Week 3 - Enjoying the Condo and Montreal

Rooftop toast to the moon rising above Pont Jacques-Cartier

A lovely balmy evening, we began the 3rd week by making sandwiches and taking some bottles of beer to the rooftop of the condo to plan the next few days.



Walking Rue St. Paul

 We take the bus to the Old Port and Old Montreal.  We find great old buildings, the rushing St. Lawrence River and the blue and yellow tents of Cirque du Soleil.  The weather is warm and sticky, but the breeze off the river is lovely.  After seeing what is there, we plan to return with tickets for the Cirque and for a Friday light show at the Notre Dame Basillica.  And this is just the beginning of all that there is to see and do in this city.



Another day, for a long walk/exploration, we ramble through the neighborhoods going east with our final destination being the Olympic Park and Maisonneuve.  A 3 mile trek on Rue Sherbrooke walking by streets of brick streethouses and shade trees on the way to the Park.  The Olympic Park is full of interesting buildings: the Biodome, the Ski-jump tower, olympic swimming pool, the soccor field, the sports arena, and . . . the multiplex movie theater.  Maisonneuve is a lovely park with the Insectarium and Botanical Gardens.  Walking back on Rue Rachel, we find the large grocery shopping stores - Loblaws and Provigo and use them for cooling off on the hot 3 mile walk back home.



There are Flamingos?
It's a must destination.



Olympic Park














Father's Day rolls around - John asks, "What are you going to do for me for Father's Day?"  I reply, "You are not my father!"


Yum, poutine and beer

I do feel a little sorry for him, so I use it as an excuse to find the best place to have poutine.  According to Ian, the condo owner, La Banquise Resto is the place to go for poutine.  It's just on the other side of Parc La Fontaine, so we walk through the park for poutine.  Mmmm - french fries covered with gravy and cheese curds - I loved it, John was not impressed.  I'll go back again without John.



The best thing this week was the discovery of the public pool on Rachel and Fullum - Piscine Fullum - Only 2 blocks away.  A huge L shaped pool with the lap swimming and diving on the short leg of the L.  The rest of the pool is divided in 1/2 for whatever.  It's outside, has a little bit of grass area with chairs and picnic tables, and a large children's pool.  It's very well kept and a beautiful place to swim!  I plan to go as much as I can, especially with this kind of weather, which is only going to get warmer.

We are feeling like this is a good place for research, rest and relaxation. We are planning more adventures for the next few weeks here in Montreal for there is so much more to see and do.