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Tuesday morning we were up early and headed out to explore the neighbourhoods of St-Henri, Little Burgundy and Griffintown. We could have taken the subway, but it was a clear, windy day and we decided to walk. From the bottom of St-Sulpice we turned right and headed out along the port and continued along the Lachine Canal. The walking and biking trails were unforgettable. Lots to see and very few people. I suspect in the summer and on most weekends more would be out enjoying this part of the city.

The view to the iconic Habitat 67.

A whole city that is in itself art, plus a lot of public art.

Floating barge spa, how awesome!

More pretty buildings and lots of parks and green spaces in Montréal.

This was so cool, a vegetable garden planted beside this overpass. It looked like it was actively being used.

The view of where we had been the day before, Mont Royal Chalet.

The Lachine Canal is still in operation and a National Historic Site.

GJ is always taking pics of me when I’m not looking. I like that this captures both of us, sort of.

Love this moody shot.

This building was beautiful, right on the canal. There were several “For Sale” signs in windows.

Leaving Mile End we headed down rue St-Urbain to rue Rachel and entered Parc du Mont-Royal through Parc Jeanne-Mance and past Monument à Sir-George-Étienne-Cartier. We thought we may as well walk up the paths a bit since we were there! So off we went. There were a lot of people walking and running. We made it up as far as Chalet du Mont-Royal and took in the extraordinary view from the Kondiaronk Belvedere. It was almost dark as we made our way down rue Peel towards our chosen dinner destination: Chinatown.

Approach to the Cartier monument with Mont Royal in the background.

Looking up at Monument à Sir-George-Étienne-Cartier.

Looking back towards Parc Jeanne-Mance.

A few weeks earlier and this view must have been ablaze in red, orange and yellow leaves.

Chalet du Mont-Royal

That view! I bet it’s magical at all times of the year.

Found a really sweet little place for dinner which served Hong Kong-style delicious food. I had vegetable chow mein and GJ had a beef hot pot.

At Café Olimpico, I enjoyed, of course, chocolat chaud. GJ’s choice was café latté. I loved the way they were both served in tall glasses. It was a very fine chocolatey delight, rich in flavour, but not heavy; very satisfying.

Yum, my CC on the right.

 

Day 10, which was Remembrance Day, it had been very cold. So on Monday I thought I would layer up with icebreaker and smart wool. My luck, it was a weirdly warm day and I suffered! But it was a fun day. We departed the hotel around 10 and took the Metro to the Mont Royal Station. Montréal has an exceptional transit and subway system. We took it several times and found the subway clean and efficient. Met up with our TO friends and had a great breakfast at Café el Dorado. Then we walked up through Mile End, window gazing and drinking coffee (GJ says it was “No shit, shut up and drink your coffee” coffee: possibly the best coffee he’s ever had) at Café Olimpico. Left our lovely friends and walked back towards Mont Royal.

The Mont Royal Metro Station.

Super cool fibre art embraces a boulevard tree.

Yes, it’s a fire hall. This would have been turned into condos where we live!

Apparently the best bagels. We look forward to trying them soon.

Around every corner, extraordinary architecture.

One of the many tin ceilings we saw on our travels. We want our next home to have this feature!

We sure enjoyed hanging out with this beautiful, beautiful baby!

The amazing café old-school sign.

For our first full day in Montréal, we met up with some friends who were visiting from Toronto. We enjoyed some yummy crêpes in Vieux-Montréal at a café called Muru, wandered around in Chinatown, explored  Musée des Beaux-Arts (which is free for the permanent exhibits) and then left our friends and had delicious salads for dinner at M Café.

Pretty little crêpe café in Vieux-Montréal: Muru.

Montréal Chinatown art shot.

Montréal pigeons look different from Victoria pigeons.

Macaroons in the display case at M Café. Mmmmmm.

Upon arriving in Montréal, we couldn’t have been more delighted with our hotel: Le St Sulpice, Hôtel Montréal, 414 Saint-Sulpice in the heart of Vieux Montréal. The lobby was gorgeous, staff friendly and helpful, our room large, quiet, clean and very well appointed. Our five nights there were perfect. Once we settled in, we headed out for dinner. The lovely woman at the front desk recommended a very nice place just around the corner called Modavie. We were seated right away, and altho we couldn’t see it, we were able to enjoy listening to the live jazz which was performing on the second floor part of the restaurant.

Le St Sulpice, right beside Notre-Dame Basilica on rue Saint-Sulpice.

Spent part of today photographing and preparing Etsy posts for some new Festive Cards. Here  is a sampling, plus a photo which Taxicab “helped” with.

Red cardinals on white wreath with red field, all on pale grey card with Japanese paper embellishment. All these cards are made from hand cut stamps.

White wreath on green field with darker green paper highlight.

White branches on grey-blue field with dark red paper highlight.

Such a good helper!

We were sad to leave Quebec City, but excited to be heading to Montreal. Our last day started with perfect homemade crèpes  and a few last hours with my wonderful cousins. We had a last quick stop downtown to pick up some snacks and try what is reputedly the best hot chocolate in town: it was amazing! Erico Chocolat Frais and Choco Musée at 634 rue Saint-Jean is worth a visit. A huge selection of chocolate delicacies and a menu of hot chocolate: the three we tried were all fantastic. Hopped onto the Via Rail to Montréal and the third leg of our Belle Province vacances!

GJ took this funny picture of Jasper at breakfast our last morning in Quebec City.

Two of the four pairs of slippers we commissioned from a beautiful artisan we met in Victoria along the causeway where First Nations and other artisans sell their beautiful crafts.

I wish we had had more time at Erico Chocolat. We tried three different types of hot chocolate. The largest cup was mine: thick like hot pudding!

Bought a few snacks at this charming little shop: J.A.Moisan. It was full of gorgeous groceries, chocolate, cheese, household items, tea and all things beautiful and delicious.

Getting some blogging started on the train ride from Quebec City to Montréal.

We love the train; no traffic, beautiful scenery…

Final approach to Montréal.

We were very sad that our final evening with family was upon us, but very happy to have delicious cheese fondue for dinner! My cousin’s cat was in love with GJ and he took many pictures of her.

Mmmmmmm, fondue…

This is Shandy. She reminds me a lot of another lovely little girl called Spatz.

Camera full of whiskers!

Miscellaneous shots from our last full day in Quebec City. It was yet another splendid day!

Lost track of the Church names. Let’s just call it “Impressive Church No.23.”

More random architecture.

Statues and monuments.

Church detail and bird sanctuary from the cold.

Turrets on an apartment building!

The “art” shot.

GJ the tourist.

The Châteaux Frontenac.

Rooftop view from the Dufferin Boardwalk.

Stunning views everywhere!

Looking out from near the Champlain Monument towards rue-Fort.

Monument near the Chateaux Frontenac.

More beautiful architecture.

One more last view of the skating rink.

This shop in Vieux-Québec had the most exquisite collection of glass shade lamps. I think they were Turkish.