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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