Further explorations of Quebec City

Another five hour day out'n'about. We started the day lolling about on the boardwalk in front of the grand Hotel Frontegnac. A beautiful opera singer was busking under the statue out front, and it was rather pleasant. Later when we returned a very talented gent was performing Sinatra, and was of a high calibre. We believe the local government must licence certain performers to play there, and timetable them, to ensure a consistently high standard.

I impress myself with my assumed knowledge sometimes. Later in the day, I said to my husband that I suspected the cheapest you'd get a room at this globally recognised hotel for would be $560 - $580 per night. When we got home, I looked it up on a few sites, and found the best price currently is 543$ Canadian, which is AUD $574! How close was I?

After a while we went up to Musee du Fort to watch the 'sound and light' show. It was a 20 minute show and cost us 22$. We found it very dated, confusing, and even boring at times. I almost feel asleep twice.  However, it did give us a much more vivid understanding of how strategically important Quebec City was and still is, and why the Americans wanted it so much. It also heightened my awareness of why Boston is still seen as a fierce rival, by both Montrealers and Quebecois folk.

Next we walked down the many steps to the area underneath the fortress walls, by the banks of the St Lawrence River. We meandered through many of the cobblestone laneways, along with countless other groups of tourists. It's very gimmicky down there, but the heritage buildings and shopfront presentations remain interesting to me. Laurie and I have a real soft spot for old wharfs, marine waterfronts and working port heritage. Whenever we arrive in a coastal city, it seems to be the very first place we go.

We decided we needed something to eat, so started looking for a decent spot, knowing that our chances of finding something worthwhile would be limited in such a tourist trap. Eventually we noticed a gorgeous and less populated street, so went down there and found a great old stone pub called 'Oncle Antoine.' We went into the dark, compelling, cave like interior to enquire about beers, and saw the quality of the french onion soup a hipster barman was bringing out for other customers, and that was it - We were in. We grabbed a table in the cobblestone laneway, ordered some beers, the soup and some nachos. This may sound pretty average, but my Goodness, when it arrived on our table, it was the best version of each dish we've ever had. We regret there was no prospect of trying their fondue (as we just can't eat everything on a menu!) We're sure it would have been exquisite. It was lovely sitting out there, in the gentle warmth, along with a couple of gay business men and some stylish Italian women carrying Prada handbags. It was a memorable experience.

Next we wandered the shopping lanes some more, with ice-cream cones in hand, and found a store where a woman made fresh, warm maple taffy, cooled it somewhat on a bed of ice, then wrapped it around a stick and gave it to our daughter for 2$. It was delicious gummy goo.

We returned back up to the old city fortress on a fernicular, then strolled the length of the boardwalk up there overlooking the river and the landscape at large. It's a tremendously wide wooden boardwalk, about 25 metres wide, I'd say. It's called Terrasse Dufferin. We then went into the grand Hotel Frontegnac to check out the internal courtyard and the main entrance areas. I had full, and long held, intentions of having a whisky sour at their stunning circular bar, overlooking the river, but unfortunately it does not open until later in the day.

Content with all that we'd seen and consumed, we called it a day, and came home for a siesta. I had dearly wanted and intended to go to the Musee National des Beaux Arts, further along through a large park, however luckily I checked before heading off there, only to find that it is closed until the end of June for refurbishment. I also wanted to visit the Musee Royale, but that's only open on weekends. No matter, it's such a picturesque city that just being here for 3 nights has been a great privilege. And now, we're off to have a gourmet pizza experience at Quebec City's most well reviewed 'unique pizza' restaurant, so we'll get to enjoy more walking along the cobbled streets, and down to the waterfront below. Definitely happy with the time we've had here. It's a seriously charming city to visit.

Our first day in old Quebec City

The very first thing we did yesterday was walk toward the fortified wall, at the end of our street, and stroll along for a while looking over the wharf area. We found that the tops of the walls are being replenished with new wooden slats, presumably to protect the ancient walls, but also to give them a nice looking capping. We only spent 5 hours sightseeing yesterday, as the hiking up and down slopes did us in early. Quebec is not excessively hilly, but as we left the walled city twice, once on each side, it did add considerably to our walking efforts, as the steeper ascents are all around the old city.

The first place we came across was an abandoned arsenal barracks, with huge fortress walls. It had minimal signage, and has fallen prey to disaffected youth and punk graffiti artists. It was an interesting site to check out. With a bit of TLC it could be converted into a historic site that more people visit, even if still of an unrestored nature. Having a cafe or small cultural centre at its heart, would enable greater maintenance of the general area. We've noticed that anything off the official tourist route here seems to be quite neglected, particularly with regard to basic weeding.

There's a cynicism here that is palpable. The older generation of Quebecois really loathe the tourists, and I sense that the Quebecois youth hold them in disdain too. It's understandable, I guess, as the poor city has had to prostitute its soul for this ongoing influx of people to bring in the cash. There are many mature age and retired Americans here, doing the predictable tourism type things, as well as Canadians, Italians, Japanese, and all cultures, with loads of money to spend on silly trinkets. The tourism model applied here seems very old-fashioned. It's twee. The vested interests that have grown up in support of that, particularly with regard to large luxury hotel chains, are powerful and pervasive.  More on that in some other forum... I think that's a whole feature article or academic paper in this. The point is there's a conspicuous gap in connection between the traditional residents of Old Quebec and the avalanche of tourists. I'm told this is not even tourist season, so I hate to think what it's like come July and August.

What we did mostly was walk all around the place, simply looking at things, admiring and photographing the local architecture and engaging in a bit of window-shopping. The only official tourism activity of note that we undertook was to visit the Observatoire de la Capitale. You go up to the 31st floor and enjoy a panoramic view of the beautiful cityscape of Montreal. The fire engine red rooftops are delightful, as are the shiny silver rooftops on the traditional bonnet style roof-tops. There's also a distinctive mid green. We walked past Parliament to get there, and some pleasant parks and gardens. Evertyhing is so green, and the trees are lovely. We took the advice of our host and had lunch at Chez Ashton, which he claims does the best poutine in town. It was delicious, but it's an extremely daggy fast food place full of teenagers, so not our normal style of eatery. The poutine is served in alfoil tins! I mean really...

For dinner we went to the other extreme, which was my preference, and that was to enjoy a fine dining experience at a foodie mecca. This will probably be the highest moment of our eating experiences for the whole trip. I'd booked us a table at Chez Boulay which specialises in Nordic influenced cuisine. It was extraordinary. Everything about it was top notch. This is an anniversary holiday after-all, so some special treats are justified.

The weather is incredibly changeable here; even more so than Montreal. Coming from Melbourne, Australia, we are used to having to prepare for most possibilities when leaving the house, but here it's out of control. Warm sunshine in the morning, then overcast, cloudy and pelting with rain, then clear again, then warm almost hot, then not, etcetera. And checking the official weather guides seems futile, as the forecasts change constantly, and I mean several times a day.

I've found it fascinating to note how many redheads there are here. In Montreal we only saw one other redhead in our entire week in the city. Here, they are everywhere and it's quite striking. I asked a redhead about it yesterday and she says its the Irish lineage here which is strong. At dinner last night we counted four or five other redheads in the restaurant, which for us in Australia is so uncommon. We're used to being a rarity. The redheads here even smile at us, or at least look upon us with interest. In Montreal we looked conspicuously foreign, and I sincerely felt that Montreallers thought us somehow uncouth. I admit this disapproving outlook was mostly directed toward me, because I dare to colour my hair.  I know the French prefer the natural look. I also suspect they think mature women should not draw attention to themselves, by using 'enhancing' colours. Oh well... As much as I love the French, the fact is I'm not French!

Chateau Ramezay and the train journey to Quebec City

As we didn't have to leave for the station until 11.30am this morning, we made sure we were all packed up early, so we could grab 90 mins to do things we still wanted to do in Montreal.

L & J promptly went bike riding along the Rue de la Commune (Waterfront of the Old Port) on the bikes you hire for 2.50$ an hour, while I walked back through Vieux-Montreal to visit the historic Chateau Ramezay, built in 1705. Being a professional journalist, I show my card and get in for free to these types of places, all over Montreal, which is just heaven for me. I spent almost 90 minutes touring the home and museum, which was great. To see every detail would require two hours, but I was very happy with what I saw.  This is the most significant house in Montreal, in that it was purpose built by the first Governor, and subsequently became the heart of Montreal politics, with note-worthies such as Benjamin Franklin and Benedict Arnold playing a part in it's 300+ year history.

I walked home in the light drizzle, past Notre Dame, and rejoined my family at our loft apartment to collect our luggage. When we stepped outside a taxi came along straight away, with a friendly driver and whisked us off to the Gare Central. Our train was delayed, by just half an hour, thankfully no more. Montreal has been marvellous, and a week here perfect for us. It gave us time to get over our jet-lag and come to terms with the time zone adjustment. Travelling with a kid, we also need a bit more time in some ways. Even though our 12 year old is a great traveller, it's still best not to push too hard. For people who are already in North America, fresh, fit and sans children, I'd probably suggest that five nights in Montreal would be adequate to do all the things that are most important to you.

The train from Montreal to Quebec City is fantastic. It's a 3 hour journey which I'm on now, as I type. You get free wifi, along with access to various films, comedies, docos, news and arts & culture features. You also get a large fold out desk, with powerpoint, panoramic windows,  a fold out lower seat at a nice angle for sleeping (not that we need to do that) and full F&B service, and this is economy class. Very civilised. The train does stop at multiple small villages along the way, but that's OK.

The landscape outside is so very green - It's gorgeous. The houses are fascinating to view, for us, as they are so 'picture-book'.  Some of them don't quite look real. They're cute as a button. It's also interesting that there is no fencing at all. This also applies to all of the farms lands. Admittedly this seems to be crop farming, so there's no livestock to hem in.

The forests of birch are so dense that it would be hard to find your way out if you wandered in there unaware. There's countless waterways and wide rivers along the journey, so a pleasant amount of vistas to look out upon.

Our AirBnB host, Frederick, is meeting us at our apartment in Quebec City, to show us in. It's inside the old city, within the fortress walls, or ramparts, as they're called. We spend 3 nights there, which should be a perfect amount of time, we hope. This gives us two full days to look around. I never count travel days as 'in city' days, as that just doesn't make sense to me. I suppose it should go without saying that it's wonderful to be on holiday, but it really is, so I feel compelled to state the obvious. It's so good for the soul. As soon as you're away, you forget all the scrimping and saving it took to get to where you are, and it all just seems part of your natural day-to-day life, because of course by the time you're 'there' it is part of your reality. Enough armchair philosophising from me... I think I'll publish this little missive, and report back later.

Later ... Our train arrived into the Gare early, so we caught our taxi in the rain, and waited 30 mins in our new/old rue for Frederick to arrive. All the buildings here are bald-faced with no verandahs, but luckily one place in the whole rue has an inset entry, and it happened to be opposite our little nook. So, we did not have to become soaking wet and cold, like the squirrel we saw on the cobblestones. They are crazy drivers around here. Within ten minutes of leaving the Gare we'd witnessed four episodes of really bad driving decisions! Anyway, Frederick arrived, and let us into our two room, plus bathroom, nest for the next few nights, and it's really sweet, and just as pictured on-line. Frederick was also impressed that I am 'just as pictured' online. Apparently most people are not!

Mile End & Mount Royal Park in Montreal

This morning we left at 9.30am for our explorations of the city. Straight to our usual metro station, Place Victoria, and then off to Laurier Station to explore Mile End, the Jewish precinct.

We walked through the Mile End medical strip first, examining the building styles all the way along. We proceeded up to the correct crossing, by a lovely park in front of a grand Jewish hospital with an astonishing frontage, but then we took a wrong turn through a design precinct and walked for several large blocks before realising we were too far down. So, eventually we turned and took a residential back street for some variation of sight-seeing and back-tracked all the way back up, and then went sideways and up further, and further. We became quite lost and walked and walked, but saw lots of fascinating residential areas in the process. Eventually we asked two local women for directions, and they sent us another three long blocks North, where we finally found Rue Fairmont and then Rue Viator, which were the two streets we were seeking in the first place.

Just when we were all about to collapse, we spotted one of the two famed bagel stores, we'd been seeking. To our considerable disappointment we found there was nowhere to sit. It was simply a bagel bakery, albeit a seriously old-fashioned one where they hand-roll every single bagel. Along the right side there was a row of fridges stocking cool drinks, phillie cheese, salmon and various condiments to accompany your take-away bagels. We bought seven bagels: three sesame and three raisin and cinnamon and one poppyseed, in a big bag for 5$ or so, then went straight to the uber-hipster coffee bar Myriade on the corner. Here we were lucky to be bale to grab some window stools. L & J drank their hot chocolates and I had a small, strong sort of latte, called something I have never ever heard of, as this is a premium hipster barrista hang-out, inside a men's clothing store. Funny that we chanced upon it completely by accident.

We watched dozens and dozens of Hassidic men and boys passing by on their way to the Synagogue, wearing massive furry ring hats. Many were wearing plastic rain caps over their furry head dress, to protect them. It was quite as sight to see. It appeared to me that they may have been Russian Orthodox, but I really have no idea, except to say I do not recall seeing such extravagant dressers in Israel, or anywhere else, ever.

Replenished, we then elected to head back down along Rue Jeanne-Manse all the way to the beginning of Parc Le Mont Royal. This was gold for us, as it seemed to be the residential heartland of all the orthodox Jewish families, so it was very novel for an agnostic Australian family like us. We then stopped at an exquisite Jewish patisserie called Gascogne, and bought two lush eclairs to take away, in a perfect white box.

Approaching Mount Royal Park, past Park Jean Mance, we hiked part of the way up the hill to one of the walking trails and enjoyed walking through the city's lungs. Beautiful trees up there.  Thinking we'd come back after lunch, we took Deluth back over to Boulevard Saint Laurent in search of Shwartz' Deli. We queued for about half an hour, then went in to enjoy the most OTT masses of smoked meat on (and bulging out of) a rye sandwich each, and shared a plate of fries, coleslaw and two large dill pickles, with dark cherry cola. It was absolutely delicious, and much lighter (in terms of both the pastrami and the rye) than what we experienced at Katz Deli on the Lower East Side in NYC, seven years ago.  It was also a much smaller, more intimate and friendlier place, and the waiter and other patrons were all lots of fun.

We were intending to go back to the Parc to get a view over the city, but J was inexplicably cold, so we identified a super cool pre-loved clothing store, and spent some time in there trying things on. J bought the best denim jacket with woollen lining for 25$ - a great find.

When we came out of there we realised that we were in the middle of the Portugese cultural festival that stretched for many blocks down the Boulevard, all the way to the city. We therefore decided we didn't need to go climbing hilltops, as our bodies were aching enough as it was. So, we walked all the way back to Saint Laurent Metro, enjoying the sights along the way, and especially all the cute doggies out with their owners. Then we got the subway home.

When we came up to Earth level at our station there were even more gorgeous, tanned, scantily clad people running around than there were yesterday. Muscular guys are running about topless, wearing just shorts and runners, and taut women just wear skimpy sport tanks and it's 14 degrees celcius. We guess they're just making the most of their Summer-time, regardless of the temperature! So anyway, that was a six hour excursion all up, and utterly exhausting physically. A great day out!

Out and about around Montreal

Two solid days worth of sightseeing has passed since I last wrote, so we've covered a bit of ground.

We bought a three day public transport pass yesterday morning, as we're going a little further afield on these last three full days here, and its great value at 18$ each for as much travel as you want on the subway or the bus. Both mornings we've enjoyed coming and going from our local Metro, Square Victoria. We live (!) in a very civilised (without being snobby) part of town, and have a gorgeous opera singer who busks in the long tunnel that stretches from our glass entry box on one side of Square Victoria to the actual subway on the other side of the park. Setting off at 9ish yesterday, we were moving completely against the throng of Montreallers coming to work in Vieux-Montreal, so we formed a single line against the wall on the far right of the tunnel, and watched the rows of faces, six or seven across, flowing past us. It was powerful visually, and the human barrage went on for rather a while.

We eventually came up for air at 'Peel' Station, but the wind on the street was chilly, so we decided to walk underground to where we needed to go, through the labyrinth shopping malls. In so doing we discovered what I'd suspected, which is that retail shops and many food outlets in Montreal do not open for trade until 10am. We spent a few hours exploring the beautiful Musee des Beaux Arts on Rue Sherbrooke. I got in gratis as a journalist, so look forward to writing an article on the place. This is a very opulent part of the city, and we greatly enjoyed the gallery. After we'd viewed as much art as our brains could process, we walked back toward the main part of the city, and checked out McGill University. It's a lovely campus.

We were out and about for six hours, as we find that's a sufficient amount of time. We rose terribly early yesterday. From 4am Laurie and I were both reluctantly awake, unable to get back to sleep, so we got up, researched things and pottered about. It is disorientating, but given we actually managed seven consecutive hours of sleep last night and awoke at the eminently more acceptable time of 6.45am, I think we're on the way towards normality again now.

Last night, we had the extraordinary treat of seeing Cirque du Soleil's latest show 'Luzia' in Le Grand Chapiteau down on the wharf in front of Place Jacques Cartier. It was so special to see them perform in their home city, with their home crowd. It was all in French, but that didn't detract too much from our understanding. It's the fourth show of theirs we've seen, and J's second. While we did enjoy it, it was not the best one, in our opinion. The second act was much stronger than the first though, and I cam out buzzing, despite my hub's lacklustre response. For our twelve year old, however, it was fantastic. We strolled home along the waterfront where all the heritage buildings were lit up various colours. It was a memorable experience, despite how weary we were. 

This morning we set off at 9.30am and took the subway straight up to Little Italy to see Jean-Talon Market. This is an earthy, multicultural, working class neighbourhood which comes up on Google as District de Saint-Edouard. The row terraces are distinctive due to their excess of external staircases, mostly in metal, and the iron work on their balconies is relatively ornate. Must be awfully icy and slippery most of the year. The whole area has heaps of character and our daughter, in particular, really liked it.

The Jean-Talon Markets are very close to the station - Just follow the flurry of people. As soon as we got there we saw the most alluring oyster bar, where you can buy one oyster at a time, of your choice, a la carte, to have natural or with the addition of red or green tabasco sauce, or herb or garlic oil. We had one each to start with, and then tore ourselves away, mainly because I felt like it was an odd thing to have at 10am. But they were so delicious, like silk that melted in our mouths. We loved them so much that we came back not just once, but twice. They were pure and clean, which may have something to do with the water, given the North Pole is not that far away... Seriously sublime.

      This is a great market. We had a lovely time, admiring all the meat outlets and chacuteries, tasting the samples of raspberries, mangoes, pink grapefruit, orange, plums, cherries, pineapple, good cheeses, tomatoes, both red and yellow; the most delicious we've ever tasted, and even crunchy baby radishes. The fresh flower and herb market is equivalent in size to the food section, so it's a lovely combination.  If we lived here, we would go at least fortnightly. We all left on an oyster high, delighted by what we'd tasted. 

Back on the subway, we decided to head straight off to explore Le Village, a part of Montreal that stretches between three Metro stations: from Berri-Uquam to Papineau, with Beaudry in the middle. This is the heart of the Gay and LBTIAQ community and the entire eight blocks along Rue St Catherine are decorated with pink borbels hanging across the street. There's eateries all the way along, with dining pergolas spilling onto the street, so it seems mostly traffic free. Some of the pergolas are decorated with flowers or pink paint. Our daughter wanted to know the significance of all the flags, so we explained them to her, in brief.

We stopped at one of the diners, run by some girls, for a late lunch of clam chowder and poutine (a Quebec favourite, involving crispy fried potato chips with a gravy and slightly gooey lumps of cheese). We quite liked both dishes, as something different to our norm. After that, we stopped in at SAQ, the main liquor chain here, and chose a bottle of Pinot Noir from all the unfamiliar brands. Having purchased various delicious items from the market, we thought a nice red was in order for this evening.

We then briefly considered going to the Musee d'Art Contemporaire, but thought it too hard. We went all the way there yesterday, and did more than a 360 of the whole outside but could not see anything remotely resembling an entrance. We did find the staff entrance, but the signage shooed us away. I Googled it last night, and found that it has been hemmed in by the Grand Prix shenanigans that are going on all over this city. If it was a stand-out gallery we would have made the extra effort to go back this second time, but all the reviews I've read have it as lower end of average, so... we walked back to the Metro through a public herb garden, run by the local community. It was lovely to see planter boxes of basel everywhere, and pallets used creatively as seating and everything under the sun.

We came home, wrote, read, grazed on market fare, and went up on our rooftop for a glass of vino rouge before bed. Even though it's only 9ish, it feels like 2am to us. So much walking, so little sleep and so many new considerations have made us weary. All wonderful though! We're thrilled we've managed to visit this lovely city, at long last. It's a great privilege.

Meanderings in Old Montreal

Listening to Canadian radio in our apartment now, coz we've played the vinyls so heavily that the needle's retracted into it's black plastic box. All three of us were wide awake at 5am, so it's been another long day. Had to have a two hour nap when we got home. My hub's currently cooking us roast confit of duck with farfalle pasta and mixed olives, though I'm really not hungry. I feel like it's breakfast time: I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll be back to something resembling normal.

We began our adventures today by hiking up to the hideous grey gravel striped bunker in front of the Gare Central, called Place Bonaventure (it may sound like a park, but it certainly does not look anything like one). The Railway Station, almost hidden behind this, is okay, in a functional, late deco sort of way, verging on brutalist. It's all rather grim and faded. Despite this, we met a sweet man who helped us with our tickets to Quebec City for this Sunday. Now we have the lie of the land, and know what needs to be done when we depart.

Next we descended deep into the bowels of the station to the subway, itself a cinematically grim underworld of retro architectural interiors. Caught the subway two fast stops across the city, and got out just above the middle of Old Montreal. Walked through Place d'Armes, which was packed full of multiple busloads of chattering Canadian tourists from nearby Ottawa. Walked over to the Saint Lawrence River and did a scenic walk to see Habitat 67 in one direction and the famous Expo 67 dome in another along with the Bridge and a jumble of other disparate Montrealian built icons.

We then happened upon a massive, multi-layered pirate ship of a complex arial ropes course, called Voiles en Voiles, which stretched up to ten metres in height. That was it - our 12 year old was overcome with excitement, and spent the following 90 minutes performing adventurous, solo, balancing acts in the air. You would never find anything resembling this challenge in Australia, so Laurie was beaming with pride and thoroughly delighted to stay and admire his girl's bravado.

I left them to it, and set off to examine the grand Marche Bonseceurs building, with it's silver dome. The shops in there were of little interest to me, but the Museum of Costume and Textiles was, so I paid the 6$ and spent half an hour perusing classic Issey Mikayke, Jean Paul Gaultier and affiliated haute couture dresses, handbags and shoes. I bought myself a quirky big plastic and brass 1940s ring upon leaving.

I then wandered happily off to investigate the neighbouring Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel, the oldest in Montreal, built in 1644. Contemplated venturing in to the Margerite-Bourgeoys Museum, but had this nutty idea my family may wish to join me in that, so went back to get them. They could not be convinced to do anything so heavily cultural at that point in time, so we walked back through Old Montreal together, also snubbing the option of entering the Chateau Ramezay Historic Site and Museum. I'm half thinking of going back there on my own, if I can find time in the next few days.

By the time we reached Notre Dames Basilica and Notre Dames-du Sacre-Coer Chapel, my hub was suddenly overcome with spontaneous goodwill with regard to my penchant for historic sites. So, in we went. This was one site that I was relatively indifferent about, but as soon as we stepped in, my brows lifted and my eyes widened. I have rarely seen such a dark, extravagant cocophony of gold, wood, glittering iconography and intense embellishments. It was truly mind-boggling. We all felt more comfortable in the Chapel behind which, while still resplendent with riches, at least seemed comprehensible, unlike the over-the-top indulgences of the Basilica.

In need of lunch, we set off down Rue Saint Paul (the oldest shopping street in Montreal) and opted for a hip gourmet lunch place we found on our first day on Rue McGill. Had a delish late lunch there, then walked across to the nearby Montreal Historical Museum. This was really something. The ground floor covers the entire history of Montreal in a logical, compelling and interactive fashion. The next level up was host to an enticing exhibition on 'Scandal: Vice, Crime and Morality in Montreal 1940-1960' and the top floor was on the dislocation of the working class community of Griffintown, the industrial waterside wasteland we walked around on our first morning here. All three exhibitions were absolutely outstanding, and we were well impressed. 

On Sugar, Sounds, Shopping and Walking...

This morning I was wide awake at 7am, following just 7 hours sleep.

We grabbed high quality, take-away coffee from our corner store, and had this with a fruit, muslei and yoghurt 'parfait' for breakfast: Delicious, but like several things I've tasted here, thus far, both items suffered from a distinct lack of sugar. This tells me how sugar dependent Australians have become over time: Pas Bon. Later in the day I spent some time in the IGA Supermarche at Complexe Desjardins specifically seeking sucre, but to no avail. I did locate sucre, but only in the cooking section in large pack quantities for 6$ and upwards, which is mad. I don't want that much sucre!

I later obtained a few coffee sized sachets of raw sucre from a nearby gourmet cafe, so all is well in my world again now. So many healthy drinks are available here. For breakfast this morning I had an Aloe Vera juice, with pulp and wheatgrass.  It was delicious. With lunch, our daughter had some delicious iced green tea infused with various fruits. I do want to reduce my dependence on sucre, but going cold turkey completely is not my preferred approach, especially while on holiday!

This morning the birds were tweeting melodically outside our apartment, and a man in a neighbouring apartment was singing from time to time, it seemed, though it could have been Charles Asnevour on vinyl... We have him at our place. On the topic of sound, I must mention that the floorboards in our apartment are insanely squeaky, and the whole loft slopes toward the corner where our internal front door meets the central corridor. If you pop your suitcase down unsupported it will roll away. Even the chair I sit on to type in the morning leans forward at a funny angle. The walls are paper thin on one side, as well, so now that the owners of next door are staying overnight, we hear every noise they make. Little wonder it was tuned into an Air BnB!

Anyway, as for today, we walked across town to visit the Tourist Information Centre because we needed a map and some really basic info. On the way there we happened upon the most magnificent Cathedral: Marie-Reine du Monde. It was extraordinary, and I'm glad we came across it.

We also had to obtain some necessities that I'd neglected to pack in the midst of our excitement over welcoming our house-sitters. We therefore went to a range of stores downtown (which for us is uptown) and then walked across the main shopping thoroughfare of Montreal, which is called Rue St Catherine.  It was during this period that we realised how manageable Montreal is as a city. It is far less populated than it's global cache may suggest. Less than 2 million people live here, and it's just such a lovely city, sitting beneath the most beautiful green hill range, where Mount Park Royal is, and we intend to go on Friday.

We did our grocery shopping with the locals at Complexe Desjardins which was fun once we regained our mojo after the long walk. We enjoyed noting all the little, intermediate and large differences. Stocked up with enough provisions for three evening meals, plus milk and juice for breakfast, we trundled back home with our heavy bags. Thankfully that was all down hill, in a good way.

Having dropped all our stuff off back at the apartment, we then went for a gorgeous lunch of gourmet paninis at O&G a block down from our place. We enjoyed that well earned break, as we'd walked about six kms by then, which should not seem like much at all, but it felt like a lot more. We've seen two Quebec cook books we want to buy: 'Made in Quebec' and 'Montreal Cooks'. We'll have to make a decision on this matter by Saturday. They're both hard backs of course!

In the afternoon, we spent an hour at Musee Pointe-e-Calliere, the archeological birthplace of old Montreal. It was well worthwhile. I'll be writing a travel article on it, or at least incorporating it in one. Thereafter, we saw their feature exhibition on the life work and influence of Emile Hermes, and the family's love of horses. It was excellent, I thought, but by then we were very weary and about to collapse. We wound up doing so much walking today, which is great, but it took an early toll on us all, and especially our daughter who was asleep for the night by 6pm. All the better for her endurance tomorrow, I hope. We have much to see.