Last weekend I went to the races north of the border. Accompanied by one of my oldest and best friends, we departed Pondside Friday afternoon to make the short journey up to Montreal to take in a couple of days of Formula 1 racing. Neither of us had ever seen an F1 race, but we had been talking about it for years, and last October we pulled the plug and spent stupid money on tickets.

The weather forecast for the weekend was not ideal, with rain on the menu for Friday and most of Saturday. We arrived late Friday afternoon in a thunderstorm, enjoying typical big city rush hour traffic made worse by the rain. Just as we were nearing the hotel the Transcontinental Jeep had to ford standing water on a city street that had to be two feet deep. With the suspension jacked up to “Off-road 2” we got through without issue.

I made the hotel reservations when buying the race tickets. Although the event was eight months out at that time, there was nothing available downtown for race weekend. Our best choice was way the hell out on the east side of the island in Saint Leonard, about eight miles from the race track. Getting to the track was going to require adventures.

The Grand Prix races were held on a closed course, at the Circuit Giles Villeneuve on Ile Notre-Dame, a man-made island in the St. Lawrence River. This island lies directly across from downtown Montreal, and was constructed with the of the earth and rock removed when they tunneled under Montreal to build the Metro subway system in the 1960s. It lies next to St. Helen’s Island, the site of Expo ‘67.

Being an island, there is no parking available, especially for the 120,000 people drawn to the city for this event. We would make our way to the course either by Uber, taxi or public transportation. 

After checking into the hotel, we started casting about for dinner that night. I had pre-scouted a possibility on the Internet earlier, but when I called learned there was no seating available that evening. I went back to the maps and reviews and located an Italian restaurant not too far away called Restaurant Di Menna. 

We made the short walk to the restaurant, and were seated right away. The place was busy, but not full. There was a bar running along the back wall and tables filled the rest of the space. It was an attractive and well designed space. We started our meal sharing an arancini appetizer, which was delicious. I had the rack of lamb for dinner, while my buddy had the chicken parmigiana. Both meals were superb-  we had discovered a great little neighborhood restaurant away from the madding crowd.

Saturday dawned as expected, overcast and rainy. We decided to use Uber for the first trip to the track. The events on this day were qualifying races for the finals on Sunday. 

To make a very long story shorter, Saturday was a disaster. Not long after getting into the Uber I discovered that I’d failed to print the tickets for Saturday for some reason, so back to the hotel we went to fix that. Then, once we finally reached the island after 45 minutes of driving through the city, the folks directing traffic had the Uber drivers dropping their fares at the wrong location, extending the already long walk to the venue. To make matters worse, we left an iPhone in the Uber, and off that went with our driver!

And it was raining. Heavily at times.

So we walked over to the track while notifying Uber of the lost phone. Found our seats in the grandstand, but with the rain it was not the place to be. Wandered around some more and decided to use the afternoon to explore using the Metro to return to the hotel. Back over the Cosmos Bridge we went to the Jean- Drapeau Metro Station, where we each purchased weekend passes. During this time messages were being exchanged with Uber, and we learned that the phone was found in the car. We asked that it be dropped off at the hotel.

I’ve been visiting Montreal for a long time. My first visit was in the late 1970’s and since then I have made the trip dozens of times, especially since we moved to northern Vermont several years ago. It’s always been one of my favorite cities.

While not a fan of public transportation systems, if I had to use one on a regular basis I’d want what Montreal has. It’s a well-run integrated system of subway trains and surface buses. Our trip back to the hotel involved two trains and a bus, and took less time than the Uber ride. It was also a heck of a lot cheaper.

When we arrived back at the hotel the iPhone was there waiting for us. Even though the rain continued to fall, things were looking up!

Chilling out in our less-than-luxurious accommodations that afternoon, we checked the weather forecast for Sunday and were encouraged to learn that it would be a dry day, although mostly cloudy. The conditions for the final races were looking good.

We had made reservations at a very well-known downtown steakhouse, taking the only time slot they had available at 9PM. Not wanting to wait that late for dinner, and also not wanting to make the cross-island trek to the restaurant in Vieux Montreal, we canceled the reservation, deciding to double-up and return to Restaurant Di Menna one more time.

And one more time we were not disappointed. My friend had a perfectly cooked NY sirloin while I went for the Osso Buco, which was fabulous. Though I tried my best, I could not finish the shank. Huge portion. The risotto was also delicious!

Race Day started off as promised, cloudy but dry. The rain stopped overnight and by the time we were ready to head for the track the roads were dry, although there were puddles. We left the hotel, grabbed coffee at Timmy’s and headed for the bus stop.

The trip back to Circuit Giles Villeneuve was efficient and uneventful. As we closed in, the subway cars filled up, but not to the point of discomfort. We arrived at the Jean- Drapeau station not long before the final Ferrari Challenge race, so we made our way to the track.

We had to cross the Cosmos Bridge to get off St. Helen’s Island and onto Ile Notre-Dame.

Arriving at our seats just before the race began, there was plenty of room and the sight lines were good. Here are a few photos of what we saw of that race, along with a short video.

There were a couple of hours between the end of the Ferrari race and the F1 final, slated to begin at 2PM. We left the grandstand and went in search of some food. The day was still dry, but walking conditions were marginal as there was much standing water and a lot of mud flanking the paved walkways, which were inadequate for the amount of people at the event.

We grabbed a couple of burgers and some fries from a food truck. Greenbank BBQ. Excellent burgers! I learned that Greenbank is located in North Hatley, Quebec. That’s not far from Pondside, so I may have to head up there to check out their restaurant. 

We then waited far too long to use the porta-potties before returning to our seats for the big race. I’ll say it now- this venue did not accommodate the amount of people attending well. Too small, no permanent support infrastructure, and its maintenance left a lot to be desired. The grandstand we were in actually swayed when everyone got to their feet at one point, which was disconcerting.

The F1 Final did not disappoint. The 70-lap (or 2 hour) race started a little after 2PM, on a fast and dry track. The sun was even peeking through at times, warming up the afternoon nicely. The grandstand was jammed full for this event, as I expected it would be.

The F1 cars are incredible to watch and hear. Here are a couple of photos and a video.

The race went by quickly, as there were fewer wrecks and yellow flags than I expected on a track like this. We witnessed a crash right next to the grandstand as one of the cars slammed into the wall trying to take the outbound left turn too quickly. When that happened, everyone stood up at once and that’s when the swaying grandstand scared me a bit.

To give you an idea of just how fast these cars go, here’s an aerial view of several cars exiting the chicane. These cars approach 200MPH on the straightaways.

Our last challenge would be exiting the track for the subway after the race, and I’ll admit I seriously thought we would be 2-3 hours getting out and back to the Jeep at the hotel. But that was not the case at all. Yes, it was a bit jammed getting off Ile Notre-Dame and into the Jean-Drapeau Metro station, but once inside the crowd control was excellent. We got right onto a very full train and departed for Berri-UQAM where we changed trains and headed east. The trip took no longer than it did the day before, and may even have been a little faster. Kudos to the crowd control personnel- they did a great job!

Once back at the hotel we collected the Jeep and headed for home. I arrived at Pondside well before 8PM.

Overall, this was a fun trip. There were adventures in travel, minor mishaps and the discovery of a couple new restaurant options. Would I attend a Formula 1 race again in the future? The answer is “yes”, but not in Montreal. The venue was just shy of horrible from a variety of perspectives, including location and maintenance. If there’s another Grand Prix race in my future, I think I want to see a city course. Or at a privately owned venue that’s up to the task of supporting this type of event to the level it should be, given the cost of attendance.

But that’s just my opinion. Thanks for stopping by!