverged, I was in Ottawa.  The country’s capital and home to Parliament. The snow was kicking in high gear.  At the rate the snow was falling, I knew that I would be looking at another interesting night of driving, but for now…it’s time to check out the country’s capital.

My first stop was at a cemetery.  I’m not sure what drew me to this particular cemetery, maybe it was a matter of convenience. I saw some giant headstones and thought the snow falling made for some good photos.

There was also a pretty fancy tomb with the name Laurier on it.  I figured it must have been someone with money or something, but it turned out to be a little bit more than that.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier turned out to be the 7th Prime Minister of Canada and Canada’s first Francophone Prime Minister. He is much revered and considered one of the greatest statesmen in Canadian history.  He holds the Canadian record for Prime Ministers by serving 15 consecutive years in that position.

Wilfrid Laurier

Canada has always had a huge division between the French and English parts of the country and Laurier did a lot to mend those divisions.

Here I stood at the grave of one of the most respected Prime Ministers in Canadian History.  It was completely an accident that I arrived here, but there have been a lot of accidental moments worth remembering on this trip.  This happens to be another one. About 20 minutes later, I would have yet another one.

I left the cemetery and directed myself downtown.  On the way to the city center, I fell across a building that looked out of place here in North America.  It appeared as though it should be in Europe rather than here.

Upon further investigating, I discovered that I had found myself in front of Parliament.

Much like I always do, I venture off the main road for a better look.  There was no competition to turn down the road that went in between an old building and Parliament, maybe it was the “Authorized Vehicles” only sign, I don’t know.

I didn’t see any security gate, so I took a short drive. I only wanted a better picture so I knew I wouldn’t be long and definitely wouldn’t be a bother to anyone.

I drove around a few parking lots getting a stare from all the people in suits walking to and from their cars.  I’m thinking they must have been statesmen.  They were dressed too well to be anything but statesmen.

I drove downhill into a parking lot that could have used some snow plowing. As a result of my ignorance and foolishness, I drove all the way to the back of the parking lot….ahh, haa. They did plow this lot and all the snow was pushed to the back.

How do I know this, you may ask?  Well, lets just say that I had to rock the car back-n-forth a little to get out of the snow bank and turn around.

Ok, picture this if you will. A big guy in a compact car spinning the wheels as I rocked the back-n-forth in the parking lot reserved for the Canadian Parliament.  Yep, that’s me!

Parliament - Ottawa

I should have known something was up when I saw that EVERY vehicle in the parking lot was a SUV with snow tires.

I managed to get out of the snow bank and headed back up the steep road leading up to the main parking lot and road. I might have spun the wheels a few times trying to get up that road too. I’m not saying that I did, but I am saying that it may have been a possibility.

I made it out of the lower parking lot by spinning my way upward to the main lot.  Hmm, I saw another vantage point for a picture.  It was still in the “Authorized Only” parking lot and there was a RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) car sitting there this time.  That’s ok, because I obviously am here by mistake and will gladly turn around once I am made aware of my mistake.

The view was awesome.  The overlook from which I stood could see the Ottawa River, the skyline, and the Federal Government Buildings. The police officer didn’t seem to concerned with me so I took a few more pictures before hopping back in the car to thaw my photo-snapping fingers.

I weaved around the lot and pulled off to the side once more for a picture or two.  My parking in this spot has gotten me more funny looks than any other moment on this entire trip.  Ok, Ok, I get it!  I’m not suppose to be back here. No worries, I’m getting ready to leave.  I can’t count on both hands the amount of suits that gave me funny looks. They would look at me, look at my car, look at me, and look at the police officer.

Were they frightened? I didn’t know. I was starting to feel pressured to leave this “gazing at Eric” zone

As I got back into the car, I saw the sign right next to my car that clearly stated “Reserved for members of House of Commons.” Remember that road mentioned earlier? The one that went between Parliament and an old building? Well, that’s not just any “old building,” it’s the House of Commons.  Hmmmm. There were plenty of other spots in the lot, but I had somehow managed to take a front row seat for some of the most distinguished people in Canada. It was slightly embarrassing, but yet amusing at the same time. I thought it was a loading and unloading zone, not the best parking spot in the entire House of Commons!

Kids, this is a NO, NO.  I do not ever recommend this kind of behavior as it will almost always get you into trouble!

I digress…

I enjoyed my stay for the day in Ottawa, but needed to push forward. By this time, it was getting dark, after all, it is almost 3:30pm, why wouldn’t it be getting dark?  I was going to hit Montreal close to rush hour. Oh joy, I can’t wait.

Upon entering the Quebec province, I noticed some rather prominent changes. The road signs no longer were in both English and French. Isn’t it strange how the rest of Canada is making an effort to appease the French speakers by using both languages on EVERYTHING, but the citizens of Quebec couldn’t care less? Billboards, road signs, etc. were now in French only.  I was a little surprised because I have always heard that Montreal is such an international city.  It might be an international city, but their road signs sure aren’t. The upside to this is my new found knowledge of many French words found commonly on road signs.

The snow began to blow

After being trapped in stop and go traffic for another rainy hour in Montreal, I was ready to stop for the night.  I would have liked to stop in Montreal to explore the city for the night, but like I said earlier, I think they are known more for their food and nightlife, which is out of my budget.

Before stopping for the night,  I preferred to get as close to Quebec City as possible so I pushed on past Montreal as much as possible.  Once again, the rain in the city turned into snow in the countryside.  This is the 4th out of the last 6 nights that snow is a factor in my driving.  This is the worst night by far!

Speeds that eclipsed 70mph near the fringes of the city have slowed down to 50mph, 40mph, and now a mind boggling 20mph!  Each exit (oh, sorry Quebec, “sortie”) was greeted with another motorist calling it quits for the night.  By the time we slowed down to 20mph, I could no longer make out where the road ended and the ditch began.  I guess Quebec doesn’t believe in using their plows in the countryside because they sure should have used them.  The snow was getting deep enough on the freeway to start controlling the vehicles directions.  It’s amazing that nobody turned completely sideways.  There were no longer two lanes.  There was a line of us going between 20mph and 30mph right down (what I believed was) the center of the freeway. I was only hoping to use the tracks that were created by the cars in front of me. With the white precipitation accumulating on the road and the snow blowing wind picking up, visibility was nearing zero as well.  It was getting to be quite frightening and there was no telling how long it would be before I ended up in a ditch.

I pulled off at the next exit; Berthierville, Quebec. I stopped in the gas station to use the restroom (or washroom for you Canadians.) I had seen the signs change over from bilingual to only French, but I was certain that kids in school would have been taught basic survival English, especially since it seems to be the dominant language in Canada.  Well, after 20 minutes of trying to ask the late teens/early 20’s cashier at the gas station where the bathroom is, I’m now proven to be wrong.  She had NO grasp of English whatsoever.

I would come to find out through my few interactions throughout the rest of the evening, that people in northeast Quebec haven’t a clue, nor do they want a clue as how to speak English. Now I understand their desire to secede from Canada. They are completely different from the rest of Canada.

I will stay in for the night, but not in my car.  While I am feeling like I’m getting over my sickness, I don’t think it would be advisable to run my car for warmth periodically throughout the night.  I could be buried in snow and exhaust by morning.  So it is a hotel again!

Even the hotel resembles Europe more than North America.  These Nordiques really are Anti-North American in every way possible.

Tomorrow, I shall visit Quebec City, the epicenter of all that is French in Canada.

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