Tuesday 20th June – Montreal City

This morning we debated the best way to get into the city for so long that we were then left with only enough time to get a taxi!  The bonus was that our driver was also a Montreal tour guide so we soaked up as much information as possible whilst sat in traffic heading into the City.

We had arranged to meet the Newmans at Notre-Dame Basilica at noon.  When we arrived, Ann was touring the inside of the cathedral so we took the opportunity to get some shots of the square outside.  This included two statues representing the cultural distance between English and French Canadians – the British male, with his pug, turning his nose up to the Basilica, symbol of the religious influence on French Canadians and on the opposite corner the French woman, with her poodle, shooting an offended look towards the Bank of Montreal’s head office, symbol of English power.  The dogs, however, are reaching out to each other, already aware of the opportunity to unite:

Notre Dame Basilica

City Hall

There was no specific plan to the rest of the day, we aimed to explore the old fort area on foot.  We strolled around stopping regularly to admire some stunning buildings or for shopping opportunities for the folks back home…. And ourselves as it turned out!

Chateau Ramezay - built in 1705 for the Governor of Montreal

 

 

 

Pause from shopping to share a bagel or two.....

We made sure to take plenty of refreshment breaks for coffee, bagels and eventually managed to make a decision on where to have dinner out which Ann and Ray kindly treated us to as our anniversary gift.

Always time to stop for a chat and a gossip....

We usually like to sample the local brews... but this was a reminder of our time in Vancouver with the Baileys when we visited Granville Island for our Orca watching trip

Cheers!  Simon and Ray sampled the local poutine.

The cool shades were not optional....

In return, we invited them to try a new experience – a 3D Imax film at the Science centre about whales. 

I would be happy watching any wildlife documentary anywhere, but beautiful larger-than-life whales in 3D accompanied by the dulcet tones of Ewan McGregor?  Sign me up!

It had been a mostly sunny day with the odd shower about but when we emerged from the Imax cinema there were some impressive storm clouds looming with forks of lightning making the entire cloud-column glow.   

I was a little slow on my camera trigger finger to catch the exact moment….  A sure sign that it was a good time to call it a night.

We ordered an Uber which dropped the in-laws off at their hotel before driving us on to our site for about 10pm.  Didn’t want to party too late before adventure Wednesday…..