Heading East

We began our day leisurely, this in spite of the fact it was the start of our journey to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick when we would normally have launched like a rocket. Our casualness arose from two features. One, we’re in no rush to get anywhere fast; and two, we deliberately planned our first stop along the way only four hours from home - specifically at the Sheraton hotel in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec about 50 kms from Montréal (pointedly on the south side of the St. Lawrence River in the more agricultural area of this generally urban and industrial region).  Because the traffic progressed so smoothly and we seemed destined to arrive at the hotel not long after noon we momentarily debated whether we should skip our scheduled stop and aim for something further abroad.  We were spared the wrangle when recalling that we had already committed irrevocably to the reservation. When we arrived at the hotel exactly as anticipated we initially consumed extra time by refilling the
car with gas. Afterwards - following a rapid check-in, convenient subterranean parking and easy haul of baggage on a cart to the very agreeable room - we frequented the “club” rooftop lounge where we sipped Cappuccino coffee and munched on fruit power bars while watching Robert Mueller on CNN struggle alternately with Democratic and Republican binary agenda, often an embarrassing mixture of the obvious, obsequiousness and shameless political design.

The early afternoon was spent swimming in the pool on the “green roof” which had a gravel jogging track surrounded by gardens and benches. We then snoozed for an hour or so before preparing for al fresco dining at Zibo, the in-house restaurant. The manager and waiter could not have been more pleasant. Our salmon tartare, beef carpaccio, teriyaki pasta and vegetable fettuccine were superb.

Sheraton Saint-Hyacinthe Hotel 

1315, rue Daniel-Johnson O.

Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec J2S 8S4 Canada