Montreal! Day 1 and 2

We left the trailer at 8:30, a half hour late already. We parked at Longuiel metro station and took the subway downtown, got 3 day unlimited passes so we can the metro and buses to get around. We walked a bit and took a bus, then realized we were not headed in the right direction, got off and walked some more. But we were walking on some very quaint streets, not far from McGill University, I think one of the girls should go there, we'd visit lots! Then Denis realized we were not too far from Schwartz' Montreal smoked meat deli (brisket heaven, CF), I suspect this was the ulterior plan all along. The deli was an experience, we waited in line to get in, there was a place across the street with immediate seating, but we joined the line. Suffice to say the place was crowded, we shared a table with an Asian family, they knew the ordering routine. When you order a sandwich that's all you get, you have to order the pickle and coleslaw extra but our waiter was forgiving. Denis was ecstatic, got the t-shirt and some spices; we could have left Montreal then, oh not yet we have to go back there again!

At Schwartz

After our big lunch, we headed up (walking) Mount Royal,it was still a bit cool so a great time to go. We hiked to the chateau, there's a beautiful lookout over the city, then we continued our hike and made the circuit around the cross. On our way down we met a mounted policeman on a beautiful horse. We certainly walked off some of our huge lunch, by Denis' estimate we did a half marathon (in stages). When we got off the 'mountain' we took the metro to Place Des Arts, right into the middle of the jazz festival. Lots of activity on the streets so we found a place to sit, had some refreshment and people watched. I would have stayed longer but they only served Heinekein and after a couple Denis was ready to move on. We took the metro to Bonaventure, walked around the cathedral, the Sun Life building, which apparently was the tallest building in North America at one time. We followed some blues music, but it was canned at a take-out place, so we continued until we found a pub and had some supper. After that we took the metro back to the truck, a long day!

On Mont Royal with Sonny

Saturday we started a bit later, took the metro to Bonaventure and Denis went to the Canadiens' Hall of Fame. I spent a couple hours walking around the streets it was already sweltering so trying to keep to the shade. We took the metro to Champs de Mer and headed to the old port/old town area. Considered going to Cirque de Soliel, which was on a pier, but didn't. Some old stone walls caught my eye and we wound up taking tour of the building where Marguerite D'Youville started the Grey Nuns. We continued exploring checked out a few shops and vendors, finally found a place where we could 'squeeze' into an outside table and shared our first authentic poutine at Montreal Poutine. We continued our stroll through Chinatown in a slight shower then headed to Place d'Armes and saw the remains of the fortifications which once surrounded the town. We had planned to stay down there later but we were both done for the day so took the metro from there back to the truck and ate at the trailer. Another 'hard' day of holidaying!

That Denis, always the first in the dressing room, everyone else is on the golf course!