While traveling around Portland, Oregon and the beautiful northwest, I figured it might be a good time to do a recap of my recent trip to Montreal and the Canadian F1 Grand Prix (GP) before I forget it all. Getting from Austin to Montreal proved to be quite a challenge and it went something like this: Austin to Memphis, Memphis to Detroit, and finally Detroit to Ottawa via plane. This was then followed by a 200km drive from Ottawa to Montreal, all in the course of a single day. After all the flying, the drive was oddly enjoyable and relaxing and felt a little like driving through the great Midwest plains except for the scenery being significantly greener. Finding my hotel, Le 1 René-Lévesque, in Montreal was also not a problem at all, and given the rather affordable room rate for an F1 weekend the hotel proved to be quite a nice surprise. To be frank the hotel was nothing fancy or luxurious, but it was clean, very modern, had friendly staff, and it had an excellent location right between Montreal’s China Town, the entertainment district, the university and the historic district. One final note on the hotel, since it is located in close proximity to all these things, the traffic outside can get a bit crazy especially on weekend nights, so either opt for a room up high or bring some noise cancelling earphones with you – you have been warned.
Getting from the Hotel to the F1 GP at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was also a breeze using the Metro and only took about 20 minutes or so. You can purchase a 3 day pass for just a few bucks and then ride around all you want. Even though the Metro does get quite crowded especially on race day, the crowd was always moving and the wait was never very long. I spent most of the days at the F1 track which is located on the Île Notre-Dame, an island right across from Montreal’s historic district in the Saint Lawrence River. This island was also the location for the 1967 World Expo and several very cool structures still remain as part of the park and are definitely a sight to be seen.








