the old city of montreal
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
We spent the day in Montreal's old city, today. It lived up to its image.
I have two small guide books for the city: one is very practical and tells you where to find things and how things work; the other explains history and culture and architecture. Both are invaluable, and I'll add a review of each to my off-and-on collection of reviews. (Any day now.)
Armed with knowledge of what we were looking at and how to get around, it was easy to put together a tour of the warren of cobble-stone streets that was interesting without being taxing. Despite being a sunny Sunday, the district wasn't packed with tourists (outside of the one stretch of Rue St. Paul that's been turned into a pedestrian-only tourist trap) and we were able to get about with ease.
The most arresting stop was of course the Notre Dame Cathedral. When we arrived, it was time for Sunday mass and no visitors were allowed to enter the main space of the church. We were told by the (rather unpleasant) staff to come back between 1 and 4, which we did at the end of our trek around the district. It was well worth the repeat visit, as getting full access to the site gives you a much finer appreciation of what Montrealers have built, there. Naturally I had only black and white film on hand (d'oh) but at least I had my "gorilla" pseudo-tripod and was able to get some low-light photos (woohoo!).
Another memorable site was the much more humble church dedicated to the woman who founded the first school and hospital in Montreal. It's a simple place with a tower you can climb and an archeological site for a basement. Our tour guide was on her inaugural English-language session and did a fine job of explaining the ins and outs of ancient fire pits and the difference between diets in the three eras of inhabitation: first nations; French; and English. One of the odd little differences was that the quality of glass ware actually took a nose dive after the British showed up. (Note to by-gone settlers; ease off on the gin before making the next batch!)
Perhaps the highlight of the day, though, was the lunch we had at a bistro on Rue St. Paul - we had just decided on looking for an interesting place for lunch when Mari pointed out a window with small cafe-style tables in it. I fretted that Kenny would upset such tables, but Mari was pretty keen and it turned out to be more than worth the eventual balled-up debris-strewn table-cloth and peeved neighbours. The food was simply outstanding. To our embarrassment, neither could remember the name of the place after we'd left (it wasn't stamped on everything insight inside and out the way things usually are, these days) but Mari said her smoked salmon salad was the best salad she'd ever had.
We're pretty happy with the hotel we have, as well. It's the "new residence" of the McGill campus, and despite being "only" $110 per night for two queen beds (it's curious that hotels are more expensive in Canada than they are in Japan) its central location and level of quality and service (no room service, but there is a kitchen on every floor) suit us well. The fare includes two $6 coupons for breakfast every day. There's better breakfast to be found out in the pedestrian mall under the Rue du Parc (attached to the hotel) as well as at Cora's down the street, but the clerk at the register does his best to make sure that each coupon is used to your advantage: our breakfast today came to $5.