It was only supposed to be a three hour drive but to the 59 Thunderbird time is of no importance. It will sail in when it sails in. We reached the 11,000 mile mark that Jeff and I have travelled since the renovation of the car 4 years ago.

 As we were about to leave Richard Young in the city to fly back home we hung around with him for as long as we could take. With him gone there were two obvious differences. 1st; the quality of the photography would drop considerably but so also would the collective age of the drivers. Now at a youthful 102 we were up for anything.

After breakfast during which two women asked me if I was Billy someone from a band. Jeff did his usual duty and told them to back off or they might regret it. What they might regret I don’t know but you don’t want to test him. We strolled around Montreal which has a really historic area selling really bad modern paintings. The streets and buildings feel very northern European not North American. Even compared to old US cities like Boston it feels different somehow.

Just as we were leaving and saying goodbye to Richard, a really tattooed couple commented on the car and asked for a photo. I traded for a photo of them. The girl was born in Kent about 10 miles from where I was born. They were on their way to the tattoo convention down the road. I couldn’t believe it; I had wanted to get my next tattoo while on this road trip but I had promised my daughter that I would go with her. I love tattoo conventions, the best people watching possible other than a fetish convention which I found myself and my wife staying in the middle of once in Las Vegas. Boy that lot make your eyes water I can tell you.

I was dragged away and took my turn to drive to Quebec City.

About 25 miles out, feeling like a bite to eat we pulled over to what looked like a typical roadside spot. When the girl in hot pants came out to see the car I felt that we may have happened upon a different kind of service facility. But no, she said we could get a coffee and something to eat. Well we might as well give it a shot! There were two guys at the bar and lots of pictures on the walls of a scantily clad woman who we were told in French was the owner but she would not be in again until Tuesday. We ordered a cheese sandwich instead. Well I did, Jeff who can make good and bad food decisions really blundered on this one. Even his side of coleslaw was fried. About to leave and Jeff spotted our totally flat rear tyre. With the rear wheels half covered in tat 50’s style, changing the rear wheel is a 3 man job. Well Jeff and one other. As the official photographer I had to document the event. It was a long job but Jeff loves shit like that. It was poetry in motion, all 2 hours of it. No future in F1 for Jeff and his side kick.

The Belles Broues roadside restaurant has to be hopping on Fridays.

Think Dusk till Dawn Tarantino style.

To be honest, Montreal was a little disappointing so the expectations of this new overnight stop were high. With my French coming back to me by the minute we cruised up to the hotel. Saint Antoine in the old town is beautiful, genuinely old and again more like Edinburgh or a Baltic city than North America.

After a couple of tequilas we went exploring. OK it was Sunday and the happening spots weren’t happening but our 3 mile walk showed us that this could be a good spot for a couple of days another time. Dinner, bed and not even the sniff of a sin.

Soundtrack of the day; Stone roses, Guns and Roses, Franz Ferdinand, Ian Hunter, Fleetwood Mac, Blondie, Roxy Music.