Me and my Texas Girls love a road trip so when Renee suggests a weekend in Montreal, where she’ll drive us from her home in Portland Maine, we are all in! Packed and loaded up on baked goods from BLVL bakery, we set off.
We take the scenic road through the White Mountains National Forest, through some cute little towns, watching out for moose and following the signs for Canada!
It’s a long journey but the scenery is relaxing and we have lots of catchup chats in the car, and of course some good music to keep us going.
Passport control is straightforward although the officer is a little cranky and when he asks why we’re here Renee lists that we are going to walk around town, have some nice food, check out some nice bars… I’m not sure that was the answer he was after but he waves us through!!
We are staying in a gorgeous house with a very tight parking space at the back (well done Renee) but in a cool neighbourhood with lots going on.
We get settled and then we are off to Au Pied De Cochon, which is said to have the best poutine in Montreal. You’re going to be very familiar with poutine by the time you get through this blogpost, we intend to have them every day. Poutine is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with a hot brown gravy. This restaurant is also famous for serving duck in a can…. Sounds strange but it’s so tasty. The whole meal was fantastic – this little video captures how the duck was served and seeing those amazing poutine, which by the way came with foie gras, is making me want to have them again…. right now!!
Next morning, it’s time for park run. The girls are very kind to indulge me as it’s a rainy morning and the park is about a half hour drive away. They drop me off with quite the fanfare and head off for a coffee while I slouch up to this very small crowd and declare I am visiting from Ireland which gets a massive round of applause.
As I run around the park, I see these pods…
There are loads of them scattered all over the park and I find out later that they’re designed to cover biogas capture wells. These wells are part of a larger system that captures biogases produced by the decomposition of waste as this was previously a landfill site! Although the reclamation of the landfill area, began in 1995, the park wasn’t officially opened to the public until 2017.
I’m so delighted to have ticked off my first Canadian parkrun so I don’t mind that I am not only wet but full of muck.
Right beside Frederick Back park is the Cirque du Soleil headquarters so we have a little nose around in case there’s an exhibition or a tour we can do. Alas no luck so we carry on.
While we’re driving, and it’s still raining we take a drive up Mount Royal. This is usually THE place to get a view of the city but unfortunately the rain is really coming down.
As we’re driving down, we pass Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery which is Canada’s largest graveyard and we wonder if there are any famous people here. Well of course Mr Leonard Cohen is here – in the Jewish section (SHAAR HASHOMAYIM). Google directs us exactly to his family plot and it’s great to be here and pay our respects.
I’m fascinated by this giant church on a hill which may be worth a visit later, if we have time, but right now we are heading to a deli for lunch.
There are a lot of delis in Montreal and this one is apparently among the best, and it’s off the beaten tourist track. Deli Snowdon is fantastic. The pace of customers in and food served up is impressive and the lady who serves us is cool as a cucumber while at the same time taking no nonsense. She navigates a gang of children running around while serving up armfuls of dishes!! We love her!
The poutine is fantastic – this one is certainly more rustic than last nights fancy one – it has shavings of meat and it’s so good. The brisket sandwich is also amazing and I get a decent cup of tea in a mug. Ten out of ten all round for Snowdens.
We are clearly in the heart of a Jewish neighbourhood and loving the rain gear to keep those hats dry!.
From here we head to the Jean Talon market which is a nice size to get around – not huge but it has plenty in it.
We do a full tasting of maple syrup and I buy the tiniest tin that I’ll be able to pack in my already bulging bag! We try these maple syrup lollies which give quite a sugar hit!
Back at the house, I finally get out of my wet clothes – well they’re dry by now except for my socks (my poor feet!), but they’re very mucky so I am thrilled for a shower and then we’re ready to head out again as the rain has stopped – hooray!
We continue our mural tour and insist the general get a photo with the tiny compost bins that are all over town… they look like kid-size wheelie bins to me! (🎶 bye bye lil’ Sebastian 🎶)
After shlepping around town for a couple of hours, it feels like cocktail time. We have a booking (I think!) at a very salubrious, almost hidden, cocktail bar called Big in Japan. When we finally find the door in, it’s so dark we can barely see and when we spot a girl down the dark corridor, at first we think she’s behind a glass door… eh no, that was just some strange illusion!! Once our eyes adjust we sit around this unusual shaped bar that’s like a maze and enjoy some delicious cocktails. I try the local Ungava gin.
After our cocktails we take a walk past Leonard Cohens house.
Murals and art installations are all over this city… love this 3-D one.
We go to a Moroccan restaurant called Nili and what starts off a little shaky with uncomfortable seats at the bar and some confusion with the waiter with our wine, ends in a beautiful meal with gorgeous wine and a comfortable seat at the back of the tiny restaurant. We chat to the chef while at the bar as he makes everything right there in front of us.
After dinner we walk home with a quick stop at LA MAISON DE L’ORIGINAL FAIRMOUNT BAGEL – one of the famous bagel shops…. So many bagels!
Next morning it’s still raining a bit so we have our bagels for breakfast while we watch a little tv – in fact we binge watch the whole series as we are now all obsessed with this show – Love on the Spectrum. Finally the rain has stopped and we are ready to leave and finish our murals tour.
It’s lunchtime (yes we did stay home for a decent amount of time this morning!) and it’s time to try a hotdog… and more poutine of course. We go basic at this fast food / diner style establishment which has been around for over a hundred years in some shape or form.
We are exploring the old town and it seems peculiar to be walking around the streets and seeing French names.
We reach Notre Dame cathedral which I’m excited to see. From the outside it doesn’t look much.
On the inside it’s a whole different story. It is magnificent! The blue colours make it feel dramatic when you walk in and it is just really impressive. It’s a minor basilica, very obviously Catholic and was built in 1672.
The stained glass windows along the walls of the sanctuary do not depict biblical scenes, but rather scenes from the religious history of Montreal. This is unusual for a Catholic Church and even more unusual, I come across a window that features three key women. In the contre is Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700), one of the earliest French settlers in Montreal and founder of the Notre Dame congregation, a religious community for women which is still in existence today. On the right is Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680), the first North American Indigenous person to be canonized. On the left is Jeanne Le Ber (1662-1714), a voluntary recluse who lived simply and in prayer despite her wealth, which she left to the Notre-Dame congregation just before her death.
We check out some other old buildings including City hall….
…. and another beautiful old building that has shops with local handicrafts and grub!
There’s more maple syrup in here (it’s everywhere) and Renee demonstrates how it’s extracted from the maple tree – amazing!
We go into the beautiful Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel which has a beautiful alter and some interesting statues.
I spot this strange looking statue and read that it is apparently miraculous. Known as the Miraculous statue of Our Lady of Good Help, it was given to Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys (that’s the lady from the window we just saw in the basilica) in 1672.
We decide to spend the afternoon at Bota Bota, a floating spa, on what was once a ferry, in the Old Port of Montreal. It’s the grey building on the water, not the giant derelict old port building behind!!
We have a fabulous three hours going between cold and hot pools, steam rooms and saunas. There are a number of relaxing areas with swings and beds and it is wonderful after all of the walking we’ve done. No photos allowed but below is the view from the spa across the water to Habitat 67.
Fully relaxed and cleansed, for tonight’s dinner we were recommended to go to Le Majestique, in particular for their hot dogs… holy moly, the hotdog was giant with various toppings including crunchy onions… amazing!
After dinner we adjourn to what may be our favourite spot of the weekend, the couch in our very lovely house with a cuppa and an episode of Love on the Spectrum. Jennifer has to be up at 4am to fly back to Austin so we say our goodbyes before bedtime.
Next morning Renee and I have two things on our list before we drive back to Maine. We want bagels from the famous St Viateur bakery which we make happen, once we get cash from the machine – they don’t accept non Canadian credit cards!
And although we’ve already seen one of the Leonard Cohen murals, we need to see the giant one. A few minutes drive and there he is… it’s very impressive as I stick my head out the sun roof for a proper view.
Montreal, you’ve been a delight, even in the rain. Maybe see you again sometime!
odohertyelaine 