Sunday, 4 May 2014

Day 9 – Montréal encore


After a nice breakfast of fruit and a very large croissant we took the car back to the rental car company.  The only challenge we had was getting fuel as I had to change pumps because I had to be at a pump where you did not have to use a card.  Once that was sorted it was no problem.  Petrol is very cheap in Canada compared to New Zealand $C1.43 for 85 octane fuel. 
 
Montagne Romaine January 2013, -29 degrees

Montagne Romaine May 2014 +13 degrees
We then went downtown to have a coffee and get a bus ticket so that we could get to the airport.  Sometimes what seems simple is not.  In this case things were not simple.  We went to a metro to find a place to get the right ticket and no one could help us initially.  Then we found a shop that was very good and they were able to sell one but did not have a lot of information about them.  Nonetheless we got what we needed and then headed out to get the bus.  We had some distance to walk to get our bus, walking past the McGill University area and an arts area it was all very nice. 

Downtown Montréal
We spent the rest of the afternoon with Bev’s nephew’s wife Maya and her 13 month old son.  It included a nice wander through their neighbourhood which she described as Anglophone with a nearby Hassidic Jewish community. There were certainly a lot around and they look like a transplant from the 19th century with earnest unsmiling faces often glued to their cell phones.  We did not see any women and Maya said that they did not really interact with the wider community, shopped in their own shops and had their own schools.  

We celebrated a nephew Joly’s birthday that evening at a lovely restaurant called Les 400 coups.  It was a very nice place in Vieux Montréal.  For a starter I shared a pâte of pork with Bev which  was superb.  For my main I had suckling pig.  It even had its origin.  It lots of veges to accompany it and was superb.  Finally Bev and I shared a plate of Canadian cheese.  Overall the menu was small but each plate was done almost to perfection.  It was also remarkably good value.  
Stoned man with dog who refused to walk


 We will have to come back to Montréal, because like Quebec we really did not see much.  This part of the trip has been about  Bev's family who have been very good hosts and a lot of fun to be around making the trip a real highlight as we get to hear about Quebec and Ontario in ways that you do not when you are not with the locals. 

Not only that we have been treated to some great food whether it be home cooking or in some rather superb restaurants. 

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