Brian & Ghislaine's Montreal Wedding

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Thursday July 17, 2008 - Sunday July 20, 2008

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So Tegan and I headed up to Canada to attend Brian and Ghislaine’s wedding in Montreal. We spent 3 nights in Montreal and 2 nights in Quebec City. What follows is a brief description about our time in each city.

Overall I really enjoyed the feel of Montreal. Festivals aplenty, the streets seemed very alive despite the unpredictable showers. A very friendly feel, I don’t ever recall a rude tone directed my way. On the downside, the city had a very modern feel. Aside for some sections of Vieux-Montreal, most of our city exploration didn’t live up to my typical visual vacation tastes.

Thursday:

We met Ghislaine’s parents while enjoying a generous home cooked Lebanese meal prepared by her mother. Her father kept the drinks filled as Brian’s family met Ghislaine’s family for the first time.

Afterwards we headed to Crescent Street for some late night drinks. For a Thursday evening the strip seemed very alive and full of energy.

Thursday was our first opportunity to experience the Montreal Metro. I must admit the system seemed extremely easy to navigate. This is probably attributable to it being very similar to my home Washington D.C. metro system.

Friday:

Friday we headed down to Vieux-Montreal for a lengthy walk. We spent a bit of time in Basilique Notre-Dame enjoying the beautifully hand-carved altar piece. The stroll was full of interesting architecture and street activity. Although likely a heavy tourist area, we wished we’d had an opportunity to visit the same streets at night.

Later Joe and Alex joined us for dinner on St-Denis. We had a lengthy, enjoyable dinner at Universal Café. The apple pie was a table favorite. Afterwards we walked through the Just for Laughs Festival. Enjoying the many comical street performers, our evening was quickly interrupted by a heavy downpour. Scattering like all hell broke loose, the four of us ended up seeking cover under a stairway and a trash can lid. Neither provided great cover as we all ended up soaked. Feeling the weight of the water, we eventually headed back to the hotel to change thus ending our evening.

Saturday:

Saturday was wedding day. After a quick, late breakfast, we headed off to the ceremony. Unlike most of our time in Montreal, the clouds generously parted and made room for the sun to shine during the ceremony. Incorporating in both French and English, the ceremony seemed the perfect length much to Joe’s approval (who first entered the church asking the groom “How long is this going to take?”). The service certainly seemed flawless, and all in attendance seemed to agree through continued smiles.

From the church, it was off to the reception. Between the frequent squealing of tires and the many wrong turns, it became quite an adventure moving between locations. One roundabout seemed to take over 10 minutes to successfully navigate. Despite the obstacles, we eventually arrived at the reception hall.

Like the ceremony, the reception was a big hit as well. The wait staff kept the food coming while the open bar proved bottomless. The night was filled with many speeches, including a rare Pizza Hut Bum Tackling Commitment speech by Joe. Once the dinner completed, the dance floor opened up to a sizable crowd. Sadly, to Tegan’s disapproval, the dancing effort was certainly limited on my part. No matter, Tegan still made the most of the evening dancing the night away to many personally requested songs, which included the traditional wedding favorite, Promiscuous Girl by Nelly Furtado. One of the lasts to leave, we headed back to our hotel when the reception wrapped up around midnight.

Sunday:

After waking up, we grabbed breakfast back on St-Denis at Café Cherrier. Sitting at a street side table, we soaked up the atmosphere. We both noted how much more efficient the street parking meter system was in Montreal as compared to pretty much any other city we’d parked in.

Bellies full, we hit the road destined for Quebec City.

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Additional photos below

Photos: 6, Displayed: 6

Photos

Chapelle Sacre-Coeur
The rear chapel in Basilique Notre-Dame.

Newlyweds
Brian & Ghislaine leaving church post ceremony.

Mr & Mrs. Hughes
Exiting the church.

Grand Entry
Ghislaine escorted by her mother and father.

Thirst Quenching
Something to wash the cake down. Where's the Guinness?