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.

 

Posted with Blogsy