Esther-isms: A Picture Dictionary

1. Yergoat (n.): a favorite snack

2. Go-merry-round (n.): a fun thing to ride, often seen at the mall

3. Finger toes (n.): the things at the end of Mommy's toes that she paints in the summer

 

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My Super Kid

"Now I really look like Superman."

 

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Day 6 in Montreal

Ah, our last full day in Montreal! We did our best to make it a good one.

Breakfast was a little different this morning, not because of the food, but because it was the first time we ate with other guests at Le Terra Nostra. I think there was a family there our first night who left before we got up the next day, but otherwise we have had the house to ourselves. This morning we met a couple about our age from Lyon, France who are spending two weeks in Canada, although only a day or two in Montreal. Mireille introduced us but I didn't catch their names. The woman spoke some English and I speak some French (Zach commented later that our respective foreign language skills seemed about equal) so between the two languages we managed to have a nice conversation about what we've seen and plan to see around town.

Zach and I went back to Vieux Montreal one last time this morning, mostly because we needed a return visit to olive + gourmando and we decided to have lunch there. But to pass the time before lunch we visited Château Ramezay, the residence of the first governor of Montreal. It was built in 1705, I think, although it has undergone many changes since then. The building has served many purposes, so unfortunately there are no original furnishings. Instead there are exhibits and artifacts tracing 300 years of Canadian history in this area. Something I learned: Benjamin Franklin attended meetings there to try to convince the Canadians to ally themselves with the colonies against the British. Otherwise, I learned that my knowledge of the colonial period is lacking--I look forward to studying history with Austin so much.

The back of Château Ramezay, which looks down toward the river.

Next, of course, was olive + gourmando. We got a table for lunch today. Zach had a Cuban sandwich and I had a chèvre chaud sandwich, goat cheese with caramelized onions. Wow, was it rich. They served it with a yummy homemade ketchup, though, which eased the richness of it. Of course we didn't let ourselves get too filled up with sandwiches; we made some requests at the pastry counter before paying our bill! Zach had an "everything cookie" and I had a snickers square. It was basically a cookie bar with chocolate chips and peanuts. Good, although not quite as good as Thursday's chocolate brioche. That may be the single tastiest thing I've had on this trip.

Not easy to take a self-portrait while holding baked goods and coffee

We decided to make a stop at the Musée des Beaux Arts (Fine Arts Museum) this afternoon. Their permanent collection is free so it's a nice place to pass a bit of time. My favorite room was the one full of Impressionist works; there was a Monet that I enjoyed as well as a few works by a (new-to-me) artist called Signac that I loved. Zach, on the other hand, preferred the Medieval and Renaissance collections. So plenty for both of us to enjoy.

Monet

Signac

We changed our evening plans somewhat based on a recommendation from Mireille. She told us about an upscale neighborhood around rue Bernard with restaurants, shopping, and some nice parks in an area we weren't familiar with. She said it's a place she recommends if people are spending a more extended time in the city (like us) and have already seen Vieux Montreal and the more common tourist sites. So we trekked over on the metro and spent some time reading on a bench. So peaceful.

The view from our bench

We ate dinner in the same neighborhood. There were lots of choices; we settled on a place called Café Local. We had a table overlooking the street which was nice for people watching. (You get good tables pretty often when you eat so unfashionably early like we do.) Zach had a bison "black and blue" burger with poutine on the side while I had fish and chips. We liked this more upscale version of poutine better than the street version, I think. The gravy was less salty. We both loved our entrees. It was certainly not exotic and not particularly Canadian or québécois but just plain tasty food.

That's poutine in the middle

We got some pastries to go from a nearby bakery, then headed back to Le Terra Nostra to pack. What a week it's been! It has been so much fun to spend time with Zach exploring a new place and talking as much as we want without interruption...reminds me of the years before the kiddos came along...but I miss those kiddos. I will be so glad to see them when we get off the plane tomorrow!

 

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Day 5 in Montreal

Much like yesterday, today was a day without big plans. We ended up doing a lot of little things; another day of many metro trips! First we visited Archambault, a huge music and bookstore. Zach had heard they had lots of sheet music. And indeed they did have a selection of tuba music, but it was either high-priced or something he already owns. But (shh, don't tell), we did get some presents for our kids.

This was across the street from Archambault. I think someone was actually playing a game at the left.

Next we visited the Jean Talon market. It's a lot like Marché Atwater which we went to Friday, only bigger. We again shopped for an assortment of lunch items and ate at a picnic table in the middle of the market. We bought a baguette, some Manchego cheese (another excellent discovery, thanks to the nice guy in the cheese shop who gave us the recommendation), some strawberries, and some cashews and maple syrup candied pecans. We finished our lunch with gelato from Havre aux Glaces, yet another place I pinned way back. Although they had some rather unusual favors (strawberry and pepper?) we played it safe: espresso and milk chocolate for me, hazelnut and dark chocolate for Zach. Tiny portion for a big price but awfully tasty.

Simple but delicious.

Stop number three took us to Pikolo espresso, a coffee shop Zach found through online research. I believe he said it's the best coffee he has had in Montreal so far. The shop was rather crowded but we did manage to snag a table so we hung out and read for awhile. Relaxing and reading is something I am sure we have meant to do more of on this trip but we find ourselves going here and there. It was great to slow down for a bit this afternoon.

But then we moved on. Our next destination was a bit disappointing, to be honest. We went to Parc Jean-Drapeau, which is located on two islands in the middle of the river. (You can take the subway from Montreal to get there.) It is not a terribly large park but big enough to have lots and lots of paths going off in many directions. We wandered for quite awhile and never saw anything very interesting. There are a couple museums, one that we knew we didn't care to visit and one we never found, plus some facilities from the Olympics that are open to the public now (a pool, the rowing basin), and the track that the recent Formula One Grand Prix was run on. But nothing was going on today and there were hardly any people around. So we just took a long walk, basically.

We did get to see some wildlife up close at the park. Or maybe not so wild.

I couldn't resist climbing on this. Our kids would have liked the playground behind me.

We went back to Vieux Montreal for dinner and to do some shopping. We ate at Papillon, a restaurant whose menu we saw the other night and liked. Zach had linguine primavera which he enjoyed and I had a pork loin stuffed with cranberries and blueberries. It was not as outstanding as I hoped it would be but still good. Somewhat unbelievably, we did not eat dessert tonight. In fact, we did not have a single pastry today. Never fear, we have a return trip to olive + gourmando planned for tomorrow.

 

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Day 4 in Montreal

After three fairly nonstop days, we decided that today should be a lighter day. Hmm, now that I'm at the end of it I'm not sure we achieved that goal. At least we didn't spend as much of the day on our feet. We spent a lot of time on buses and the metro and a lot of time eating crêpes in lovely restaurants. And a few other things.

This being Sunday we decided to find a church to visit. We found the People's Church of Montreal online and spent the morning worshipping with them. The pastor preached an encouraging Father's Day message from Psalm 128 and I had cause to give thanks for the wonderful husband and father at my side.

We went to another Pinterest plan of mine, Muru Crêpe, for lunch. Wow. As Yelp told me it would be, the service was kind of slow but making individual crêpes takes time. We had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely meal. Zach tried one of their waffles, which they only have on the weekends. At the waitress' suggestion, he had one with condensed milk, peanut butter, butter, and sugar. She (the server) explained that it's a common street food in Hong Kong where her family (the owners) are from and they wanted to bring that taste to Montreal. Sounds like a pretty crazy combination, right? It was crazy good. I had a savory crêpe with chicken, veggies, pesto, and tomato sauce. Also good. Then we shared a strawberry, banana and Nutella crêpe. Because you can't go into a crêpe restaurant and not eat Nutella. Or at least I can't.

Vacations are made for crazy eating like this.

We are not really into visiting big ornate churches (of which there are several around here) but we made an exception today to visit St. Joseph's Oratory because they are hosting a weekly Bach festival, to show off the recently-restored organ I think. We unfortunately arrived late and missed a few pieces but still got to hear some amazing organ music including that most famous of organ works, Toccata and Fugue in d minor. The way the last notes of a piece resonated in the room was unbelievable.

The organ, obviously. I wish I had taken a picture of the rest of the basilica because its style was unlike anything I'd seen before, sort of Art Deco. You can see a bit of that in the shape of the ceiling here.

The Oratory is waaaay up on a hill. Pilgrims go up the steps on their knees; there is even a section of the stairs reserved for that purpose. So thankful to know the truth that God does not require works like that to please Him; Jesus' work on the cross is enough.

View looking up

View looking down

Lest you think that we climbed all the way up to the basilica, there are escalators inside the building once you get past the initial stairs. Still a lot of climbing. Fun unusual disturbing fact of the day: Father Andre, who had the desire to build this church in honor of Joseph...well, his embalmed heart is on display. Got to see it on the way out. Ugh.

After a late, long, filling lunch we decided to have an early, light dinner at juliette et chocolat. (Knew we'd be back.) I had another crêpe, this time with ham, potatoes, and cheese (I love them, what can I say) and Zach had a salad with ham, eggs, potatoes, asparagus, cheddar crisps, and a sort of crêpe-batter lattice on top. Not as light as we hoped, but really just a warmup for the main event at this eatery. Zach came back specifically wanting to try their drinking chocolate. They prepare their chocolate beverages the way coffee connoisseurs do, by isolating beans (cacao beans in this case) from different regions and even single plantations so one can taste the unique flavors of the beans. Zach chose a dark chocolate from São Tomé which the waiter told him was interesting because the volcanic soil in which it is grown imparts a smoky flavor. And it did. Pretty cool. I, predictably, chose a much sweeter chocolate and caramel hot chocolate. Not exotic but so yummy.

So maybe you've realized, as we did, that our day was not nearly as restful as we'd hoped. We love our lodgings but they are enough off the beaten path that going home for a midday rest is just not practical most days. We end up just going going going. And did I mention that it rained most of today? So being tired and damp, we decided that our wonderful bathtub was calling our name once more and we headed home straight after dinner.

 

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Day 3 in Montreal

We enjoyed breakfast in the garden for yet a third time this morning which, according to our hostess Mireille, has been almost unheard of this spring! Rain and clouds have been the rule in Montreal and they are supposed to return tomorrow but we have been blessed with three perfect weather days so far. Our meal this morning consisted of warm apricot-cranberry-almond bread, followed by a ham and cheese crêpe with fresh fruit on the side. Mireille told us that in this region people consider maple syrup and ham to be a great pairing so we dutifully poured it on our crêpes. They definitely know a thing or two about good food around here.

Hey guess what, Zach just showed me how to make accent marks with my ipad keyboard! So forgive the lack in previous posts; I'll try to do better now.

We decided to visit the Biodôme-Jardins Botaniques-Planetarium area today (several major attractions in one area) but we made a pit stop...well, a really out of the way put stop...at a bakery I'd read about online, Le Fromentier. It was in a neat neighborhood filled with families out strolling around, and nice-looking cafes and shops on every corner. Le Fromentier's cases were filled with delicious-looking items. We opted to get a small loaf of chocolate bread and an Empereur pastry, which was pastry dough twisted up with chocolate chips, basically. Both good, but I kind of wish we had bought a baguette. Just to see what their traditional bread was like.

We took this picture on the way to the Biodôme. It's the Olympic stadium and tower, built for the 1976 games. You can go up in the tower (see the little elevator thing on the right side?) but it's kind of expensive and we figured the view would approximate what we got yesterday climbing Mont Royal for free the price of sore legs. :-)

So we headed into the Biodôme. (Say Bee-oh-dome if you want to sound more local.) It has exhibits highlighting four ecosystems; at least a couple are those found near Montreal. There are live animals and plants so I guess it's like a small, indoor, locally-focused zoo. It's not a large place but we enjoyed it; my favorite part was the penguins and Zach's was a porcupine in a tree. Most of the pictures I took are ones I thought my kids would like. And Zach's porcupine.

Colorful birds

Esther, this monkey's for you

Not sure if this is an alligator or crocodile, but in either case I can hear my little girl informing me that "it's fendley"

We ate lunch in the little cafe inside the Biodôme. Once again, I was just blown away by the quality of the food at a location like this. Perhaps Americans are a little too willing to tolerate mediocre food...this was nice stuff for about the price you'd pay for a hamburger and fries at a similar attraction in the States. They even threw our pre-made wrap and sandwich on a panini press to warm them up and give them a nice crispy exterior. And veggies on the side--extra nice!

Next we went to two shows at the planetarium. Both were in domed rooms and we sat in chairs that were tilted back. (Maybe this is standard? I've not been to a planetarium before.) The first show was just images and music, not very scientific but cool to watch. The second was more informative; a guide showed stars and constellations visible in Montreal's night sky during this part of the year, then turned the theater into a "spaceship" and took us out to see the solar system, the Milky Way, and beyond. "The heavens declare the glory of God" reverberated in my head the whole time. (From Psalm 19) The universe is so vast and so complex...I don't think there is a logical framework for understanding it except as the product of a creative, powerful God. We tiny humans, just a speck in the enormous breadth of creation, don't merit His attention or favor but He bestows it out of love. Wow.

The last stop was the Botanical Gardens and Insectarium complex. I think we picked an unfortunate path when we first set off into the gardens; it was just trees and bushes and frankly looked like our backyard. But then we got to the good stuff: flowers, ponds, Chinese and Japanese gardens. (I have a fond spot for flowery botanical gardens since Zach proposed to me in one.) The peonies were especially nice here. Lots of color everywhere. And the Chinese garden...wow. There were several pagodas overlooking a little pond, might have been my favorite part of the entire garden.

One other cool part of our visit was watching preparations for an upcoming horticultural exhibit. We got to watch giant plant sculptures being created at several stages from welding the frames to detailed placement of the greens. We saw a few completed pieces as well. That was quite eye-opening for me; I had no idea so much work (like building a frame) went into something like that.

Sheep...

...and their shepherd. And sheep dog, I guess.

We had very little time to spend in the insectarium as it was closing in less than an hour. Let's just say there are some truly large and scary-looking bugs out there. It was kind of cool to watch a stick insect eating a leaf. I can see how a group of these bugs could destroy a tree pretty fast.

We headed off to dinner at the Dominion Square Tavern. I don't remember how I found it online but I pinned it way back as a place we should try. Even though it was on the early side by local dinner standards, we nearly didn't get a table; very few were free since they were being held for reservations. As the name implies, much of the menu was pub-type food. We had corn fritters with homemade ketchup to start, then variations on pork and potatoes: homemade bangers and mash for Zach, a pulled pork sandwich with fries for me. We ended up splitting both entrees because we each liked what the other had quite a bit. But the corn fritters were the best part of the meal.

Our last stop was to go back to Vieux Montreal for something rather silly: Eepybird's Coke Zero and Mentos Spectacular. (Have you seen the YouTube video? It's how they became famous.) Basically they drop Mentos into coke and it makes a geyser and they do a kind of choreographed fountain sequence. It was fun and we got there early enough to have a great view.

Another exhausting day. We keep telling ourselves we want to take time to relax but there is just so much to do here!

 

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Day 2 in Montreal

Today's weather was again nicer than anticipated so we got to eat breakfast in the garden again. We got a lovely fruit and yogurt salad today and a frittata with veggies and bacon. Perfect start to the day!

We took the metro to the Marche Atwater, one of Montreal's major farmers markets. (Random aside: When we got off the metro we looked at some street signs and looked at a map to make sure we headed down the street in the right direction. then we simultaneously made references to Dora the Explorer. What can I say? we have a two year old.) Anyway, part of the market is outdoor stalls, part is indoors. We were searching for picnic components to take with us. We bought a tray of locally-grown strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries (which turned out to be some of the best berries I've ever had), a loaf of artisan bread, and two cheeses from a fromagerie: Conte 3 ans and Epoisses Perriere. The first was an aged hard cheese that had a texture like Parmesan but a flavor somewhat milder; reminded me a bit of Gouda. Quite a complex flavor. The second was a soft runny cheese that we spread on slices of bread. I thought I didn't care for soft cheeses very much but this one was great.

We got the pain grains anciens on the left.

The fruit stall. Everything looked so delicious!

We hopped back on the metro to head toward Mont Royal, a big hill (which you hear referred to as a mountain) right in the middle of the city. You can drive to the top but we opted to hike. There is a trail that zigzags up the side of the hill or you can take some stairs as a shortcut. We mostly walked so add another mile or two to our walking total for this trip. We were more than ready to enjoy our bread, cheese, and berries when we found a bench near the top.

There are nicer paths but we took a few shortcuts on steeper, rougher trails like this one.

The view from the summit is worth all exertion to get there.

We were tired when we reached the bottom again. I'm not in bad shape these days and my legs felt a little shaky! So after a brief stop at a coffee shop we headed back to our B&B for a late afternoon rest. So nice. Just stopping to relax in the middle of the day almost never happens at home.

We jumped on the metro once again in the late afternoon (getting our money's worth for our 3 day pass!) and headed downtown to get some street food and see a movie. We found a stall selling poutine, which is the quintessential Montreal food. French fries topped with cheese curds topped with brown gravy. Pretty tasty. Salty, as you might expect. Good for a quick bite when you have further plans. Then we found a theater (took some looking, it was inside a sort of mall that didn't look anything like a theater from the outside) and saw The Great Gatsby. Good movie. Makes me want to read the book again cause it's been, oh, seventeen years or so. Pretty sure I remembered about 1% of the storyline.

You'll be shocked to hear that we ate dessert after the movie. Wonderful pieces of chocolate cake from a patisserie IN THE MALL. American malls have Mrs. Field's chain store cookies, Québécois malls have real pastry shops. Sweet!

And that was day 2. :-)

 

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What I Did on my Summer Vacation (or, Day 1 in Montreal)

Note: This was written Thursday night but published Friday morning because of Internet trouble at our B&B.

If you will be bored by lots of details about our time in Montreal, you might want to tune out for the next few blog posts. When Zach and I took a trip to France and Italy six years ago, we bought a little journal and every night I wrote what we had done, where we had eaten, etc. We have enjoyed reading it since then and reliving those wonderful memories. So I want to do the same thing for this trip, only via the blog.

The weather was unexpectedly nice this morning so we got to have breakfast in the back garden. It is like a little secret garden, surrounded by tall walls. Delicious food: French toast with freshly-made raspberry jam and fresh fruit. Not too heavy, leaving us feeling perfectly entitled to stop for a mid-morning pastry.

The mid-morning pastry: brioche de chocolat valhrona

olive + gourmando was a place we had read about online and it did not disappoint. It was kind of hard to choose what to get. Gee, maybe we'll have to go back.

I will know what a snickers square tastes like by the end of this trip.

After successfully purchasing metro passes and navigating the subway, we spent the first half of our day in Vieux Montreal, the old city. Narrow, cobbled streets and beautiful buildings everywhere. We will probably go back there for dinner once or twice because there were so many amazing looking restaurants.

Hard to believe we're not in Europe!

In the picture above you are looking down at Vieux Port (the old port) and that's where we headed next. A science festival is happening there this weekend so we might go back; they were setting things up today and some of the exhibits look entertaining. We grabbed a small lunch at a food court near the science museum and decided to take a boat tour. Well worth it--I feel like I have a much better sense of how the city is laid out now, at least the side along the St. Laurence river. We got to see some container ships being unloaded and learn about Montreal's advantages and disadvantages as a port city. Call me a nerd if you like but I found all that kind of interesting.

The tour boat

A cute couple on the tour boat. Who then went downstairs because they didn't want to get sunburned.

Cool cube-y apartments. They were built for the 1967 Worlds Fair if I remember aright.

I thought Austin might like a close-up of a container ship that was passing by.

After the tour we headed up Boulevard St Laurent, which is sort of at the heart of the cultural life of Montreal. Theaters, restaurants, bars, shops, etc. go on for blocks. We stumbled across not one but two more festivals while in that area. First, the Francofolies, which I believe is a celebration of francophone culture in Montreal. There was one band playing and we saw several stages--I bet that place will be packed this weekend. Second, a festival of murals. Walls were being painted as we walked by.

And a car.

We ate dinner on a little street off of Blvd. St. Laurent that was just beautiful. Charming buildings that absolutely reminded me of Paris and a little fountain that was right behind me as we ate on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. The restaurant was a French place called Le Square. We had asparagus gratin for our entree (which means appetizer in French), then Zach had a pork chop with honey mustard sauce and ratatouille while I had tilapia with mango-pineapple sauce. Oh, and they served wonderful bread that they got from a bakery right around the corner.

Fancy plating! But a few bites are missing...we dove in so eagerly that I forgot I wanted to take a picture first.

Our last stop was another place we'd read about online, Juliette et Chocolat. (Can you tell how much research involving coffee and sweets we did prior to the trip?) Their menu was full of incredibly decadent chocolatey goodness. I had a trifle with brownie bites, whipped cream, caramel, and a little cup of chocolate sauce I could pour on at will. Zach had a brownie with ice cream and the same sauce. Wow. That's another spot that I have a feeling will get a return visit from us.

Mmmmm

So, overall impressions of Montreal after our first full day? It's a beautiful city where old and new live side by side. The population is quite diverse...it is interesting to hear people of all ethnic backgrounds speaking French around you. There is a large population of young, hipster-ish types. I felt welcome everywhere we went despite our weak language skills; people kindly spoke English to us after an initial French greeting. I like this city!

Boy are we worn out, though. We must have walked four or five miles today, maybe more. I am so glad we splurged on lodgings with an enormous bathtub. I think it's calling my name.

 

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