Vive Montreal!

We had a late dimsum lunch, so I got to leave Toronto late, almost 4 pm -- and got stuck in traffic. It did not help that it was a long weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving) and it was pouring rain! What should have been a five-hour or so drive, took me seven and a half hours -- driving in non-stop pouring rain! And the truck drivers in Canada are aggressive! It was a stressful drive and so when I got to my hotel at around 11 pm, I decided to stay in and rest, even though it WAS a friday night. Sigh. I must be getting old.

I spent the next day sightseeing, even though the rain had not completely stopped. It had at least slowed down to just a shower here and there. I was in the old part of Montreal and enjoyed the architecture and the scenery.

I found out that St Joseph's Oratory was the biggest church/shrine in the world dedicated to St Joseph, and since I was named after him, I decided I had to go make the pilgrimage. When I got there, I saw that the churche was perched on a hill. I was like "Cool, it's an actual pilgrimage to get to the top!", but I was wrong. Tsk tsk tsk. When I got closer I found out they had escalators! Whatever happened to pious devotion?


It was a beautiful church. In the chapel below (where there were so many lit candles burning, it actually warmed up the room), there were rows and rows of discarded crutches and walking sticks, from the sick who had made the pilgrimage and been healed. I do a little more sightseeing, then decide it's time for a drink and head to the village.

I see this pair of leather gloves on the floor at the bar, so I ask the guy next to me (who was talking in french to the guy next to him) if it was his. He looks down, nods yes, picks it up and continues talking to his friend, with nary a thanks! I assume maybe it's because he does not speak english. A few minutes later, a friend comes over and they greet each other and converse (very loudly, i might add) in english! Hmmmm. Maybe he was just rude? Anyway, some more time passes, and I see he's dropped his gloves again. I just ignore it this time, and when he eventually walks away from the bar, I don't tell him about the gloves anymore. And so voila! I now have a new pair of leather gloves, which fit me perfectly, btw!

Saturday night was a fun night, with Manny L taking charge of the military ball. I also bump into Dr Ted! To save money on cabfare, I had bought a 3-day subway pass and since the subway starts at 5:30, I of course had to stay until at least 6 in the morning before heading back to my hotel.

Had a late lunch sunday at this really cool microbrew, Tres Brasseres (sp?), it means three blondes, I think. I met this cool guy and his sister from Boston and upstate NY. They drove up for the weekend to celebrate his birthday. Turned out we were staying at the same hotel, so they invited me up to the concierge floor for cocktails later.

It was raining but I wanted to get at least a little sightseeing in, so I decided to head to the Notre Dame church. I get there around 5:30 and discover that there was a mass going on (it is Sunday, after all). I decide to hear mass -- even though it was in French! As I was leaving the church, I notice some tourists still trying to get in -- but were being turned away because the church was closed for the day. They were told to come back the next morning -- when they open at 8:30. Funniest thing I hear all weekend: I overhear these two guys saying "maybe we'll just come back right after the party!"

I go back to the hotel for cocktails at the concierge floor, then to my room for a little nap before the black and blue party. It was an awesome party, with 15,000 in attendance at the main stadium of the Olympic center. The music, lights, entertainment -- everything was amazing. They had a Montreal DJ start, then a pair of DJs from Spain, then finally the main guy: Danny Tenaglia. Surprisingly, in spite of the large crowd, I still bump into some people I know. Once again, I had to wait for the subway to start up again in the morning, so I decide to leave the party at 8:30, even though it was gonna go all the way till noon. (Hmmm, I wonder if those two guys went back to the church.....)

I take a nap, check out of the hotel and head on out. Next stop, I'm back in the good 'ol US of A.

Oh -- there was this high-end restaurant I saw that specialized in Asian fusion cuisine. I think it means "this is Asia", and I also saw this statue of someone I don't even know who. Anyway these kinda represent my fun fun fun weekend in Montreal: