Heatwave in Montreal

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My feelings of sadness at leaving the ship were soon changing to excitement as I waited for a shuttle cab to take us through the container-full docks to the exit point, and a taxi which drove me to my new home for a few days. My first impression: this really is a french place, my francais was better than the taxi-driver's english, quelle surprise! I'm glad I had that little bit of practise at improving my french on the ship.

So we drove towards the city, chatting away however we could; I've found so many friendly people here. And up to The Plateau, a delightful area which one could vaguely compare to Oxford's Cowley Road; multi-ethnic, arty, creative, all sorts thrive here, with many cafe's and restaurants of all distinctions.



My hostess (found via airbnb, which I highly recommend for finding accommodation in a strange city) is most welcoming, she's a young actress letting out a couple of rooms.

Mine is compact yet has all I need. My open window provides me with all the interesting noises of the street below, (earplugs handy at night!) - and the balcony at the other end of the apartment is great for doing early morning yoga, or catching a cool breeze, with the yummy smells from the Venezuelan resto next door wafting up. I have full use of the kitchen when I need, and space for my stuff, all extremely handy.



I arrived in a heatwave, and this has determined how much I feel able to get around thus far; too hot to walk any distance, and parks with trees have been most welcome. I discovered one, La Fontaine on my first day: with a pond, plenty of trees to lie beneath, plus the bonus of some musicians jamming delightfully nearby. My favourite a Jamaican guy playing a Cora-like instrument he made, sounding similar to a harp, definately "soul" music as he says.



On a cooler day I walked up the "mountain" or hill (Mont Real) upon which the city leans, enjoying the plentiful trees, birds and flowers amongst the many joggers, walkers and cyclists. I saw a woodpecker! and a one similar to a blackbird with a rust coloured underbelly. After being accosted (gently) by a Jehovah's Witness on a bench part-way up, it was good to see the panoramic view at the top, though I was disappointed not to find a cafe there, thankfully found one in the nearby Maison Smith (no idea where that name came from).



Wandering local streets I soon discovered Else's, a famous bar from the '70s, Aux Vivres a fab veggie place, and later Crudesence, a vegan rawfood resto, all dangerously within walking distance; so yummy food has been on the menu, fab after the very sad meals on the ship.



At the wonderful Jean Talon market a bus ride away there were far too many fruit and veg stalls, with colourful displays of summer fruits, fantastic flower displays, then lobster and other fish stalls, several wholefood shops, masses of exciting gluten and sugar free foods! Margot heaven.

A large stall was very busy making crepes, and - wonderfully - buckwheat pancakes, just like in Brittany. Mine was filled with smoked salmon and spinach, yum.

I'd already sat outside a cafe enjoying my obligatory cafe au lait and croissant (wicked, maybe my last sin... who knows?)



I've visited a couple of museums searching for history, wondering if I can find more about First Nations peoples; so far I have seen a great exhibition of Inuit art works, using little more than found stone, bone or antler, to make often very humorous sculptures depicting animals or humans, sometimes with quite a spiritual element to them. I have seen very little of anything First Nations in Montreal, other than one rather smart shop in the old town, and no sign of any peoples. Although with such a mix of folk from all over the world here, maybe that is too difficult to discern.



A wander round the Vieux Ville (Old Town) left me rather disappointed; of course coming from UK, we're used to really old, their buildings left me cold. Well, not exactly, as I was too hot to bother to keep searching, after wading through tacky touristy stalls and shops for some time. Thank goodness for buses, I've used them quite a bit to get around; I prefer to be above ground, watching the streets, seeing what's around, than using the Metro underground. And montreal is a town of rather interesting architecture. Near to where I'm staying there are some whacky houses, see photos, with delightful little turrets, gaily painted in different colours.



The Festival Fringe is running, providing me with entertainment for several evenings; one wonderful Japanese trio performing "My Crazy Exploding Family" - quite mad and very good fun. Another I felt impelled to attend: "God is a Scottish Drag Queen" was also very entertaining, and even at times rather pertinent. I missed the great parade for the Festival of St. John the Baptist to go to this one, it seems this is THE ONE for Quebec, everyone out on the streets with their blue flags with one white fleur-de-lys look-alike on each. and apparently great giant figures of local personalities go on the parade, alongside jugglers and other entertainments.



However I did get to the Sunday Tam-tams, nicely within walking distance at the base of the hill, a regular summer event, and lay under a tree enjoying the rhythms of lots of folks drumming, till I got inspired to join the dancers and had a good old shake-out.



I tried my hand at the rentabikes, quite heavy to handle, and not always easy to find the next "station" in the half-hour allotted. Still that has fastened my pace somewhat, widened my horizons, and took me to a cooling outdoor swimming pool one afternoon, perfect.



I couldn't leave Montreal without a visit to Cirque du Soleil, it's home town here. I arrived too early but it was worth the long wait: I lay wilting under a tree with no breeze, simply wishing the time away, far too hot to do anything else. thankfully the tent itself was air-conditioned, and the show marvellous! Such wonderfully flexible people doing extraordinary acrobatics, dressed up in colourful fancy dress. My favourite was stick-woman. A miraculous feat of creating a sort of hanging mobile with balanced sticks.... definitely looked magical.



Next stop is to meet some relatives, and get into the family history.

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Comments

[Jack]

I loved stick woman too. Did your performance have golden unicyclists in too? Spinning so fast I found it a bit overwhelming! They were my fave.

[Adele]

Great spirit!
Lovely to get this. It came after the one about the relies. Great to hear of you eating sinfully and shaking out too. Off on Monday, but ill and resting now. lots love