Montreal

Summary of time:
• Catch up on Paper work
• All you can eat Sushi Buffet
• Visit the Old Port, Old Montreal – Notre Dame, Chateau de Ramezay
• Shopping in the Underground Mall – but no purchase!!
• Relaxing with friends

Handy hints –
 Prices displayed are not the prices that you pay.... There is State Tax to add, and Provincial Tax (some places do not have much Provincial Tax). But never be surprised at paying more (there are a couple of exceptions eg Fuel)

On the move again from Ottawa to Montreal, this time to visit not only Montreal but June – met her whilst working for The Message.

Montreal was originally called Ville-Marie in 1642 by Paul Chomedey, having crossed the Atlantic from France, and travelled up the St Lawrence River. Ville-Marie became a major fur-trading centre and exploration base. The city remained French until 1763. It lost it’s pole position for fur-trading to Hudson Bay Company in the 1820’s but Montreal boomed through industrialisation and the railway. Montreal, along with the Quebecois, wanted to remain French, and French is spoken in many quarters as the first language – there is even language police who check that the Act is followed and French is spoken first, especially at Transport, Government, Banks, etc!
Montreal was for a season “Sin City”, but in the 50’s mayor Jean Drapeau, set up the Metro, high rise offices, the underground city, and many other things. In 1967 Montreal hosted the World Expo, and in 1976 they hosted the Olympic Games.
Currently Montreal is a vibrant city – reportedly more students than Boston! – many festivals, and very multicultural.

June met me from the Station, and we took the metro back to her’s in Snowdon – west part of Montreal. Having sorted my stuff out we went for a walk to the Oratoire St Joseph (Big Catholic Church) on Mont Royal, the big hill (called Mountain) in Montreal. Watching the sun set, we had a long time to chat and catch up on friends, and The Message. Then it was back for dinner, more chat.
It’s great to be able to catch up with stuff. The weather was not good, and there was plenty of things to sort or decide, eg what was i going to do after Montreal, off to Quebec City and then hire a car, or just get one from Montreal for a couple of weeks. It was time for some decisions, the problem with travelling and going with the flow (since realised how much bigger Canada is !!). Also a time to make sure things are as they should be, including catching up with family...Skype is great, especially having an opportunity to talk instead of just instant messaging. My dad will need to fix the lighting in his office, coz it always seems dark.
Tuesday is house group for June (made it all feel like normal, coz that’s my usual night back home – and today Kate was 40 and there was a surprise party for her, linked to house group – sorry i missed it). It was great getting to know some people, and to share stuff, over the Word. Thanks guys you’re amazing. Proverbs is interesting to study, wise words of wisdom and folly!
The body clock and time of being up shifted....later nights, but also the opportunity to lie in!!!
Weds, was lunch with June, Ben and friends for all you can eat Sushi buffet for C$13.99 Having never really eaten much sushi before, this was an interesting time of trying lots (and i mean lots!!) of different things. If you don’t eat all you order then you get charged C$1 per item!! Fortunately there were some Big eaters in the group. I ate a lot, but all was good, i think the owners were not too happy at the quantity of stuff we were ordering. The price went up after 3pm to C$23.99, but if you had ordered before then you were fine. We were there from around 12.30 to 2!!
The restaurant was on Rue St Catherine (Ouest), in the student area, but as you walk down Rue St Catherine, you come to the shopping area. There were a couple of things on the list to buy, so off June and I went. After a while, although there are shops on the street, you need to head Underground. There are 5 shopping malls all connected underground. This is mainly due to the very cold conditions in the winter (some people are able to go from home, via metro to work, and also to connect to the malls, without having to go outside!!)
It certainly is a different way to shop. After walking through the malls, success was not had on the list, it was something very specific, and so it would need to be from a specialised type of store, oh well. It is always good to do this sort of thing with a local, as you so easily can get lost.
Plans had been made for me to hire a car from Montreal for 2 weeks, at which point i would return for the weekend and then head to Boston, which meant getting the Grey Hound ticket (big savings if buy 14 days or more in advance – also couldn’t get it cheaper on line!!!), so we walked past Downtown, up the street where you go clubbing (apparently you can see some stars here – George Clooney met an ex girlfriend in a bar here), and the edge of China town & the Quartier Latin (and happened to pass the specialised shop – outdoor store – and i now have some all terrain sandals – great fit!). Then to the bus station, where i got my ticket for Boston (and saved C$5 compared to online!!!) Then back to Snowdon on the metro. June was out for the evening, so i stopped at the supermarket and actually cooked dinner for myself!
Thursday the weather improved slightly, so i went off for a wander by myself. I caught the Metro to Place d’Armes and wandered off into Old Montreal.
First visiting Basilique Notre Dame (famous as Celion Dion got married here), and then walked along Rue Notre Dame Est, passing the Hotel de Ville, Vieux Palais de Justice, Cou d’Appel du Quebec (Appeal Court of Quebec – one below the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa) and Place Jacques Cartier. I decided to visit the Museum at Chateau de Ramezay. This little palace was built in 1705 for Claude de Ramezay the Governor of Montreal. It is a museum of early Quebec History, including furniture, household items, clothing, maps, and even information on some of the early revolutionaries to the British rule. There was also a temporary exhibition on the history of the bicycle...some of those early bikes were real bone shakers (actually one of them was called that!!!). Then back outside and off for a wander down to the Old Port.
The old port consists of 4 quais, and you can cycle or stroll through the area, some of it is park and fun zones. I started off at the Clock Tower, which is at the northern end, built in 1922 to honour sailors who had died in WW1. Looking North it is possible to see some of the working port, with large container ships. From here i walked along the edge of the river / quai’s down to Quai Jacques Cartier, where the Cirque du Soleil were set up – June and I will get to see the Ovo show when i’m back in town.
Having sat for a while for a drink and a read, it was time to wander through some of the old streets, these are a lot narrower than a lot of the streets that i’ve seen in Canada, a bit more reminiscent of the width of streets in the UK!!!!
I passed various buildings some really old with old bits of architecture and some which were a mix of old and new. The Centre d’Histoire de Montreal is a modern building with a few bits of quirky architecture. This time was just for strolling around, before returning back to Snowdon. June was out for the evening, so time to chill out, and play games on the computer, as well as to sort out some plans.
Another late evening, but it was not an early start to the next day as i didn’t need to collect the car until Midday. June fortunately came with me and helped with some translations...thanks June!
Then off for the next adventure.