What a Beautiful City - Part Deux

Today was a great day.  I was picked up at 10:00 by Brigitte Peytier, a friend of my Vancouver friend Drew Snider.  First of all, how cool of her to give up her entire day to show a woman she's never met, a city she has called home for just 2 years.

Brigitte is from the South of France, in the Bordeaux region.  She is headmistress of a French school in Montreal and was a wonderful guide.  The first stop was Mont Royal, the big hill in the center of the city.  It's  a great big park with lots of overlooks.   The photo above is the view to the South and East.  My hotel is somewhere in that cluster of buildings.    And beyond the tall buildings is the St. Lawrence River.

We then hiked up to the very top of the mountain, which wasn't too hard, since the incline wasn't very steep.  A beautiful walk, and Brigitte and I talked politics along the way. 

The river is on three sides of the island of Montreal.  At one point, the river turns into some kind-of dangerous rapids.    You'll notice the Zodiac in the upper right portion of the rapids.  Lots of folks ride them.  Looks like fun.

I was able to get that close-up photo because Brigitte took me to Parc des Rapides, a small peninsula way off the beaten path, which is a wildlife preserve.  

We saw ducks, bugs, and that's about it. But what a beautiful place.  Not a tourist (except for me) in sight!   
Voila Brigitte!

We drove around the city a bit and I noticed these homes all over.  The stairs to the 2nd and 3rd floors of all these apartment buildings are on the outside.  Not the inside.  Now mind you, this city gets more than 10 feet of snow a year.  And it gets COLD too.  Winters can be -40 celsius.  You do the conversion.  Whatever way you spell it, it's frickin' cold!  Somebody has to clear the ice and snow off those steps.  And somebody has to walk up them, with the groceries.

Here's the good part.  Apartments in these neighborhoods rent for 500 to 600 dollars a month.  

I found out later that the reason they built the steps outside rather than inside, is that an old Quebec law taxed people on the size of their homes, and they would pay lower taxes if the square footage taken by the stairs was out of the equation.  That's a big commitment to saving money.

As we continued our drive to Old Montreal, we came across a film crew.  I'm not sure what they were filming, but the black car on the right-hand side of the photo was the focus.  They were also wetting down the pillars behind the car, to get a better shot.  And lots of cars that would drive by during the filming would back up to their starting point every time the director shouted "cut". 

I also got to spend more time in Vieux Montreal, and even attended the French Mass at the Notre Dame Cathedral.  I took a small video of the alter with the huge pipe organ playing full blast.  I'm having a difficult time uploading it for some reason, so you'll have to trust me on that, until I figure out the logistics.

We wandered the streets of Old Montreal for a couple of hours.  I'll post those photos separately.  It was so beautiful.  

I had dinner, alone, in the hotel restaurant.  Sunday nights, they do a buffet.  It was delicious.

I have no plans for tomorrow.  But Tuesday, I'm taking a bus trip to Quebec City.  It's a 3 hour drive to North America's only walled city.  I'm looking forward to it!

More later.

Voila Poutine!

Well, I said I'd do it, so true to my word, my dinner, Saturday night, was soup, and a serving of Poutine Quebecois.  That's the traditional fries, cheese curds and BEEF gravy.

Notice how one half of the fries have almost no gravy?  Guess which side I ate?  I admit I tried the gravy, but it simply did not appeal to me.  The restaurant I went to, Dunn's, is famous for its' smoked meat (Dan, you'd LOVE it...) and the Poutine.

I think they seasoned the gravy with some nutmeg.  At any rate, it was simply disgusting.

I nibbled on the side without gravy, and had some of the cheese curds.  But about 15 minutes into dinner,  the fries were completely soggy with the gravy.

I think Colleen put it best in her comment when she called them "Barf Fries".  I concur.  But hey, I said I'd try them.