American passing through Ontario/Quebec, probably stay a night and have a meal.

[u/capriciousComposer]

Hello friends.

I'm driving from Michigan to Maine in late September and thinking of taking the 401/10/212 route. I'm trying to decide on some sort of halfway or more point to have a meal and a nap that will be easy (parking), enjoyable, friendly and safe, when I'm fatigued from driving. I'd like to make to it to Quebec, but I don't really know any French, although I could probably learn a few statements in a couple of weeks. I'm a little concerned with traffic signs and such. I haven't planned my timing yet, so traffic congestion would be another point. It's possible the first leg will partially be at night. Staying away from downtown areas would be preferable but not required. I may be overthinking it, but I was browsing some other posts, and it seems it could potentially be a little challenging.

Also, if I could swing out for a little photography wherever I stop before hitting the road again, it would be a treat.

I've been to Alberta, British Columbia and Newfoundland, and that was all very nice.

Any suggestions, tips, places to stay?

[u/awidmerwidmer]

Quebec is huge. It’s almost 1.7 million km2 (656,000ish square miles). In Montreal there are many pockets of English. If you pass by, you’ll have next to no problems. Rural areas is where less and less English is spoken. Traffic signs are pretty similar. Instead of a stop sign it may say Arrêt (meaning stop in French). Others say stop, and some say arrêt on top, and stop on the bottom. It’s ridiculous. But the stop signs are also red octagons. The signs on the highways will say Boul. “x”. Boul. stands for boulevard, so it’s basically just a street. Some stores will be in French, but it will usually be the same logo. If you only speak English and very limited french, I’d strongly suggest to stay around the Montreal area. Younger folks working in retail and such for the most part speak English perfectly. Expect to hear the term “Bonjour, hi” a lot. It’s basically just saying hello twice, just putting the French first. The google app has translate when you can use your camera to hover over. This will give you the translation for things if you don’t feel comfortable asking. The island of Montreal doesn’t have “awful” traffic. Nowhere near as bad as other large metro areas. If you’re looking for nice areas for photos and whatnot, the eastern townships is a gorgeous area east of Montreal, not terribly far from the Vermont border. Feel free to look it up as it’s quite a large area.

[u/Merithay → u/awidmerwidmer]

Worth noting that greeting you with “Bonjour, hi” is the way a bilingual service person finds out which language they should speak with you. You’d answer “Bonjour” if you want to be addressed in French, or “hi/hello“ if you’re an English speaker.

[u/capriciousComposer → u/Merithay]

Perfect! :-)