Skip to main content

Bonjour from Montreal

Well I am back in Canada - can you believe they could not get my brand new passport to "work".  Their system would not accept it - finally they had to enter everything the long way.  Other than that the trip back went smoothly. Oh well back in the True North Strong and Free anyway.  French style that is.

The dorm is fine - I have a one bedroom apartment which is nice but no air conditioning so hoping for cool weather.  It has cooled off so all the windows are open.  I like the location.  I stayed here in  June 1993 with my niece who lived here while she was attending McGill.  To be honest I can't remember too much about the trip - think my brain was fried as we had just done a whirlwind of Macca concerts and Montreal was my last stop on the way home.  All I remember is the Atwater market, going to Le Monde an amusement park and Chan, my niece's pet rat.  Oh what a sweetie he was.  I remember buying some dolly mixture candy and did not like it so put it on the coffee table.  Chan kept coming and grabbing one and looking around like he could not believe his luck and someone was going to grab it from him - then dashing off to hide them in his stash behind a chair.  Also him running around in the stacks of beer bottles. :)  At first his long tail made me a bit squeamish when he ran over me but I got used to it.  I love rodents. 

Anyway I digress as usual...I was able to get a weekend pass on the metro for $16 - the gal at the ticket booth was sweet and told me to get that and it's been well used already.  I stashed my stuff here then jumped the metro to St. Catherine and Metcalfe - got some odd directions but figured it out myself.  Went to Dunns for a smoked meat sandwich - a specific request from my cousin Joanne.  There you go Joanne!  What can I say I will go the extra mile for my family.  It was a real sacrifice. :)  I am supposed to have a piece of cheesecake there too but sorry Joanne could not do both at the same time - I am greedy but not that greedy it turns out - but I will try to get back there. 

Popped into HMV and I was a naughty girl...I will say no more...it's not like there isn't an HMV in Regina....sigh....

Picked up a small guide book on Montreal in Chapters as I realize I don't have a map and could not find any tourist info open.  I like to read detail of the places I am seeing anyway so this will be good to keep. 

Back on the metro and walked over to the Atwater market (a 5 minute walk from here) that was closing up but I did get a container of cut up papaya - will have some when I get back to the room.  Can you believe I walked into bakeries and chocolate shops and walked out again with nothing?  I must be getting sick! 

No internet in the room but there is a computer lab (generous word...two computers that are ancient) on the floor below me. 

I am excited to start exploring Montreal tomorrow.  I had hoped to start at the market with a coffee and croissant but it doesn't open until 8:30 - much too late for me!!!  I hope to do a 10km walk in Old Montreal.  And go from there...rain is forecast for the weekend so we shall see how that goes.  It is supposed to be cool so that's good. 

There does not seem to be many people about so it is very quiet. I hope it's not too lonely but I won't be here too much anyway.   Anyway my own bathroom and it is bigger and newer than mine at home so it's all good.  Just have to go up and make my bed - they charged me ten dollars for the sheets.  That is a first but oh well.  For $55 a night I won't complain. (too much) 

Anyway guess I should go up to my room and start unpacking and read the Montreal Gazette (to see what's on this weekend), drink water and eat my papaya!!! 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Peeing on fish or a fish out of water

Well this morning we headed off by boat to Siem Reap.  Due to the low water on the Tonie Sap Lake (more like a river until near the end of the trip when it widened considerably) the trip would be an 8 hour one... It was supposed to be boring but ended up as anything but...in no certain order...let's see.... We had a rest stop (turned out to be the only one) along the way and the loo was just a hole over the lake and there were fish circling around underneath.  Yes it was just a hole in the floor...you definitely had someone watch your stuff while you went in or one false move and your camera/purse or whatever would be in the lake.  The fish either like the warm pee coming in or they are pervs and like to see ladies parts.  We were just a few minutes out when all of a sudden there was something flying over me and jumping all over the floor - a little fish!  Guess he wanted to join the tour.  Roger reached down and scooped him up while I hooted and hollered.  Okay it wasn&#

A walk along the coffin trail (and a couple of lakes) in the Lake District

While in the Lake District I wanted to do some light walking but not heavy duty hiking where I could easily get lost and my body not found for days partially eaten by hungry...sheep?  Anyway, you get the drift...not too grueling and safe for a solo walker.  I get a bit nervous when I am too far from civilization. There are lots of books about walking in the Lake District but they seem to be all about walking the fells in remote places...neither Thelma nor I fancied that.  While browsing in the post office/shop in Ambleside one day (if you are ever in Ambleside you must go there - a treasure!) I found a stand of walk descriptions on post cards.  And there I found my walk.  After all who could resist a stroll on the "coffin trail" in William Wordsworth country... I took a look and thought hmm...cafe along the route...that works for me. (with at least the security of knowing there was an available "loo" along the way.)  Okay, I may not have totally followed the

The highlights of my Fall 2023 trip

I'm back home after a great six weeks away. This was a "short" trip for me.  So here we go with an overview of my trip.   London London for me is always a good idea.  I fell in love with it back in the mid 70's and it's been calling me back ever since. Some of the best things in my life have happened in London.  When I learned my two Oz friends Loraine and Linda were going to be in London in the fall I knew I had to be there.  And what fun we had!!  Of course, I did loads of other things as well.  I spent two weeks there from mid September until very early October and then back again for four nights at the end of October before flying home.   After over five years (delayed for two and a half years thanks to Covid) of walking, I finally finished the 126 km Capital Ring.  The picture above is taken at the end of my walk and where I started in May of 2018 at the main door of Streatham Common station just steps from my B and B.  What a walk!  I got to see so much more