Montreal

I was back in Montreal for my last few days in Canada and for the cities and towns I’ve seen, it’s my favourite. Maybe it’s the European vibe or just that it’s a big city with lots to do in it..

On my first night I had to brave both the subway and bus to go out to Lachine and meet with a friend who I’ve known for 10 years but never met and it was great to finally meet her and see some of the sites of Lachine.

The next day I managed to climb up Mont Real and survive the trek, OK it‘s not a mountain, but a hill, but I still made it to the top. At the top is the Kondiaronk lookout across Montreal which with the lovely autumn weather produced great views. I also had to find the big cross on top of the Mont which is lit up at night and looks like something from a fairground with all the bulbs. On the Mont there is also the Notre Dame Cemetery where victims of the Titanic are buried and Beaver Lake. Following the noise of the drums, I descended the Mont and found the Tam Tam players at Georges Etienne Cartier Monument. These are a Sunday tradition, the Tam Tams not the monument, Tam Tams being bongo-like drums. Then it was off to peek inside the Notre Dame Basilica - whose international claim to fame is that Celine Dion got married there and it is touted by them a lot.

For dinner it was a Quebec speciality a smoked meat sandwich, which was huge, rather greasy and I’m not sure I’m a fan, though it was pickle less.

Woke up the next morning to someone’s alarm on snooze playing Billy Jean, not a good start to the day and it didn’t get much better. I was ill, not seriously but not up to doing much. I began the day back in the Old Town having a look at Champ des Mars and the old city walls, had a quick look inside the Bank of Montreal which is incredibly opulent for a bank - they’ve far too much money! Decided to get subway to Ile St Helene and see what was open - being a Monday and end of season not a lot, it was a shame I was feeling ill as it was a lovely sunny day and I could have wandered around both islands much more, if my bed wasn’t calling me.
On my final day in Montreal, I was feeling much better so it was off to the Oratoire St Joseph, it was good I was feeling better as there are a fair few steps to climb to get to the entrance and there’s even an option for pilgrims to climb the middle wooden section on their knees. Typically, I went in the wrong entrance, so had no idea where anything was in amongst the five levels of this huge church. I did find the main basilica, which was very modern and could be reached by conventional stairs, a lift or elevators. - never seen escalators in a church before! I also managed to find the Chapel of Frere Andre, a brother of the church who was able to cure cripples, so the chapel has crutches hanging on the sides left by those that he cured. Above the chapel is the not very austere room of Frere Andre.

Back in the main building, I managed to stumble upon Frere Andre’s heart, not literally, but it was in a glass case for all to see - lovely. I then found the main entrance and a map of the complex, which helped in locating the votive chapel, again this chapel had many crutches hanging from it, but also votive candles arranged to spell out words, like: St Joseph patron of this church or Epoux de Marie. Obviously the Oratoire is a huge shrine and pilgrimage site for many people, you can even buy busts of Frere Andre to take home.

More culture came in the way of the Musee des Beaux Arts, especially their Canadian Arts section, which featured more from the Group of Seven, not as much as the Gallery in Ottawa, but a few more paintings, though a lot were European style paintings which weren’t so interesting to me.

But Montreal and the bits of Canada I did, I really enjoyed, though not so keen on Toronto. Hopefully I’ll be able to go back sometime and visit Vancouver which lots of people have recommended.

Next stop: New York