Montebello (Quebec)

Montebello is a village of 983 people (2016) and a thousand cows in the west of the province of Quebec, on the eastern edge of Canada's National Capital region.

It is best known for the Château Montebello, a resort which is the largest log structure ever built. It often serves as a conference centre for the Canadian government and its guests. Among other things, it has hosted several NATO conferences, a Canada/US/Mexico summit, and a G7 Summit.

History
Non-native settlement of the area began when the land of the Petite Nation Seigneury was purchased by Joseph Papineau in 1801. Later in 1817, Louis-Joseph Papineau inherited the property and starting in 1846, built the Manor of Montebello, which is now a National Historic Site in the national park system, operated by Parks Canada. The Family Museum, (c. 1880) which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is next to Manoir Papineau, on the grounds of the National Historic Site.

Louis-Joseph is credited with giving the name "Monte-Bello" to the location in 1854 as tribute to Napoleon-Auguste Lannes, Duke of Montebello (1801-1874), French diplomat and foreign minister in 1839, with whom he had become acquainted during his exile in France from 1839 to 1845.

On August 20–21, 2007, the President of the United States (George W. Bush), the Prime Minister of Canada (Stephen Harper), and the President of Mexico (Felipe Calderón) held a major trilateral summit meeting, in relation to the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, at the Château Montebello. A diverse group numbering more than 1,200 protestors opposed the SPP meeting. The group included labour unions, environmental activists, political parties and NGOs.

Get in
Montebello is about 1½ hours west of Montreal, and about an hour east of Ottawa, on Autoroute 50. Whether you drive from Ottawa or Montreal, you can be sure that you are going to take a beautiful drive. The countryside is a mixture of farmland and forest, fairly flat along the Ottawa River but with the Gatineau Hills nearby. It is pretty anytime and sensational in autumn when the trees change colour.

Get around
The town is small enough to be easily walkable.

Do

 * The hotel has a golf course. It also rents out Land Rovers for off-road adventures.

Buy

 * There is a Bonichoix supermarket at the corner of Rue Notre Dame (Highway 148) and Rue Saint-Francis-Xavier.

Eat
The Château has several fine restaurants. Sunday brunch ($47+tax, reservation required) in the main restaurant is reported to be excellent.