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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