Description
Bright and spacious house in the northern, quiet part of Montreal.
Main floor has open plan living room, dining room and kitchen. The living has two sofas and a small wood fire place (it is of no use during summer since it's warm in this season). The table in the dining room can accomodate 12 people when extended. The dining room opens onto a sunny garden through a large (3 section) patio door, which makes the room very bright. The kitchen has dishwasher, fridge, Jenn-Air hoven, microwave and a central unit with 4 stools, very convenient for breakfast.
Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms and a bathroom (bath, separate shower). The master's bedroom has a queen futon and a TV w/ VCR. The 3 other bedrooms have 1 double and 2 single beds, and 2 computers w/ games and highspeed Internet.
The basement has a very large family room with 61" screen TV, 5.1 sound system, VCR, DVD player, PS 2, and cable TV. A sofa converts into a double bed. There is a second bathroom downstairs with shower only. There are also laundry facilities in a separate room.
The house has electric central heating, which again, is usualy of no use during summer. If one might feel cold on a rainy day, the heating can be switch on easily. The house is warm and cosy.
We have 2 cars: 2006 Honda Civic (standard), and a 2001 Subaru Legacy (automatic). We have 4 bikes, camping gears, and a canoe with paddles and security belts.
Neighborhood
The house is in the northern area of Montreal (Ahuntsic) close to Fleury street. The house is located at walking distance from the grocery store, drug store, bakery (very good croissants!), fruit store, convenience store, dry cleaner and post office. Additionaly, Fleury street hosts shops, cafe and restaurants that are a 10 min walk away.
The house is a 7 min. walk from the metro (underground train). The ride to downtown Montreal is approx. 20 min.
The area is very safe. It is mainly inhabited by families. French is the language normaly spoken in the area but there is no problem being understood in english. There is a playground with water games at the back of the school, close to the church (Catholic).
There is a larger park by the metro station that has a skateboard park. There also can be found the cultural center, the librairy, police station, and a liquor store.
We are close to Des Prairies river (Montreal is an island). You can enjoy nice bike rides and picnics on the dedicated bike route along the river.
It is easy to escape the city nothward via Highway 15 which brings you into the nice and wild Laurentian in 45 min by car for hiking, canoeing, camping, watersliding, mountain-biking, etc.
Montreal is 1.5 h from the US border where NY and Vermont can be accessed. Nice trips can be done to Burlington (VT) or the Adirondak region (NY) for great hiking.
About Us
Our kids are 17 (girl) and 14 (boy). My daughter is likely to bring a girlfriend, so we need room for 5.
We are both engineers that met at school! We like outdoor and nature activities such as hiking, biking, camping and canoeing, so we have plenty of info and gears for that here.
We have one important restriction: no pets. One of our family member is seriously allergic to cats and dogs so we can not exchange with someone that keeps pets at home, even if everything has been cleaned up. The house has to be no-smoking. Sorry!
Our objective is to spend 3-4 weeks in England not too far from London. London is obviously one of the area we would like to visit, so proximity or ease of access is key.
I have been myself to England twice, that was a long time ago (in 1979 and 1988). Then I visited London, Oxford, the Lake District and I also went to Scotland .
Our kids are eager about this trip. Our first language is french but we had the opportunity to live 5 years in the US when the kids were young, so the language is not an issue.
We are very open about this trip. We expect to travel around a bit.
Destination
Our date are flexible. It just has to be during the summer vacations for the kids. In Quebec, this means between June 21, and August 24.
We need room for 5.
We would like to be close to London.
Although we are looking for an exchange with a car, we would like to be close to a train station for our in and outs of London. I do not expect to use a car to travel to London, its too busy.
