Treating your Tesla to TLC in Montreal, then taking a straight shot home to N.J.

DEBUGGED: My 2015 Tesla Model S after a mini detailing at Auto Bella, a hand car wash in the garage under the Hyatt Regency hotel and the Complexe Desjardins mall in Montreal, below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

MONTREAL -- Chinatown, Old Montreal and other attractions are an easy walk from my hotel, and the city has a great subway and bus system to cover longer distances.

So, this year, as in the past, I parked my Tesla Model S in the garage under the Hyatt Regency, where I stayed for nine nights during the International Jazz Festival. 

That gave me a chance to have my car washed and waxed, and the interior deodorized at Auto Bella on level P3 of the parking garage (a mini detailing cost $65 Canadian or about $45.50 U.S., plus a gratuity).

Though employees speak English, the menu of services is in French.

Auto Bella is open Mondays to Fridays (1-514-889-6225).

CHARGE IT: On July 4, we shopped at two Costco Wholesale warehouses in Montreal and then drove over to the Tesla dealer to charge my Model S for the trip home last Thursday, below.

FRUIT SMOOTHIES AND MORE: You'll find a pleasant cafe called Java U across the street from Tesla Montreal, which is at 5350 Rue Ferrier (1-514-908-3827).

VIVE LA AMERICA: Traffic in Montreal was more horrendous than usual on July 4, when Americans are said to flood across the U.S.-Canadian border to visit the French-speaking city. 

Driving home

On the way to Montreal, we detoured into Vermont to use the free Tesla Superchargers in South Burlington, where we had something to eat at Healthy Living, an independently owned organic and natural foods market.

On the way home, we decided to try newly installed Superchargers in a Plattsburgh, N.Y., shopping center.

This is travel in the slow lane:

We spent about 1 hour and 15 minutes at each of the two stops to and from Montreal in order to get a full charge of about 200 miles.

A related benefit is that Tesla Superchargers often are located near slow food, such as you'd find in Whole Foods, Healthy Living and Starbucks.

PLATTSBURGH SUPERCHARGER: Eight Tesla Superchargers are behind the Target in the Champlain Centre mall in Plattsburgh, N.Y., photos below. For slow food, the only option is a Starbucks Cafe in the Target store. 

STORMY THURSDAY: The straight-shot drive to northern New Jersey from Montreal takes you through the scenic Adirondack Mountains in New York State. Last Thursday, we encountered thunderstorms, and saw an accident that ended with a new Honda sedan T-boned by a tractor-trailer.

FIVE TESLAS: Our second stop on the way home was a shopping center in Colonie, N.Y., outside Albany.

BIG DEAL ON WILD FISH: By the time I got to the Whole Foods Market in the Colonie Center mall late Thursday afternoon, the wild salmon at less than half the usual price had run out, and I was offered a rain check. In New Jersey on Friday, my wife found fresh wild sockeye fillets for $9.99 a pound at the Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

SLOW FOOD: I was tempted by these Sweet Potato Quinoa Cranberry Cakes on the Whole Foods salad bar ($8.99 a pound), but had a 16-ounce container of Vegetarian Pea Soup ($5.99) and coffee instead.

GRASS-FED BEEF: My wife paid $11 for a grass-fed hamburger with a side of sweet potato fries at Whole Foods. 

Using Supercharger in scenic Vermont, Montreal is hop, skip and jump from N.J.

If you own a Tesla Model S, live in New Jersey and are going to Montreal, one of the benefits of detouring to use a Supercharger in South Burlington, Vt., is driving over lightly traveled two-lane roads through farmland and small towns, with the state's Green Mountains in the distance.

Four Model S luxury hatchbacks stopped for big gulps of free juice on Tuesday afternoon in the parking lot of Healthy Living Market in South Burlington, Vt.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

MONTREAL -- The opening of a Tesla Supercharger in Plattsburgh, N.Y., this month allows Model S owners in the New Jersey-New York metro area to reach Montreal in two relatively quick stops.

That's two stops without a detour into Vermont, which boasts winding roads through farmland, and Superchargers in the parking lot of a natural foods market.

Our destination was Montreal's International Jazz Festival, which began today and runs through July 9.

On Tuesday, we drove from northern New Jersey to a shopping center in Colonie, N.Y., where we charged our 2015 Tesla Model S 60 for free not far from a Whole Foods Market.

We spent about 40 minutes there, enjoying a bowl of Whole Foods soup and a cup of coffee, and sandwiches we brought from home.

We then set our navigation system for South Burlington, Vt., and the parking lot of Healthy Living, which like Whole Foods sells natural and organic food, and has a cafe offering prepared food, soup and coffee.

After 40 minutes there, we had enough range to easily reach Montreal about 90 miles away.

The French-Canadian island city boasts the biggest Tesla dealer in North America.

Besides Superchargers, the dealer offers Tesla merchandise that apparently costs less because of the U.S. dollar's favorable exchange rate.

Last year, I enjoyed an espresso in the customer lounge while charging my Model S for the trip home. 

Contrast all of this with travel on gasoline -- tearing into a highway service area, racing to the bathroom with a bursting bladder, downing crappy food and running back to the car to set another record for vacation travel.

And traveling to Canada in our Toyota Prius two years ago meant having to stop before the border to fill our tank so we could avoid the high price of gas in Montreal.

That final stop was in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

On Tuesday afternoon, customers were lining up inside Healthy Living Market in South Burlington, Vt., for the privilege of buying Heady Topper Beer, described as an American Double India Pale Ale that gives you "wave after wave of hoppy goodness on your palate."

Four pint cans of Heady Topper Beer were $12.99 plus tax.

One of the prepared dishes available for $9.75 a pound was Duck & White Bean Cassoulet, front.

Healthy Living Market is at 222 Dorset St. in South Burlington, Vt.

Even a veteran of New Jersey and New York City congestion like me found late Tuesday afternoon rush-hour traffic in South Burlington, Vt., a trying experience, despite the politeness shown by other drivers and the absence of angry horn blowing.

That's kilometers, not miles per hour, after we crossed the Canadian boarder.

Two lanes merging into one on a freeway near Montreal.

No waiting for a Tesla Supercharger at the Colonie Center mall in Colonie, N.Y.