My stay here tonight really is a mix of good and bad. Using Hotels.com I booked a room at a local hotel not really needing a lot of amenities. A clean bed and shower, Wi-Fi and that really was all I was looking for. Unfortunately, it took Hotel L'Urbania three rooms before they finally found me one that the maids had actually cleaned from the previous guests. Even at about 8 PM, it took one of the staff to check ahead on the third room, and I suspect he actually cleaned it on the spot, before I was finally given a room where the bed was made and used towels didn't line the bathroom floor. it is honestly the first time in 40 years I was given a room that hadn't been yet cleaned in a hotel. Bottom line, even at the discount rate this hotel offers, I'd choose another location the next time around.
So moving past the hotel, I decided to drive to the downtown/waterfront area and walk through that area while I decided on a restaurant in which to have my birthday dinner. I wandered across a nice little brewpub with great atmosphere (I give the beer a 6/10) and then onto another bar with a healthy selection of commercial beers on tap (I give the waitress am 8/10, lol).
After sampling a few IPA'a it was time to find dinner. I wandered around until just out of the main corridor of tourists (and there were tons!) I found a place called "Le Buck". Now, I do not speak French, and I was not exactly dressed up, and this is a high class French restaurant.... Yet they found me a space at the bar immediately and all of the staff working the bar area were extremely accommodating to this under-dressed Newfie who was clearly out of his element!
While I had no idea what it was that I ordered, all of the food turned out to be excellent and in total completely filling. Even in English, I suspect I would have selected the same dishes! There was a mushroom based entree, a beef/bacon side and then a beef main dish that came across to me as an excellent steak stew disguised as a plated dish. Watching what others had ordered, I only seen one dish that I would have been disappointed in, a salad that likely had a ton of taste but lacked on what my round tummy would call substance!
At the end of the meal, the bartender, having earlier ascertained that tonight is my 40th birthday offered me a shot of whisky topped with a piece of smoked bacon for a chaser. Now really, how does one top that! The bartender and the girl working with him both joined in a birthday shot to end the meal. Fantastic!
If you do find yourself in Trois Rivieres and want to treat yourself to a wonderful dinner, be sure to consider Le Buck, just find yourself a better hotel than I ended up in!
I'm off to bed now with an early rise to get groceries and some supplied at Canadian Tire tomorrow, then off to Mount Tremblant. Once I get Wi-Fi access again I'll post another update!
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