A Snowy Wednesday in Montreal

Word yesterday was that the storm headed up through the NE of the US was possibly going to dump 5 to 7 inches of snow overnight. It rained. We woke to snow flurries and bare pavement. We had counted on being "snowed-in" being ready to bake and cook all day. 

So instead we lazed about reading until finally the snow started to fall and just simply shouted at us to get off our lazy as&es and go for a walk.  Never ones to ignore shouting snow, we bundled up and went for a walk in Old Montreal.  We poked about a few new stores, escaped a sudden gusty winds by ducking into  Marche Bonsecours, ate yummy crepes with hot chocolate at Creperie St-Paul,  and dawdled in the snow taking pics. 

Now back in front of the fire getting ready to read (the cooking and baking is going to wait until tomorrow) here are a few snowy photos from today's walk.

Place Jacques Cartier, Old Montreal on a Snowy Day

Whimsical Christmas Decoration outside the Ville de Montreal (City Hall)

All Bundled Up

On Rue St Paul in Old Montreal (Dome of Marche Bonsecour in distance)

Rue St Paul (Marche Bonsecours)

Notre Dame Bonsecours

Walking on Rue Notre Dame in front of Ville de Montreal (City Hall) in the snow

Where does the snow go?

I've seen the convoys of snow eating bulldozers with special "spitters" where the bulldozers suck and chew up the snow from the street (or frozen slush as the case may be) and blows it into the back of a large dump truck until the truck is full and another truck takes its place. So where do those trucks go? Well one place is the large former train yard that runs along the 1-20 west of Montreal. We drove past there today on the way home from the airport and saw mountains of snow lined up where there were no mountains before. The dump trucks drive up and then in a reverse action, they dump the snow onto a conveyor belt that takes the snow to some "sucking/spitting" devise that then blow/spits the newly ground up snow and ice up onto big mountains of snow. And then I guess they wait until spring?

A Winter Day in Montreal

We spent a lazy morning in the apartment happily watching the snow fall lightly outside. Lounged around with the fireplace on, dark, rich coffee in our cups, and reading, A hot bath got us moving and a breakfast of shredded wheat and good blueberries stoked the fires. So after a few housekeeping chores we were off for a walk in the snow.

Checked out the newly opened Scandanavian Baths on the first floor of our building. Dry and steam saunas, cold and hot pools, and massages. We plan to try them out while we’re here. Sounds delightful especially on a snowy, grey day. Then we walked (carefully) through the slush, snow, and ice to 157 where we found the little apartment in good shape (and warm thanks to Roland who came in yesterday and turned on heat and water). We tidied and readied the place for Jerry and Carol. It’s really a lovely, cozy place.

Once finished there we walked to the local Dep for a Gazette and then down St. Francois Xavier to St. Jacque and the ATM (or MAC machine as they are called here) at Bank of Montreal (one of my favorite buildings in Montreal). We had an early lunch at our favorite Dim Sum place in Chinatown. La Maison Kam Fung. We arrived at 11:45…not a moment too soon…at around 12:05 I looked up from my plate of ricenoodle shrimp and realized that the very large room was almost completely full…it had been half empty when we walked in! This is one of our favorite places and we never miss going there at least one time on each visit. Excellent dim sum with an emphasis on shrimp, scallop, and port,. Great noodles. Fabulous dumplings. Pleasant wait staff rolling the carts filled with interesting looking goodies. We always play dominoes and have tea and coke. And periodically look out the large windows that line two of the 4 walls…today we looked out at snow as it fell on the street below.

Jerry had noticed an IGA grocery store on the corner at Rene Levesque. We needed some cream cheese and rye crackers to go with the smoked salmon we bought at Costco yesterday. It is a great grocery store…good fruit and vegetables (bought a few figs, kumquats, a quebec apple of some variety, and a few pears). It smelled of fresh croissants. Good selections of coffees and cheeses. And its in walking distance of the apartment.

Then it was home for a nap, reading “My Sister’s Keeper”, and watching the light fade as night comes on. Waiting to leave for airport to pick up Carol and Jerry…whose plane is late. Coming in at 8:40 at Dorval.

Snowy dawn in montreal

Woke to the beepbeepbeep of the little snowplow that comes in the early morning to plow the sidewalks and small alleys. So even before my eyes were open I knew...snow! About 2 inches while it still lightly snows.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Snow in the New Year

We woke to gray skies this morning that quickly turned to snow skies...its snowed all day until early evening. Beautiful big flat flakes. It was about 10 to 15 degrees...brrrr. We went up to the Cotes-Des-Neiges area and ate at our favorite Lebanese restaurant "Kabab" on Cotes-Des-Neiges Ave. They have great salads...very good schwarma...and excellent falafels. Very casual. (Bathrooms could be cleaner...but other than that...no complaints).

Then we went to see the Warhol Live exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts on Sherbrooke. A fascinating exhibit looking at the influence of music and dance ON Andy Warhol and vice versa. Fascinating. My favorite piece was a double portrait of Aretha Franklin. We had hot chocolate in the cafeteria before heading back out into the snow. This is the second exhibit we've seen at the Museum (we saw the retrospective on Emily Carr last year). We've been impressed both times. We've yet to stroll their permanent collection...must put that on the list.!

Here are some pictures of the Old Port and some of the ships moored for winter at the docks.

BRRRRRRRR!!!!!

This morning we woke to a brilliant blue sky and steam coming off the water in the port. Steam? hmmm. Just how cold is it? I took a look at the weather report on my blackberry and it said -2. Jerry said, "that isn't too bad...that's only about 30 degrees (farenheit)". I said, no, it is -2 FARENHEIT...in other words -20 celsius! Yowza. And it was windy...so windchill was -15.

Yesterday was snowing (and warmer...around 28) we got about an inch or so. Very pretty. We went to Les Bouchees Gourmand for brunch...one of the best brunches ever...and certainly the best value ever. Cafe au lait, a fruit plate with cottage cheese and confits, a plate of beet salad and carrot salad...excellent. A simple green salad. Toasty bread and preserves. Foie Gras with a carrot confit which was fantabulous. Then an omelette with onions and gruyere cheese which was more like a mini souffle in a pan. And THEN a banana omelet with crunchy almond bits and a drizzle of chocolate. It was just heaven.

Then it was off to visit Costcos. Two...one we call the "english one" in Pointe Claire and one we call the "french one" in Laval. (There are 12 Costcos in the metropolitan Montreal area...all within 30 miles of one another.) Did some christmas shopping and sampled cheeses, chocolates, and such. It was snowing by the time we left Laval and getting quite cold.

Dinner was early (at 5) and we really weren't hungry yet...but we had reservations at Au Pied du Cuchon on rue Duluth so we definitely didn't miss it. I had the meat loaf topped with foie gras and a side of mashed potatoes, jerry had the bison steak frites, jeff had the (I forget the name) pork, sausage, and potato stew, peg had the tomatoe tartlet (or was that totlet?). excellent glasses by the wine. no dessert...we were just too full.

great day...several pounds heavier!