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”.
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.
This is one of Louise Penney’s favourite themes in her Three Pines Novels.The cafe was comfortable and cozy and more like someone’s living room.
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.
This map indicates all the places in North America, that have visited the bookstore.The signatures on this post in the Cafe, were autographed by a number of Louise’s close friends, including Hilary Clinton who she co-authored a book with.
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
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
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).
The Metro was literally around the corner from us so we hopped on and navigated our way to St. Georges Anglican church for Sunday service. Our friend Brett used to pastor there. You may recognize it and the nearby park from “Just for Laughs”. The church is a Designated Historic Site of Canada. We found many of these sites around Montreal and Quebec City. That is because churches, being an important piece of our history, are too expensive to keep open on a daily basis. No congregation could support the church’s operation and so the Federal Government kicks in. St Georges was built in 1869 in the High Victoria Gothic Revival Style. I make this specific statement since our friend Brett might read this. Besides being a priest, he is an architect and I know that specifics are important to him.
St George’s is on STANLEY St. See if you can guess the connection with the next picture.
D had to get a picture of himself dissing the Habs (NHL Montreal Canadiens) to bug a friend who is a diehard fan.
Next up was our mission to find chocolate croissants for breakfast. They were the second item on our “must eat” list (poutine being the first).
We were in the vicinity of another historic landmark. Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral was built as a Roman Catholic place of worship. Building commenced in 1870 and was based on the model of St Peter’s in Rome (you wouldn’t recognize that from this angle). It is an example of the Baroque Revival Style, right Brett?
Nearby was the Macdonald Monument in Place du Canada. It was unveiled in 1895. Just yesterday, Wab Kinew (Premier of my province of Manitoba) challenged Mark Carney to abolish the Indian Act which was written in part by John A Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada.
We knew that we were very near the Ring. We were to meet there the following morning for a walking tour, so we scoped out the location in advance.
We found the Metro again and then made our way to Jean Talon Market. I loved these dahlias on display and for sale.
They had so many good food offerings from around the world. I enjoyed a vermicelli bowl and D enjoyed a couple of varieties of arancini. We first tasted these in Sicily.
We stopped for some supper fixings and then walked home. We put on 14,000 steps that day. Pretty good for a guy that just got out of a walking cast. We had 3 hr walking tour the next day so we rested up with our books for the evening.
Our Home Exchange was in the perfect location but was a bit spartan for our tastes. For example, there was no TV. When we travel we like to do some of the same things that we enjoy at home, like watching a favourite Police Drama. It is one of the ways that we feel like locals and not tourists. Que sera…reading is nice too.
Kath’s quote: “The only way to truly get a feel of the local life is to spend a few days with someone born there.“-author unknown. Our Home Exchange host was from Nice, France but you get my drift.
