Old Montreal

Montreal photos

We are home... and tired. Doing my best to stay awake...been up since 2 am Saskatoon time but did manage a 30 min snooze this afternoon. Trying to stay busy and awake here. Laundry is done, lawn is cut, groceries bought and in the fridge and we are both ready for a good nights sleep before we head back to work tomorrow. Life is good and we are blessed.

Sure is quiet around here. :)

I have put all my Montreal photos up on Picassa and have a slide show just to the right if you want to see them. If you click on the slide show you can go to the album in Picassa and then see larger versions of the photos. Please leave a comment if you like a particular photo. Thanks!

We had a wonderful time - of course I got to see way more than David who saw the interior of the Hilton Bonaventure most of the time. While he listened to business speakers and presidents of BIG companies forecast the economy, I was able to hear two wonderful tour guides share their knowledge of the people, history and culinary bests of Montreal. What an incredible city. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Montreal - do it! Stay downtown and walk the streets for hours. 

But as great as Montreal was, it is always good to be home and I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight. 

I have a few scrap book pages that were on my desk and hopefully tomorrow evening after work I can scan them and put them up on the blog. 

Hey is Saskatoon ever green. Looked like you all had wonderful weather while I was gone. It rained every day in Montreal except Saturday, however the rain held back every time we had to be outside - so no complaints. And overcast skies make for great shots of buildings - no shadows.

But it is so good to see leaves on the trees. We used the BBQ tonight. Speaking of which, did you know that the word barbeque is a french work meaning in the mouth and out the ...... Used to refer to the roasting of a pig. So if you say you plan to BBQ tonight you are planning to skewer a pig from one end to the other. hehe

The things we learn.....

Montreal shopping....

THIS is Simons on the corner of St Catherines and Mansfield and it is just the beginnings of



THIS....

And it just kept going and going and going...one mall attached to another dept store attached to another mall...I mean, wow!!!

I bought two pairs of summer sandals and a funky lime green purse - nothing over $50...I was very reasonable.... It was down right cheap after the $200 purse I spied in a boutique in Old Montreal yesterday.

Heading back to the hotel in the rain prompted us to give the underground experience a try. Much faster and dryer... Downtown Montreal is where thousands upon thousands of people spend their days at either work or school. It is home to three? four? universities, one of them being McGill. At the end of the day these poeple/students move en mass and they do so quickly. If you are not alert you can get swept up in the flow and find yourself on the subway...just kidding. But it was quite an experience to see the crowds of people purposefully moving through this undergound city to their Via Train, the metro... stopping along the way in one of the boutiques or shops or picking up fresh bread or vegitables at one of the markets - ALL underground.

Our tour guide told us he lives an hour an a half by car outside of Montreal downtown and yet does not own a car. The metro takes him everywhere. And in winter he need not take winter clothing because he can do it all underground. It is an incredible and efficient system of transportation and all along these routes and between the stations are stores of every kind.

Very neat!

It is raining here - a lot!

But I hear you are enjoying the sun back home. Yeah!

Home tomorrow.

Montreal

Here is a little glimpse of Montreal including some of the flowers from yesterdays trip to the botanical gardens. Since I LOVE macro stuff - especially food, you may find too many pics of flowers. Sorry! However you can never have too many photos of food..

Montreal.... Fantastique!!

Wow! This is an incredible city and the people of Montreal know how to eat. I can't believe all the delicious food! I went on a food tasting tour of Old Montreal on Wed - all day - we ate and drank our way through Old Montreal until 2 pm and then were treated to a wine tasting event - FIVE ice wines followed this gastronomical event along with thee desserts.
What a day. So much for spin classes in the past two months. Damage done!
I have a ton of photos and can't wait to share them with you. Here are just a few from Wednesdays tour.

How many ways can you package Quebec Maple Syrup and how many ways can you prepare fabulous food with it. Well, a whole stores worth.

Apple Ice wine - we sampled five different vasrieties.

What a spectacular interior after a rather drab exterior. it was very dark in there - which make the incredible lighting even more impressive. However it made for an ISO of 1000 and a shutter speed of about 1/20 or less and I don't have the most steady hands. I may have to go back and take the tripod.

If you win the lottery you might want to stay here at Hotel St James. Celine Dion likely does if she is in town....or maybe with reletives. Very expensive - tour guide said the most exclusiive hotel in Quebec.

And you know what? After all this fabulous food and the history and architecture and two great days of tours...... I miss home.

Yah, nothing like your own bed, your own, bathroom and even your own kitchen..... David has been in meetings 90 % of our waking hours and our evenings are spent schmoozing....so yah...no place like home.

I have enough photos already for a great Montreal coffee table book and there will be plenty of fodder for scrap booking pages.... when I don't know.

So after months of putting together a wedding and then having all the kids home and then packing up and taking off for Quebec.... well I am looking forward to some boredom and routine.

...but first just a little shopping in Montreal.... I mean I have to at least find a funky new purse.

And regarding photos, I also took 2 Gb of photos of Old Montreal, the biosphere, botanical gardens, Montreal from the St Lawrence on a cruise and more photos of these wonderful old streets. But I haven't uploaded them to the laptop yet - perhaps tomorrow morning.

I am tired after another full day of being a tourists!

Ah, Montreal...c'est bon

Your luggage has arrived.....but which one is it in???? Toronto airport.

St Lawrence Seaway - first time I have ever seen it and hope to get down to the waterfront tomorrow.

Long day. I tried to watch Shopaholic on the flight to Toronto but got 30 min in and lost reception. Drat!

Bought a Mac mag, photography mag and "More" mag - glamor for us old ladies. Not sure where they find all these old, tall, skinny models, but there is no way I can wear those halter tops - not after nursing 4 kids. But after reading a few articles in the mag I have discovered that looking drop dead gorgeous at 50 is all about attitude. ...yeah right!

Anyways I have lots of easy magazine reading and I also brought John Pipers "Don't Waste Your Life" - great book. I decided not to pack my Bible , which I read daily, because I wanted to save room (for all that Montreal shoppping) and we ALL know that every hotel room has an NIV Bible in it. But not in Montreal!! Eight drawers and no Bible. I will ask the front desk tomorrow where they are hiding all the Gideons.

Westjet crew were hilarious as usual.... "Thank you all for loading so quickly. We are 20 min ahead of schedule and that means we are 20 min closer to poutine!"

"Please ensure you seat belt is securely fastened around your lips...er hips..."

"Please ensure all luggage is safely stowed under the seat in front of you. Ladies please ensure your purse is also stowed and matches your shoes. We are almost in Montreal!!!"

Now, can you imagine that on an Air Canada flight? I have had great service on Air Canada...but never humour. Love West Jet.

Our cab driver did NOT speak English but no problems finding the place.

A mojito in the lounge here at the Hilton Bonavista is $11,24. YIKES!!

I promise better pictures tomorrow....kind of tired tonight after a very early morning.

I have to be up for breakfast at 0730 and a culinary tour of old Montreal at 0830. Forecast is for rain but I am hopeful for some great pictures. You know me and food photography....and architecture...I think they planned this tour just for me! (big smile) and my 5 Gb worth of memory cards.

Blessings!