Sunny Day in Montreal, Canada

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Day 1: Bonjour! The weather gods are with us! This whole week is going to be sunny and beautiful. I cannot believe we waited so long to come to Montreal. It is a beautiful, friendly, safe, island community of about 2 million people (4 million total in the surrounding areas)... about the size of Phoenix. The evening we got to our hotel in Old Montreal, we decided to talk a walk around and find dinner. Everywhere we looked had so much history as this was the beginning of Montreal 400 years ago. Since we do so much genealogy it was fun to overlay our heritage with the founding of Montreal. Cope's family, Norcross, was in Maine by the 1600's and my family, Maddox was in Jamestown, Virginia. Everything was new on this side of the ocean.



Montreal looks very European and because of its location the island of Montreal was originally the center of fur trading with the backdrop of Mount Royal (this is not mountain by western standards) but is definitely higher ground with a beautiful park, a gigantic cemetery dating back to the 1600's. To get an overview of the city, we took a Hop On Hop Off bus but only hopped off once. We stayed on for the 2 1/2 hour tour of the city. We passed by Queen Victoria's statue, Mc Gill University (many American students, and classes can be taken in French or English...Montreal is only 40 miles from Albany, New York) then on to Mount Royal with multi-million dollar residences and beautiful shops. Past courthouses and shopping districts. Eventually we decided we needed lunch and jumped off a few blocks from Chinatown. Not knowing any of the restaurants we picked one with ducks hanging in the window and it turned out to be a restaurant and Chinese bakery. The food was amazing. If we have time we'll definitely go back.

After hopping back on the bus, we walked back to the plaza in the center of Old Montreal. Cope had to go back to the hotel so I sat in the sun and visited with Julianne and Margarite, a lovely couple who live in Montreal and were eating ice cream cones. They spend their summers in Clearwater, Florida. We solved the problems of the world in 30 minutes flat. Love everyone, don't be mean, peace everywhere and they'd like us to change our President as quickly as possible. So there you go ;-) Cope returned and I said goodbye to these lovely ladies.

We headed down to the first church in Montreal founded by the French and brought to life by Marguerite Bourgeoys born in 1620. This little church is beautiful, made of stone with stained glass windows. There is a little museum and gift shop. Peaceful place to just sit in a pew and enjoy the quiet surroundings.

This is definitely a tourist town as well as a college town and a city of commerce. People here from all over the world. It's so fun to hear so many languages and talk to people who live just about everywhere.

Whipped we called it a day and headed "home".



Day 2: Food Tour Day! We have been looking forward to this for a few weeks now. Our first stop where will will meet our leader and the rest of the group is the old Bank of Montreal on Rue St. Jacques at eh Crew Collective & Cafe inside the bank. This is one of those old, gigantic, amazingly beautiful banks with the 3 story ceilings, brass fixtures and well dressed (not us ;-) lovely people working, having meetings, visiting and having coffee. We met Caroline our guide and folks in our group from Baltimore and the prairie provinces of Canada. Our first stop was for unheard of bagels topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon, a salad of shredded beats, lentils, carrrots cabbage and who knows what else in a vinegar mixture. Jean thought, "What the heck?" was a tad hesitant but then LOVED it. Unbelievable. Anyone ever had anything like this? So, after a little history we moved on down Rue St. Jacques to Cookie Stefanie. Cookie Stefanie was started by two young women who were looking for healthier dessert alternatives. Their food is totally Sugar free and Gluten free. We had to die for carrot cake standing in a passageway outside the store. The store was too tiny for all of us. Bagels, carrot cake... moving on down to Rue St. Laurent (the main north south street of Montreal), we turn right toward the river to a romantic French restaurant, Mondavie. One of the oldest restaurants in Old Montreal. They took a chance locating here when the area was still quite "sketchy". Music playing, great atmosphere and here we had wine and French Onion Soup. We're staring to feel quite mellow. Bagels, carrot cake, wine, French Onion Soup... 2 more stops ahead on this 3 hour tour.

A few blocks away we come to a busy shop called Maison Christian Faure, a French Pastry shop. This place is as tiny as Cookie Stefanie and specializes in desserts and a dozen flavors of macaroons! They are in every color and flavor...mango, pistachio, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and other flavors we can't remember. We each get a cookie and head outside to eat it in the sunshine. Cope chooses chocolate, of course and I get Mango. Jean doesn't really want to eat it as she had them before in the states and don't really like them. But... when on a food tour... go for it. OMG, these are not "normal" by USA standards, these are DELICIOUS!. Sweet, creamy, tastes just like a mango. Unbelievable ;-) The

We are approaching 1:30 with just one stop left. It is a number of blocks away and we are a little early. So... Caroline decided to take us for a walk and a history lesson along the river. After resting in the sun for awhile nobody really wants to move but... let's get at um for one last stop. The most important one as we are going to try the famous local dish of Poutine. After a long walk to Rue McGill we reach our last stop, Bistro-Brasserie Les Soeurs Grises a Brewpub. We sit at long tables and small glasses of beer are brought to everyone. Delicious after the hot walk. Then...bowls Poutine. Caroline tells us that it is pronounced "putin" like the guy in Russia. In the bottom of the bowl are french fries, covered with gravy, cheese curds and chicken. Hummm. Cope just likes it. Jean, not so much. Most folks at the table chowed down so we think it became a favorite ;-). The end of a great food tour. We said our goodbyes, tipped Caroline graciously and started the trek back to Maison Town Place Suites ;-)



Tomorrow: Quebec City, Quebec- Québec City sits on the Saint Lawrence River in Canada's mostly French-speaking Québec province, dating to 1608.

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