Friday 4th October
Left our Ottawa apartment around 9.30 am after a really good night's sleep in a very comfortable bed. We entered Montreal into Google maps and off we set. It turned out to be a fairly scenic drive with lots of Fall covered trees along the highway. As we approached Montreal the traffic banked up and slowed to a crawl, making our predicted 2 hour trip into 2.5 hours before arriving at our new motel at 12 noon. We were able to check in straight away, so dropped our bags, crossed the road to the metro station and caught the next train into Montreal Downtown. We located the visitor centre and got lots of hints on where to explore. With only the afternoon left we decided to walk through the University Campus up Mont Royal, then head over into Plateau Mont-Royal, where artists create larger than life murals. This all fitted into our conitnued journey of seeking out wall murals !
Views from top of Mont Royal
Some of the murals we found..
On the way back we stumbled across the most unusual shop we have ever seen, a mixture of restaurant, used clothing and shoes, books, mink coats, articles and just about everything else you could think of. From the outside there was no indication at all of what it was ...
Tania's birthday today so we went out for dinner !
Saturday 5th October
Today we checked out the Old Town of Montreal and riverfront district. The Old Town contains a number of historic sites and buildings, including the original Hotel De Ville (City Hall) and the Notre Dame Catheral.
We went into Sir George-Etienne Cartier's house, which had been renovated "according to the tastes and customs of the bourgoisie around 1860" ! He was one of the Fathers of Confederation, and the house was set up with interactive history lessons of Canada since its discovery by European invaders.
As we made our way through the narrow streets, we came across the oldest street in Montreal, Rue Saint-Paul paved with cobblestones. Originally the main thoroughfare in the Old Town, the 2km long street now has a variety of high end stores full of leather and fur coats plus accessories, art galleries, gift shops, cafes and restaurants. The Bonseours Market is a very interesting and imposing heritage building on the same street, containing a variety of made in Quebec creations such as jewellery, clothing, speciality shops and more...a must see.
We walked along the riverfront and couldn't believe how fast the river was flowing, seagulls sitting on the surface seemed to pass us by at a large rate of knots. The area also hosted the crusie ship port for Montreal, and the Zaandam was docked as we walked by. The Notre Dame Cathedral is also located in this district along with Notre Dame de Bon Secours Chapel, Montreal's oldest chapel, and Chateau Ramezay.
From the Old Town district we walked through Chinatown, then onto the modern Downtown area, walking a reasonable length of Rue St Catherine, the main shopping mall. We visited two railway stations, but both were fairly disappointing in architecture.
Another full day of walking .. 23,,,000 steps / 18 kilometres !