At first, reaching La Belle Province felt like overseas travel -- signs were in French, people spoke French first. Seeing the same ubiquitous box stores took away from that ... though in Quebec, instead of Swiss Chalet for chicken, you see St. Hubert, a highly successful restaurant chain which even owns motels.
The fine wine list signals that you're not in Ontario any more ...
On the way to Montreal, we stopped at a National Historic Site, Papineau Estate.
Shamir was delighted, having done a paper on Louis-Joseph Papineau in high school. After being instrumental in the Lower Canada rebellion in 1837, Papineau eventually lived the life of the rich seigneur he was, after some years in exile. For a feudal landlord, it seems he was decent to the people, and apparently well liked. He had one of the largest libraries of the day.
Surrinder felt the magnificent home was more like a small castle than a house. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos inside, so we can't show you.
Montreal - The Olde and Unique
Montreal is unique in so many interesting ways. Mount Royal is a mountain that dominates and pretty well divides up the city into separate areas.
Plenty of density, but at a human scale -- are you listening, City of Vancouver??! Very different from the highrise "people-isolaters" we are now accustomed to in Vancouver.
Mount Royal's cemeteries are beautiful, and huge!
We looked for Pierre Elliott Trudeau's grave, but it turned out he is buried elsewhere in Quebec, in a family cemetery. We found Jean Drapeau, however.
We also found a home Leonard Cohen owns and apparently lives in when in town, near rue Marie-Anne (echos of his song "So Long, Marianne"?). When we went by, there was a light on inside. Was it him? ...
The heat and humidity made it extremely difficult for Surrinder to explore much of the city. People survive the heat by going out at night with their kids to play and swim, etc. Similarly, we spent a lot of time in the shade in many of the parks in the city. We love Monreal's parks!
A lesser strategy for us (Surrinder doesn't like air conditioning) was going to air-conditioned coffee shops to work on the blog!
We were in caught in the middle of downtown during a severe thunderstorm one day, in which about 30 mm of rain fell within 15 minutes!! It actually made the national news. The van (and we) were fine, however, and came through unscathed.
We toured Notre Dame Basilica -- hard to describe its majesty and beauty in mere words or even photographs.
Shamir first saw it in 1975, and was blown away. Even after now seeing major churches and other religious buildings around the world, seeing it again was just as breathtaking. For the star-struck, Celine Dion and Rene Angelil were married in this church.
Bicycle traffic in this city actually works. You see people on bikes all over the place. They are definitely a serious form of transportation.
The Bixi rental bikes are everywhere, and are very reasonably priced -- once you have paid a fee to access the system, a trip of half an hour or less is free, and an hour costs $1.75. Best of all, there are some 400 stations around the city, all over the place, and over 5,000 bikes.
Let's hope Vancouver gets its system "rolling" (heh heh) soon! A phrase from Surrinder (so you don't get any wrong ideas!) -- "elegant French women in short summer dresses riding bicycles ... a lovely sight indeed!"
Which brings us to Shamir's nephew, Justin. He and his girlfriend, Caitlin, are bike people. That's how they get around. And Justin works at Fitz and Folwell, a bicycle store which specializes in bike tours of the city, and bike sales and servicing.
Located sensibly near one of the large parks, it seems to be thriving. And, to be sure, Justin and Caitlin live in one of those interesting three storey walk-ups in one of the "hipster" areas of town near St. Viateur Street.
We enjoyed bagels from both Montreal's major bagleries (yep, it's a real word - looked it up!) -- St. Viateur and Fairmount -- both located within easy walking distance of Justin and Caitlin and so busy that both are open 24 hours!
One ethnic group was significantly visible in the Outremont area of Montréal - Hasidic Jews. We certainly have not seen such a visible concentration anywhere else in Canada, nor is it likely that there is such a number elsewhere. The area speaks of old, establishment wealth. The houses are beautiful, and the area is rich with parks.
Mordecai Richler came to mind ... especially when we went along St-Urbain St. (think St. Urbain's Horsemen ...)
Surrinder loved the fact that Montreal has 225 sculptures outside in public spaces, a real treat! She would love to come back again, but not during another heat wave, please!
The fine wine list signals that you're not in Ontario any more ...
On the way to Montreal, we stopped at a National Historic Site, Papineau Estate.
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| The path to Papineau Estate |
Surrinder felt the magnificent home was more like a small castle than a house. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos inside, so we can't show you.
Montreal - The Olde and Unique
Montreal is unique in so many interesting ways. Mount Royal is a mountain that dominates and pretty well divides up the city into separate areas.
 |
| Panorama from Mont Royal |
Mount Royal's cemeteries are beautiful, and huge!
We also found a home Leonard Cohen owns and apparently lives in when in town, near rue Marie-Anne (echos of his song "So Long, Marianne"?). When we went by, there was a light on inside. Was it him? ...
 |
| Leonard Cohen's home in Montreal |
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| A light inside ... |
We were in caught in the middle of downtown during a severe thunderstorm one day, in which about 30 mm of rain fell within 15 minutes!! It actually made the national news. The van (and we) were fine, however, and came through unscathed.
We toured Notre Dame Basilica -- hard to describe its majesty and beauty in mere words or even photographs.
 |
| The Chapel |
 |
| Amazing pulpit, from which The Three Tenors sang once ... |
Shamir first saw it in 1975, and was blown away. Even after now seeing major churches and other religious buildings around the world, seeing it again was just as breathtaking. For the star-struck, Celine Dion and Rene Angelil were married in this church.
Bicycle traffic in this city actually works. You see people on bikes all over the place. They are definitely a serious form of transportation.
 |
| Ah, the French. Equipped for any emergency ... |
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| A sign of bike success - there are so many that some people are worried about their railings being damaged by bike locks |
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| A Bixi stand |
Which brings us to Shamir's nephew, Justin. He and his girlfriend, Caitlin, are bike people. That's how they get around. And Justin works at Fitz and Folwell, a bicycle store which specializes in bike tours of the city, and bike sales and servicing.
Located sensibly near one of the large parks, it seems to be thriving. And, to be sure, Justin and Caitlin live in one of those interesting three storey walk-ups in one of the "hipster" areas of town near St. Viateur Street.
 |
| The magnificent church on the front left is a landmark at St. Viateur and St. Urbain, near Justin's place |
One ethnic group was significantly visible in the Outremont area of Montréal - Hasidic Jews. We certainly have not seen such a visible concentration anywhere else in Canada, nor is it likely that there is such a number elsewhere. The area speaks of old, establishment wealth. The houses are beautiful, and the area is rich with parks.
 |
| In Outremont Park |
Surrinder loved the fact that Montreal has 225 sculptures outside in public spaces, a real treat! She would love to come back again, but not during another heat wave, please!
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