Disclaimer: grab a mug of your favorite beverage before sitting down and reading this post.
I left a dreary Amsterdam, NL, in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Despite the delays I made in to Montréal in fair time. After checking in I immediately change into shorts and t-shirt and get a coach ticket for Quebec City at the bus station that's literally just around the corner. Also around the corner is Rue Ste. Catherine; the heart of Montréal's gay 'hood.
On Wednesday I took a coach to Quebec City; jetlagged as I was I spent part of the ride napping. After my arrival at the city's bus station I took a taxi to the hotel, and was I glad I did that! It was further away than I thought - and it would turn out an uphill climb. Pretty steep, too, I might add. Upon checking in it appeared the rooms weren't ready - not till 4pm. So I leave my bag in the cloakroom and head over to tourist info (across the square in front of my hotel) and sign up for a walking tour through Vieux Quebec City the next morning. I go up to the Observatorium and take pictures of the panoramic view.
Looking for a place to have dinner at I accidentally find "Le Commensal", a vegetarian restaurant. Even carnivores will love their dishes, I am sure of that. (And they have yummie desserts, too.) And it is then that I'm glad I don't live in the city: rush hour is a nightmare - then walking really is the fastest way to get you from one point to the next. The only downside to walking though Quebec City is that I suddenly noticed how out of shape I am. My solution: start walking those steep hills every day I'm there.
While it was sunny in Quebec City, it was raining in Montréal (looks like I've been planning ahead very well). I had breakfast at a little place called Le Casse-Crêpe Breton in the old part of the city. My pancake was good, and it made for an inexpensive breakfast. Then it was off to the tour of the old city. I wasn't sure where the tour starts so I entered the tourist information office. Even before I told them I was there for the tour I was greeted with a jovial: "Bonjour, monsieur ****. You're here for the tour?" The tour was interesting, and I ended the day with another meal at Le Commensal. Like the previous nights it was lights out at nine for me. How boring, eh?
Friday was my last day in Quebec City... And it was raining. I decided on going to the pancake place for breakfast before taking a coach back to Montréal. (In case you like figures: round trip Montréal - Quebec City is 312 miles.) And after arriving in Montréal I walk back to the hotel I checked in at on my first day; my bag is in their cloakroom for storage as I didn't want to take all of it to Quebec City (I was there for three days/two nights only). I check back in and then make reservations for a 3-hour tour of Montréal the next day. Since lunch coincided with the coach trip back to the city I decided on an early dinner/late lunch. At Le Commensal. Yes, you read that right: I accidentally find out there's one near my hotel (several blocks away). YAY!
The tour is good - and the driver/guide Frank has a great sense of humor. I stock up on the missing volumes of Terry Moore's "Echo" (6-12!) and the second part of the deluxe edition of Brian K. Vaughan's "Y: the last man" and several albums. Or rather: CDs (Shinedown, The Dudes, Bif Naked to name a few). I also find out that there's a second Le Commensal on Avenue McGill! And to give in to an old craving of mine: I go out and have poutine. The last time I had it was at a diner on Elgin St in Ottawa, ON, and it was really good. So imagine my surprise when the one I got in Montréal wasn't nearly as good as the one I had back in 2005. In fact it was so bad it seriously put me off poutine. ACK!
Chinatown in Montréal is as small as I remembered it, but still very alive. I have a good and inexpensive meal at Le Basilic; the fried rice is filling and the coconut milk bubble tea is divine. I also visit the Musée d'art Contemporaire de Montréal. Despite the exhibition being about bodies and such, I strangely find the exhibits desolate and too abstract. Like the artists want to stress out that human bodies are made out of parts - like a car.
For some proteine (read: meat - I've been eating lots of salads the past several days) I went to a little neighborhood diner called Le Paryse for a burger. With what I consider normal portions and plenty of vegetables this is the best burger I've had in a long time! (There are even three different options for vegetarians.)
My friend Jane and three of her friends drove (all the way from Kentucky!) to Montréal. After trying to reach her, and finding out the number she gave me was the wrong one, I decided to drop in at the hotel their staying and leave them a message. It turned out they were chilling out in their room. My luck! Jane was very excited when she rushed into the lobby to fetch me and take me up to the room. There she introduced me to her friends: Madame Buzz Kill (pronounced with an exaggerated French accent), Little Mary Sunshine, and Princess Paranoid. They're a funny bunch. After I told them their current position - in relation to other point of interest (and landmarks) in the city (they arrived around 1am that morning) - they invited me to hang out with them. Originally, Jane and I planned on just having lunch together...
Anyhoo, that's how I got to spend my last full day in Montréal with a bunch of American friends. And a blast I had hanging out with them. The day was another warm and very sunny one, and we start off going into Vieux Montréal in the morning (I did part of it during my tour a couple of days earlier). After lunch (at "Le Commensal" - Jane's a vegetarian) we took the Metro to marché Jean Talon. Unfortunately, by the time we get there we were late; most people were busy closing up for the day. By the time pretty much everything is closed we were peckish, and since we were in Little Italy we decided to go for a pizza.
By the time we arrived back at my friends' hotel we were in time for happy hour; free drinks! What can I say? A wonderful ending to a great time in the French province of Canada :D
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