At Mary W's B & B, we awoke to fresh fruit and croissants but the best was yet to come. Today Mary gave us a personal car tour of her adopted city as an included part of the stay at her B&B.
During our drive, Mary pointed out pocket parks, southern style houses with "New Orleans" verandas, old English Manor houses and row after row of real "Grey Ladies". Grey Ladies, Donald informed me is the house style of the late nineteenth century, which is the equivalent of the same era "Brownstones" in Brooklyn, except of course, they are grey in color. As we toured the lesser-known areas of Montreal, like Westmont, Snowdon and Little Italy we learned just why people would want to live here and where they would shop.
Mary took us on a journey though the tourist stops and the not so well known treasures of Montreal, all the while sharing the history of the city and the tale of her own journey leading her here. Sometimes when traveling the people you encounter are just as fascinating as the place you've come to see- sometimes more so. Mary is a "New Yawker" from Canarsie Brooklyn, who in 1972 must have been something of a free spirited rebel, marching to a drum that she made herself. She has traveled to exotic places and situations that would turn a mother's hair grey. But she like most women in the 1970s was trying to "find herself" and soon found herself in Montreal, a city she fell in love with. She claims her story is not one of a passionate love story, which brought her here, but yet, it is a love story with life, freedom and the artistic expression Montreal represented to her.
So with Mary taking us by the hand (sometimes literally), we stopped at points of interest, one being the Oratory of St. Joseph. This is a very large church, up a very large hill, filled with very large statues. The steps leading to the top, number over 100 and some pilgrims going to the church to pray, climb them on their knees.
I am always impressed with the magnificent details in the churches of this era, the devotion of those who planned and built them and the sense of reverence that permeates the walls. Don had visited the Oratory many years previous with a youth group and always mentioned seeing Brother Andre's heart on display. Brother Andre was a holy man in the church instrumental in having the church built. I always remembered hearing the story and how the kids were so curious to see Brother Andre's heart. I thought it sounded a little odd, but now I too found myself curious and didn't want to leave until I saw Brother Andre's heart, which is on display on a lower level.
As we were leaving the church a service was to begin and we witnessed a processional of priests and altar servers reminiscent of the Latin Masses of years gone by, except that this time the singing was in French. With long flowing robes, scrubbed-faced young men carried candles in a ceremony that harkened back to years gone by.
"Almost lunch time!" Don announced. Mary told us she had a treat planned for us. She took us to Schwartz's, a Jewish style deli in Montreal since 1930 which specializes in "smoked meat", which to Don and I tasted a lot like corned beef with no salt. It was served on a platter with a stack of fresh rye bread and side dishes of Cole slaw, pickles and French fries. Never did I think I would be eating a "Brooklyn Style" deli-meal in Montreal. Our plates looked licked-clean. The place was extremely crowded and "no-frills", as you share the table with strangers. Mary had said it was popular but I was surprised when I saw the long line of about 20 people waiting for our seats.
Mary whisked us off since our tour was not complete until she took us to Little Italy to buy a cream puff and a Cannoli in a little Mom and Pop bakery.
Even though we were stuffed, we still wanted to cover more ground, so Mary dropped us off at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. What started off as a 1-hour tour ended up to be a five-hour ride.
The Montreal Botanical Garden is a city oasis of trees, flowers, plants and insects. Yes, insects. In the garden is the "The Insectarium", a home to a display and zoo of literally thousands of insects. I enjoyed the beautiful butterflies, but the cockroaches or spider displays did not make me feel too comfortable. My natural inclination towards bugs is to still say, "Oh gross." My interest in Beetles is only for the ones named John, Paul, George and Ringo.
The rest of the park is a peaceful retreat housing over 30 individual themed gardens. The Chinese Gardens were decorated with hundreds of multi-colored traditional lanterns, that I'm certain are even more beautiful when lit. From there we took a free shuttle bus across the street to the Olympic Park where there is a cable car ride up an inclined tower giving a 360 degree view of the city of Montreal. At the base is the Olympic stadium, now a Sports Center and the Biodome. Olympic Park was built for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games and is widely utilized today.
The Biodome houses four natural setting ecosystems- tropical, forest, sea and Antarctic, creating an environmental museum. Entering the tropical area you are immediately struck by the humidity, as iguanas climb the trees. Going into the forest display, you feel a brush of cool air, as you watch the Canadian Lynx walk back and forth in their natural setting. The area dedicated to the St. Lawrence Marine environment holds huge tanks of sea life leading you to the colder Artic area teaming with both puffins and penguins.
Once again we hopped on the Metro and headed back to the popular Saint Catherine Street. Let me add that the Metro is comfortable, clean and had a very safe feel to it. We looked for a restaurant for dinner and settled on "Reuben's". It must be the Brooklyn in us, but here we are in another deli. This one is only a quarter century old and recommended to us was their New York steak sandwich, which was delicious. The steak was not sliced as I expected but a whole steak.
Saint Catherine Street felt like Times Square. Surprisingly for a Sunday evening, it was filled with people walking, window-shopping and heading for an evening in one of the many restaurants, clubs or bars.
We must have walked for two miles; Montreal is a large city, before we collapsed in Mary W's B & B. We spent two days here in Montreal and there's more to see. The best things about this city are its French ambiance, the multitude and variety of restaurants, the beautiful scenery and for us the quick trip up from New York.
Part 1
Part 2
