Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue to the Lac Leamy Casino, QC.
We rose again at 0730 hrs. to find a request to pay for the overnight docking attached to one of our mooring lines. Although moored at the blue line of the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue lock by 0830 hrs., we had to wait half an hour for the lock to open, and our L’Express friends gave us more advice, this time to spend the night at the free (including power) Lac Leamy Casino dock off the Gatineau River across from Ottawa. Claire and Leon, with whom we chatted while locking through on the floating dock (our favorite type of lock!), were also going to the casino. We cruised through the Lac des Deux Montagnes in perfect weather and again met Leon and Claire at the Carillon lock, where we had to raft with them because the floating dock was out for repair and the lock had only two cables to use. At about 1430 hrs. we stopped at the Fairmont Le Chȃteaux Montebello to fill up with gas and tour the building. This luxury hotel is one of the world’s largest log structures, having required over 10,000 red cedar logs to complete. Later we were welcomed by Jess at the Lac Leamy Casino dock that is reached via a circuitous, sometimes very narrow, but well signposted channel off the Gatineau river. We cleaned up and went into the casino for dinner where we again met Claire and Leon having a meal before she started on the one-arm bandits. Later we would find out that while he slept she netted over $800 before retiring at 0300 hrs.