Day 5 - pastures new

Last night we had a later night than usual. We got back to the apartment and got changed and decided to explore our odd little neighbourhood. We had seen a retro games bar and went to check it out, and opposite there was a Cambodian restaurant. So we gave that a go. The lady serving was so sweet and so pretty and she was interested in our trip. We ate the most delicious food and then went to the retro bar. Most of the games were free to play, so we bought a drink each and had loads of fun playing pinball, shooting zombies and playing PacMan.

We were up early the next day as we had a train to catch back to Montreal. We boarded the train on time, and then had a delicious breakfast on board of eggs and asparagus. Three and a half hours later we arrived in a baking hot Montreal. We took a taxi to the hotel we are staying in, which is in the Mont-Royal area. There are so many bikes whizzing around, which is great. Very few cars and traffic jams.

We walked the short, ten minute walk to Mont-Royal metro station and bought a 24 hour pass each. We were soon in Bonaventure, which is where we are meeting today’s guide, Alex. Alex was a very quiet young man from Edmonton, Alberta - an English teacher. We had a small group of only 5 (us three, a man from Gloucestershire and a French girl). He took us on a two hour walk around Montreal, telling us the history. It’s very similar to Quebec city in that the French took over, and the English came along and spoiled the fun.

There were lots of statues that were symbolic of the tensions between the English and French. Montreal was briefly the capital of Canada. In fact, for a long time it was the financial capital of Canada, until laws were passed that all government offices and officials had to speak French, so many of the non-Canadian and French banks left and took themselves to Toronto instead.

We went to the dock area where Alex explained the importance of the fur trade, initially, and then grain, but now the docks are a place for cruise ships and recreation only. The reason Montreal is so famous for it’s bagels (we didn’t know it was) is the grain.

We took a walk through Chinatown, the only French speaking Chinatown in the world. It was quite grubby.

Like Toronto, Montreal has it’s own underground city (the RESO). It was nice to walk around under it to get out of the heat and very hot sun.

We bade farewell to Alex after two and a half hours and sat getting our legs back with a coffee and then took the metro back to the hotel. The hotel is very old and there are lots of stairs. The room is huge and the hotel is opposite La Fontaine park.

There is an amazing selection of local and international food in the area. We chose Afghan food for dinner, which was incredibly tasty. On the way back we heard some music coming from the park, and stumbled upon a live concert. It was a singer playing the piano. We listened for a while and then slowly walked back to the room.

Montreal has a really nice feel to it. Definitely less French, but still with a slight Euro vibe to it.