A Beautiful Day

We had a slow start this morning and were thwarted at our first stop--the basilica at the heart of Vieux-Montreal, a couple of blocks from our hotel, was closed for a wedding. We got sandwiches and planned our next move, a visit to the Point a Calliere Musuem of Archeology and History of Montreal. It's a cool museum, built on a site that has housed the original settlers' fort, a cemetery, an early governor's chateau, an inn, and a customs house through the years since the French arrived in the area and they've excavated it and created a cool exhibit that winds through the exposed remains. After visiting similar museums in Europe, a well-documented site with only four hundred years of history does not seem quite worthy of the kind of treatment afforded to Roman baths and Egyptian temples. The temporary exhibit on Roman Gaul was very well done and the one on multiculturalism in Montreal did a good job of exploring the culture of a city often perceived as simply bilateral.

Dodging the skateboarders in the Place Royal, we stopped back by the hotel to drop off our jackets and pick up the car. The day had turned out to be very lovely, so we headed up to the park on Mont Royal. Because of a bike race, the main road into the park was closed, but we were able to leave the car and walk in. I was sorry I hadn't switched to a lighter shirt--even my light sweater was too warm in the bright sunshine--but after the past few weeks, I forgot about the possibility of sunshine. We made our way around the Lac des Castors, with its amusing signs ("Dynomitage! Fermez emitters radio!") and continued up and up and up to the Chalet at the top of the park, where we enjoyed the view from the terrace and got a snack in the cafe, which we ate while listening to a quartet rehearsing for this evening's performance, part of the Festival of Chamber Music happening this weekend. On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at Maison Smith and checked out the exhibit on the history and ecology of the mountain. Reunited with the MINI, we drove around to the other side of the park, through the "Golden Square Mile" of stately Victorian stone houses and then back to Vieux-Montreal. We were both a little pink from the unaccustomed exposure to sunlight and welcomed a nap in our cool, dark hotel room before dinner.

Just a couple of blocks from our hotel, Bonaparte is a lovely restaurant with an elegant, but not stifling atmosphere. The two drawbacks were the overly paced service and being seated such that one or the other of us was doomed to staring down an alley lit with very bright streetlights. Otherwise, all was skittles and beer. Or, rather, fois gras and Bordeaux. ( Click here for more details. )

Thanks, wrensis for the excellent suggestion!

A Beautiful Day

We had a slow start this morning and were thwarted at our first stop--the basilica at the heart of Vieux-Montreal, a couple of blocks from our hotel, was closed for a wedding. We got sandwiches and planned our next move, a visit to the Point a Calliere Musuem of Archeology and History of Montreal. It's a cool museum, built on a site that has housed the original settlers' fort, a cemetery, an early governor's chateau, an inn, and a customs house through the years since the French arrived in the area and they've excavated it and created a cool exhibit that winds through the exposed remains. After visiting similar museums in Europe, a well-documented site with only four hundred years of history does not seem quite worthy of the kind of treatment afforded to Roman baths and Egyptian temples. The temporary exhibit on Roman Gaul was very well done and the one on multiculturalism in Montreal did a good job of exploring the culture of a city often perceived as simply bilateral.

Dodging the skateboarders in the Place Royal, we stopped back by the hotel to drop off our jackets and pick up the car. The day had turned out to be very lovely, so we headed up to the park on Mont Royal. Because of a bike race, the main road into the park was closed, but we were able to leave the car and walk in. I was sorry I hadn't switched to a lighter shirt--even my light sweater was too warm in the bright sunshine--but after the past few weeks, I forgot about the possibility of sunshine. We made our way around the Lac des Castors, with its amusing signs ("Dynomitage! Fermez emitters radio!") and continued up and up and up to the Chalet at the top of the park, where we enjoyed the view from the terrace and got a snack in the cafe, which we ate while listening to a quartet rehearsing for this evening's performance, part of the Festival of Chamber Music happening this weekend. On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at Maison Smith and checked out the exhibit on the history and ecology of the mountain. Reunited with the MINI, we drove around to the other side of the park, through the "Golden Square Mile" of stately Victorian stone houses and then back to Vieux-Montreal. We were both a little pink from the unaccustomed exposure to sunlight and welcomed a nap in our cool, dark hotel room before dinner.

Just a couple of blocks from our hotel, Bonaparte is a lovely restaurant with an elegant, but not stifling atmosphere. The two drawbacks were the overly paced service and being seated such that one or the other of us was doomed to staring down an alley lit with very bright streetlights. Otherwise, all was skittles and beer. Or, rather, fois gras and Bordeaux. ( Click here for more details. )

Thanks, wrensis for the excellent suggestion!