The Ships are In!

We arrived in Old Montreal about 5:30 (after a very easy 9 hour drive including potty stops, Subway sandwich stop, and a quickie run into a Costco for chicken and bread). It is mild here...above freezing. There is evidence of recent snow, slush, and ice but not much (at least in the city). It is VERY windy however. It got REALLY windy north of Saratoga, NY. We had to play dodge'em carts with the Costco Shopping carts in the parking lot...we had to figure out where we could park with cars blocking the wind (and the carts flying across the parking lot). We have the fireplace on and are reading and blogging. Think this will be an early night. Tomorrow...we play!

The "winter ships" are docked in Old Montreal. They are always gone in the summer and when we were here in early December that weren't back in port...it looked so forlorn. I was happy to see them. We look out our windows at them and they provide color and interest in the gray and white days of winter. They are Great Lake bulk carriers designed to carry large loads while still being able to navigate through the locks in the St. Lawrence Seaway. They carry loads to and from the Great Lakes...hence their nickname...Lakers.

(photos courtesy of industry websites)

Rain Stopped, We Rose in Search of Food

What a great evening after a dreary day. Due to rain and wind, we decided to forgo participating in the Grand Masquerade Parade (more on this later) instead opting for dinner somewhere cozy. We headed out to the Notre Dame West area we explored the other afternoon. In a single block area (the 2500 block) there are 4 restaurants: Joe Beef, Liverpool (with as yet no sign...but no table either...they were booked for the evening...so who needs a sign?), Limon (a Mexican restaurant) and La Toulousaine "maison du Cassoulet" (house of the cassoulet). Joe Beef and Liverpool were booked so we opted for la Toulousain and lucked out. A cozy place that reminded us of little neighborhood bistros in Paris. Annette had the house speciality cassoulet (du Languedoc). A cassoulet is a long-cooked stew (about 10 hours) made with white beans and in this case duck, pork, garlic sausage and a sausage from the Laguedoc region. It was EXCELLENT. Annette can't wait to come back on a cold, snowy day and enjoy that dish again. Jerry had bavette du boeuf (steak that we think was pan fried/braised with a shallot/burgundy wine reduction). As Jerry said he likes a restaurant where they actually cook not just heat the meat up! After dinner we headed back to Old Montreal for some gelati from our favorite (outside of Italy) gelati store...Les Delices de L'erable (maple delicacies, it's other offering are desserts made from maple syrup and maple syrup, naturally). We were expecting more people in Costumes as the Grand Masquerade was supposed to be on...well it turned out it had been rain delayed (so a good thing we went to eat!). We walked a few blocks and found the parade
just starting.



AND we are talking a wonderfully BIZARRO parade...creepy costumes...choreographed zombies of all sorts. i think my dalmatian coat costume would have looked as dorky as this fellow in the scooby doo outfit at the end of the parade.

Most were a bit more ghoulish:

Masquerade Weekend in Old Montreal

Give the Montrealers a reason to celebrate and they will! Halloween is coming up and the weekend before Halloween is Masquerade in Old Montreal. 3 days and 2 nights of festivities crossing all age barriers. Tonight was centered on Place Jacques Cartier and along the water. Fireworks (twice at 7 and 9), eerie music and drums, costumes of all sorts (lots of pirates this year). Befitting the birthplace and home of Cirque de Soleil many costumes were fantabulous. There were cauldrons bubbling, a haunted "warehouse", people selling lighted, flashing devils horns (we couldn't pass those up!!!), even a woman dressed as a Harry Potter wizard with a live snow owl (she was in a show and tell area). Wait until the report for tomorrow night when they have the grand masquerade parade (and jerry and I are going to join in)!!!