Vancouver was always the only other city apart from Toronto, that I ever saw myself living in, in Canada. Its probably because of my love for being in the midst of big bustling noisy cities, with a lot of things to see and do. I think it also has to do with some of my experiences whilst travelling through Europe. While I thoroughly enjoyed Amsterdam and Brussels, the language barrier hit me hard. Which brings me to today's post, and how much I enjoyed my first visit to the biggest French speaking city in all of North America, Montréal.
The plan was to spend New Year's Eve there with some friends, but mostly just explore Montreal on foot, which I later found can be quite excruciating under sub zero temperatures. We all love to complain, and I was no different, especially with the unbearable cold. I guess coming from Toronto, it really was a major ramp up(down) the temperature scale! Adding to it, a huge blanket of snow, record level since the 1950s, of about 45cm had dropped on the city the night before we arrived, making for some treacherous pavements and footpaths.
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| Downtown Montreal |
Downtown Montreal was quite compact in itself, which made it such a treat to walk around the city, snow excepted. The Old Port, or rather Vieux-Port de Montréal, was quite a sight, with the Basilique Notre-Dame, the elegant Rue St. Paul, lined with cafes, bakeries, restaurants and art boutiques, it reminded me extensively of the little I saw of Europe. The snow just made things more fairytale-esque! I could never get tired of the waitresses greeting us with a delightful "Bonjour"(which apparently is a rule in French-Canada, and can get you fired if not strictly adhered to!) and then quickly change to "Hello" once the first contact had been established. Oh, and I've heard they say Montrealers really put a lot of love into their cooking. It has to be true! Pretty much all the food I had at these smaller restaurants(Schwartz's for the smoked meat, Canada Poutine for the poutine and Dunne's for some more delightful smoked meat) made for one happy stomach. There were quite a lot of signboards for cyclists, I noticed, and it did seem to be a great place to ride bikes, cobblestones et al.
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| Rue St. Paul - Old Montreal |
The trek up the snow-clad hilltop of Mount Royal was worth its weight in gold. We had to walk through the beautiful McGill University which led us upto the foothills of the climb. I must say, its by far the most beautiful university I have ever seen in my life. It had steep cobbled inclines, which I kind of had a feeling was to be a part of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, the only UCI World Cycling event in all of Canada, and I was right! I could easily imagine Bradley Wiggins and Andy Schleck battling the way up that route for the glory. It was beautiful! The climb up was nice, we took a couple of detours, which weren't very good ideas, snow infiltrated my snow boots which made for a really uneasy walk back home. In between, the view from the top was breathtaking. The city of Montreal was there for us to see. The Circuit de Gilles Villenueve, Montreal's Formula 1 track, was probably the worst idea in the winter. The whole of the track was submerged in snow, and we barely walked half of the back straight and the pit lane before we decided to call it quits. It was a bit of a bummer, considering it has always been one of mine and my brother's all time favorite tracks. The Stade Olympique, was another place we should have kept for the summer. On New Year's Eve, we went to a club, quite uneventful, and then had a great time at the Old Port, watching the fireworks amidst a massive crowd dancing to a live outdoor concert. Oh and I almost forgot the wonderful beer(10% alc.) that I had at Le 3 Brasseur, called Le Chauferette. Loved it!
Now, back in Toronto, I'm thinking about visiting Montreal again. Probably in the summer. There is some cycling to be done.
Merci!
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| Le Chauferette |
