Post 139: Surprise campsite in Montreal!

A Surprise campsite in Montreal!

On the weekend of May 10th, we made our way to Montreal, Quebec for our middle son’s wedding. We ended up staying in a surprise campsite in Montreal lol.

Best laid plans..

This wedding had been planned for almost a year. Back in Feb of 2019, Joy emailed the Casino Du Montreal. We asked if we could camp for free in their parking lot on May 10th and 11th, 2019.

We anticipated doing a little gambling and then walking across the parking lot to the wedding venue on Saturday afternoon. Now how sweet would THAT have been? No worries about drinking and driving. We only had to walk 200 ft lol.

The surprise was on us!

Well SURPRISE SURPRISE! The surprise was on us :(. When we got to within 10 mins of the Casino du Montreal, Joy called ahead. This was what the Casino email required back in Feb.

Unfortunately, the gentleman on the phone said “NO NO NO. You cannot park here on the weekend, this is our busiest time. ESPECIALLY on Mother’s Day weekend.” Who would have thought MOTHER’S DAY weekend would be a big one at a Casino lolol.

The gentleman was quite upset that we had been given that information. He then gave us a different location that we could park at under the Bonaventure Highway.

Change of plans!

We were not really big on the idea. We WERE PULLING A 31 FT TRAILER through Montreal on a Friday afternoon. THAT in itself is quite an adventure. (Yes Tim we thought of you lol , insert Inside joke here)

OMG Traffic in Montreal is wild!

Caught between a rock and a hard place so we managed to turn around. Due to Bills expert driving and hauling of a 31 ft trailer lol and headed to the new location.

A problem came up. With the twists and turns, various exists amongst the rush hour traffic, we managed to MISS the exit for this new location. Not ONCE but TWICE!

On the 2nd attempt, we ended up driving downtown Montreal then into Old Montreal. We were NOT Happy Campers! Please excuse the pun here.

We needed a new plan!

Some quick problem solving was needed while we were trying to find our way. We made the sad decision to leave Montreal and head out of town. The alternate campsite we knew of was 1 hour or more away.

This new campsite would not be convenient for the weekend in any way. But we were kind of desperate and had no other quick solutions.

Our quick thinking son come to our rescue!

Fortunately, lol we have a very quick thinking son (who was the groom to be). He sent us an address for a campsite 11 mins from his home. We thought ok. Yes, we had to pay for this place, but we would save on gas to and from the other campsite 1 hour away.

Port de plaisance de Longueuil (SOGERVIE)

This new location was Port de plaisance de Longueuil (SOGERIVE)   

We found this campsite fairly easily with the help of Google maps. When we arrived it was just like our son had described to us. A gate with friendly english speaking staff where we paid our $42.00 a night for a site with electricity.

Any site that was open was available. The site included a gravel pad for the trailer, grass beside the trailer and a nice wooden picnic table. We were able to back onto the river that connects the Réal-Bouvier marina, the Old Port of Montreal and Parc Jean-Drapeau (Île Sainte-Hélène).

The sites were not immense, but they were a decent size. We have had smaller ones in ACTUAL campgrounds.

Our view!

What an awesome view! The 1976 Olympic Stadium, La Ronde (amusement park) and a breath taking view of the city skyline of Montreal at night. The lights were so gorgeous.

The campground property!

This campsite was quite large and could accommodate any rv from very small to quite large. There were also non electric sites, that were a few dollars cheaper.

Some people said in their write ups of the Port de plaisance campsite, that it was noisey. We found it was fine. No worse than camping in a rest area beside the highway.

The campsite even supplied a dumping station and garbage bins.

Bonus perks!

BEST OF ALL, we were about 12 mins from our son’s home. 11 mins from where Joy’s brother was staying in town AND 11 mins from the wedding venue. Now how great is all that lol?

We certainly were not expecting to find such a jewel of a campsite right beside the water and Montreal. Our son really came through for us on this one hahaha.

A Happy Ending!

All in all, a weekend that started out poorly ended up being quite amazing. The wedding was a blast, the bride and groom looked so happy! We spent some time with all 3 of our sons altogether. Time with our new daughter in law AND Joy’s brother and his wife all in 1 weekend.

We hope to go back to this Port de plaisance again some time. Maybe in the summer and enjoy the surrounding area a little more. Being from Montreal originally, we do miss our home from time to time :).