More Montreal

Rainy Day and Good Food

We are home from Montreal and missing it already. We had a lovely last couple of days. Wednesday we slept in listening to the morning rain outside the windows. Craving our dim sum fix from Maison Kam Fung...we got out the umbrella and walked up to Chinatown for an early lunch. (hint...get there by BEFORE noon if you don't want to wait for a table). As always it was just fabulous....I wish I knew the names of everything we eat...maybe next time I'll take pictures.Everything is so fresh and the flavors so fabulous.

Then it was time for a long, long walk (we ate a lot of dim sum). Found a lovely small park we'd never seen before...small and tucked into the downtown near ST. Patrick's Basilica (the first English speaking Catholic Church built in the mid 1850s to serve the exploding Irish population that was streaming into Montreal escaping the famines in Ireland). It's on rue gaucheterie and is designed around the foundations of an old building formerly the Father Dowd Memorial Home which was used for over 150 years as a home for the aged, infirm, homeless. A little oasis at the foot of St. Patrick's.

In the afternoon we stopped in at Le Baldaquin, a wondeful boutique located on Rue de La Commune on the ground floor of our building. The owners also live in our building. Collette has a wonderful collections of bed, bath, table and baby linens, hand-made beds, accent pieces, throws, pillows, towels, robes, home fragrances, candles and spa products. We bought the cutest baby things for a friend. check out their store http://www.lebaldaquinmontreal.com/

We ate at Holders, one of our old standbys on McGill. Jerry had the mussels, I had a salad and the asparagus soup. very good. Took a long walk through Old Montreal until it started to rain and we ran in from the rain.

The Sun Came Out and We Visit Another Park

In our quest to sample and savor the Parks of Montreal we visited yet another gem - Park des Rapides. It is a wonderful nature park located along the Lachine Rapids. There are ponds (left over from when the site was a hydroelectric power facility, walking paths, birding, views, fabulous gardens...and did I mention the views. It is a wildlife sanctuary for birds in particular the great blue heron. It was a lovely afternoon with a strong breeze and fabulous temperatures. For more info: http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=4338,5683676&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Here are some pictures of a lovely spot in Montreal:

And eating...

Yes we did that too...lunch (before the park) at Bombay Mahal - a little hole in the wall on Jean Talon near L'Acadie Blvd. FABULOUS dosas...great lunch specials...really divine mango chutney. Dinner was at Le Souper on McGill...its been open about a year but its our first visit. A busy bistro with big windows, warm colors, retro light fixture. We shared a delicious flank steak and I had one of my favorite things...roasted beet salad. I first had roasted beets at a restaurant in Yountville, CA years ago on a trip to the wine country with my friend Dana...i've tried to find a salad as good as that one for years. The one at Le Souper comes pretty darn close. Very fresh tasting.

More Rain, the Olympics, and Boris Bistro's Strawberries and Marscapone.

Rain returned on Friday giving us incentive to stay in and pack and clean up the apartment. We rose early at 7AM to watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics live...in Canada they are broadcasting a lot more of the Olympics live than here in the US...go figure. Later I read that they broadcast the opening ceremonies on a big outdoor screen in Montreal's Chinatown and there was a huge gathering there of Chinese (including a dancing dragon)...that would have been fun to go too...however, staying in my pjs and eating breakfast on the sofa was pretty good too.

After a quiet day around the apartment we ventured out umbrella in hand to wander the streets and ended up for an early dinner at Boris Bistro (on McGill). We ate outside under an awning (although it had been raining it wasn't cold). We laughed because they had these big pots of flowering bushes - oleanders. For anyone whose ever spent much time in California, oleanders always conjures up California freeway plantings because they are so ubiquitous there. But I suspect in Quebec where they must be treated as annuals or hot house flowers they are considerably more exotic!

Dinner was good...we shared a steak which was delicious. But the BEST thing was my Friday treat...dessert...the strawberries with marscapone cheese and a drizzle of balsamic syrup...oh my gosh...I could have licked the plate if I was at home alone! I will be back for that dessert!!!!