We took a short day trip to Fort Chambray. The fort told the fascinating story of French/British/American struggles over the decades.

This is a pic of the of the Jacques Cartier Bridge that we crossed over a number of times as it links the island of Montreal to Longueuil on the south shore.

Speaking of Jacques Cartier, I always assumed that this was his likeness until Google Lens told me it was Raphael-Lambert Cross and his dog Pilote.

We had a picnic supper at a Chinatown park. I would not suggest that you try what we did. Everywhere we have travelled in Montreal and area with the electric vehicle that we rented, there was no parking charge when you were charging the car. Not so when we parked in Chinatown. We got a $100 ticket!

Then we attended “Aura”- a music and light experience at Notre Dame Basilica. It was absolutely stunning. There was a flute section in the music and an acquaintance of mine who was a flutist had recently passed away. I was moved to light a Prayer candle for her. If you are not familiar with the tradition, this act is a form of prolonged prayer, where the burning flame represents your continued prayer and devotion for the person even after you leave. I have done so in other places in the world too. You typically leave a little offering for the privilege of lighting a votive. I was sort of taken aback when Notre Dame charges $13 and there is a kind of ATM set up to take your money.

D loves nightlife whereas I am usually content to snuggle up with my book or a movie. But to appease him, we did stop on our way home from the Basilica. We enjoyed a night cap and a tapas at “Darling” (a happening place close to “home”). I must admit, I felt very uplifted by the youthful energy.

Kath’s quote: “The night is always young when you’re young at heart.“

Love never fails.

We had a wonderful day exploring our neighbourhood of Mile End/Plateau.

The two most famous bagel makers are here. We started at Fairmont Bagel this am. While there, a black sedan pulled up and unloaded a group of well dressed business men. They all ordered bagels and were quickly on their way.

Fairly soon after, we lunched at Welenski’s. Talk about a blast from the past.

D had fried balonie and salami on a bun and I a hot dog.

In between we read in the park by Église Saint-Enfant-Jésus du Mile-End and walked St. Laurent St.

We passed two Michelin restaurants on our stroll as well as the Chez Claudette, famous for their poutine.

We enjoyed our happy hour at Siboire right across from the fire station.

We walked to dinner at Corbeli. It was crowded, and noisy, there were people from all walks of life and amazing food. Just the way we like it! 14,000 steps and not a vegetable in sight.

Kath’s quote: “To walk is to travel at the speed of the soul”.

Love never fails.

We picked up our rental car and headed to a couple of places in The Eastern Townships.

Our first stop was Lac Brome/ Knowlton, home town to one of our favourite authors-Louise Penny.

D and I have read all of her 20+ books and it was fun to visit the place that inspired the Three Pines community of her novels.

We had lunch at the Cafe, a browse in the bookstore and a walk around the town before heading further east to North Hatley.

En route, we found the Knowlton’s Anglican church where our friend Murray Henderson was rector for a number of years.

The colours were so gorgeous, but my attempts to capture them were lame.

We stopped at the local pub for Happy Hour and then continued on our way. Charging the car and Montreal parking were two additional adventures for us.

Kath’s quote: “Why limit happy to an hour?” — W.C. Fields

Love never fails.

We started the day with bagels from St. Viateur. They were as fantastic as my memory of them-slightly sweet and crunchy on the outside.

We thought we were getting the hang of the city. We were really enjoying the walk to the Metro and some of their beautiful stations.

We went to a Restaurant Exhibition at McGill. It was very cool but made us hungry.

So it was a great day for Schwartz’s Deli! I have a confession to make. Montreal is known for their Smoked Meat sandwich which I actually don’t care for. One day our good friends from Montreal brought home a feed of the famed meat and invited us over for a feast. And feast we did! I ate too much and was awake all night trying to digest it. As a result…no smoked meat for me. I had an amazing salami sandwich.

D on the other hand loved the smoky treat and so did the couple from Edmonton who shared a table with us. They were in the city for only 24 hours and still made their way to Schwartz’s.

Low and behold our favourite dessert shop was next door to the landmark. I first tasted this Portuguese pastry (Pastel de Nata) years ago in Montreal. I was able to introduce D to it when we travelled to Portugal. When we were in Malaga this spring we kept a constant stock of this treat in our Home Exchange apartment.

Our next destination was a bit over ambitious. We wanted to see the sunset from the top of Mont Royal. We got our wires crossed and ended up walking the entire way! That day we tallied up 20,000 steps and we climbed the equivalent of 35 storeys.

To top it off, we kinda got lost trying to get transit home, and ended up walking around in circles.

Kath’s quote: “We travel for romance, we travel for architecture and we travel to get lost.“-Ray Badbury

Love never fails.

As luck would have it, we experienced our first day of rain when our walking tour of Old Montreal was scheduled. We hopped the metro and made our way to the “Loop” (pictured yesterday) where we met fellow travelers. Most were from the US and Europe, as well as Australia. There was only one other Canadian couple on the tour.

As I am sure that you know, Montreal is made up of a number of islands surrounded by the St Lawrence River to the south and the Riviere des Prairies to the north. Mount Royal is the hill that raises above the city (more about this in a future post).

My photos are not in the order that we saw them on the tour. I was taken by the gallantry of this statue. It looked like one of the three Musketeers to me but in fact it is of Paul de Chomedy. He founded Fort Ville-Marie which later grew into Montreal.

This is Le Petit Dep a cafe and grocery store in old Montreal. I took the picture because I am a lover of all things turquoise and then I realized that I had enjoyed their hospitality on a previous trip to Montreal

Across the river on one of our stops, we spotted Habitat 67. Erected from cement modules for Expo 67 (the World’s Fair) that Montreal hosted, it was designed as a project by a student at nearby McGill University. Our tour guide pointed out that it is the most expensive property in Quebec.

This ornate, vaulted ceiling enhanced with gold was once the headquarters for the Royal Bank (no wonder my bank fees are so high). We saw it on the part of the tour that was conducted inside. Montreal’s Underground City is necessary because of their harsh winters and abundance of snow, as well as the city’s hot, humid summer climate. It links Metro stations to to shopping plazas for over 33 kilometers!

This colourful landmark is a piece of the Berlin wall, giving to Canada to represent the triumph of unity, reconciliation and community. Interesting that just yesterday, Germany discouraged the wording of Canada becoming an associate member of the European Union.

We strolled through Montreal’s World Trade Centre under its glass atrium.

Back at street level, this building once housed the Molson’s Bank. I guess you have to own your own bank to afford an NHL team in Montreal. In Winnipeg the Jets are owned by one local family.

We spent time in Place d’Arms gazing at the Notre Dame Basilica. We went into the church on a future day.

The “Gossipers” is my favourite Montreal Monument. I have paid tribute to it on my three plus visits to the old city. I have renamed it “Three Sistas”.

With all that walking in the rain, we were chilly, tired and hungry. We discovered “Le Vieux Senateur” where we shared moules et frites, French onion soup and warm little buns, freshly out of the oven. D enjoyed a local beer and I a cuppa tea with milk and honey.

We bought fixings for a light supper at home and made our way there by Metro. It was a cozy night with our books (and wine).

Kath’s quote: “Chilly night, cozy blanket, warm husband.”-authour unknown

Love never fails.