Chapter 19
Bonjour Montreal! Ooh la la!
After a lovely, fun couple of days, we waved goodbye to rainy Toronto, and were bound for even-rainier Montreal! By this stage it was late September, and it was starting to get very cold. It was a strange trip to pack for, because we went from hot, hot, hot in California, Vegas, and Florida, to freezing cold in Canada!
But anyhoo, because were us, we arrived at the airport way too early. About two hours too early. Hehee. We checked in straight away, and luckily, they offered us an earlier flight to Montreal. Yay! So we only had to wait and hour instead of two. During that hour, I managed to call my sister in Dublin to tell her our exciting news about being engaged! She screamed and was very excited for us, but then I got worried because she was 9 months pregnant and probably shouldnt have been screaming and jumping up and down in excitement. Hehee!
The actual flight was quick and non-eventful. It must have been, because both DF and I remember nothing about it. Hmmm. Or maybe, we had our brains wiped because something wacky happened on the flight. Or maybe, Ive been watching too many X-Files episodes.
And so, we arrived in Montreal! Our first thoughts?! Brrrr, its cold! followed by, Augh! What did he just say? I mean, I knew they spoke French in Montreal, but I never actually considered that people would speak to us in French. It made me giggle. All I can say in French is, Oui! Bonjour! Jmapelle Julie! Ca va? and Merci! and Ooh la la! Youd be surprised how far those phrases can take you.
Id been to Paris a couple of years beforehand, so Im not a complete fool when it comes to speaking French. But during our days in Montreal, I discovered that if you say, Bonjour! confidently to someone, they will reply in a complicated, long French sentence, to which you must shruggishly admit, Sorry, I dont speak French. Im Australian! Then they smile and shrug and turn away. So I never really worked out the best way to approach the situation! Because if you speak in English straight away, and dont even try to speak French, they might get cross. Hehee. Anyway. No wonder this report goes for 91 pages.
So upon arriving in Montreal, we jumped in a cab and he drove us to our gorgeous little hotel in Old Town Montreal. It was called Auberge Bonaparte and it was the cutest hotel ever! Heres our cosy little romantic room
Our room had gorgeous bay windows that you could sit in and watch the world go by! Heres me having a relax in the window
You know what I noticed while looking out that window? Old Town Montreal really does look and feel like Paris! Cobblestone roads, French restaurants, trendy little clothing stores
I loved it! By that stage it was only around 3pm, so we decided to go for an explore. We just wandered around the streets aimlessly really, which was actually a lovely thing to do in Montreal! Nothing seemed too far away, and there were so many great shops to explore.
Heres DF in one of the cute little Montreal streets
During our wanderings, we also discovered a cool pub called Pub St Pauls. We decided to head in and have some afternoon drinks! It was a relaxed, fun pub with big pool tables and lots of different beers on tap, which DF loved. Plus, it was so nice and warm inside, when outside was freezing! Needless to say, we spent quite a bit of time in Pub St Pauls over our three days in Montreal! It was just down the street from our hotel, so whenever we wanted a quick bite or felt like a drink, we knew where to go! It was our local pub!
After our quiet drink, we headed back to our hotel, where we had a little rest and read some tourist brochures, and inevitably, we fell asleep. Whoops! We didnt wake until around 8pm, to the sound of our rumbling tummies. So we freshened up and went in search for somewhere yummy to eat for dinner.
Now, I must admit something. We didnt eat in a French restaurant while in Montreal! Is that really bad!? Neither of us have ever really been fans of French food, so instead we went to a Japanese restaurant just around the corner from our hotel. If I remember correctly, half the menu was in French, and half was in Japanese. Oh-oh!! I ended up with the chicken, which was great, and DF ended up with some raw beef, which wasnt so great. We still chuckle about his raw beef salad. And when I saw raw, I mean raw. It was thinly cut strips of beef, and they were red and still cold. Hehehee. He ate some of it, then hid the rest of the beef under his remaining salad.
So that was our first day in Montreal! So far, so good! The next day we arose nice and early (about 10am hehee!), and bought a ticket for a bus tour around Montreal. Already we felt like we had a good feel for the Old Town part of Montreal, but there was so much more to see! We saw all the touristy sites, like the Notre Dame church which is almost exactly the same as the Notre Dame in Paris. Okay! We also drove out to the Montreal Olympic Stadium which was pretty cool, and visited this old church on the hill, whose name I cannot recall now!
To be honest, the one thing I remember the most about our tour around Montreal is seeing all the outside stairways. Because
huh? Doesnt it get icy and snowy in Montreal? And there were metal steps leading to the top level of nearly every house in Montreal! I know I wouldnt fancy climbing those icy steps after a big night out!
Ooh, and we also visited a lookout to see the sights of Montreal from the top of a mountain. Heres DF, looking enthused about the beautiful view
Hehehee, there really wasnt that much to see, but it was fun anyway. We really werent in Montreal to see all the big sights, because I dont think there are that many! It was just a lovely place to visit, and we enjoyed just pottering around all the little French streets and shops more than anything.
After our tour, we had a poke around more of the shops, and then had a delicious dinner in a Thai restaurant. I just love Thai food, and there just werent many Thai restaurants in America! So yay, Thai food!
The next day
we headed to Quebec City! We had booked a day trip to Quebec City before we left Australia, upon the advice of DFs brother who had recently visited there and adored it. And it really was a fantastic day! We had lots of time to wander around Quebec City and explore, and enjoyed a yummy lunch in an Irish pub. We really had gone international with our choice of food so far Japanese, Thai, and now Irish!
Heres a gorgeous little area in Quebec City
And heres DF having a relax and enjoying the view. I just love this photo! He looks so Parisian! Thats not his bike, he just happened to stand next to it. He didnt know I took this photo he was just deep in thought!
While in Quebec City, we did even more shopping, except there was a problem. Our suitcases were already full to the brim. We seriously couldnt fit another thing in! And so of course, I saw some amazing winter boots that I really, really loved. Isnt that always the way!? They really were so cute, but I just couldnt squeeze them in! Booo!
That night back in Montreal, we continued our international adventures in dining and ate at McDonalds. Heh. We were tired from our big day, so we had an excuse!!
And also, you know what? By that stage in our trip, we were getting a little sick of eating out at restaurants! I know how spoilt and awful that sounds, but we were seriously craving a home-cooked meal! We hadnt cooked for over 6 weeks! Augh! Dont worry, that wore out pretty quickly as soon as we arrived home and had to cook again!
So the next day was our last day in Montreal! Our flight wasnt until 10pm, so we had all day to explore and play. Except really, all we did was shop, and drink at Pub St Pauls! Hehee! We had a big flight ahead of us to Dublin
we had to have a relax beforehand!!
And also, I was really, really excited about seeing my sister and her family. I hadnt seen her in almost a year, since theyd come to visit us in Australia. She and her husband moved to Ireland for his work about 4 years ago, and since then, we've only seen each other a few times! Ireland and Australia are just too far away! We speak about three times a week, so it's okay really. But all day in Montreal, all I really wanted to do was jump on the plane and fly to Ireland already!!
That being said, we loved Montreal. As I said before, it wasnt an action-packed adventure full of amazing sights, but really, we just soaked up the culture and wandered around! And at that stage in our trip, when we were exhausted and worn out, it was perfect. Montreal is so pretty and cosy and the perfect place for a lovely relax! We loved it!
Heres Shamu (the killer whale from SeaWorld) and Pal Mickey waving goodbye from the US and Canada!
Next up
We finally make it to Ireland!! (But only just!)
I've been to D.C., New York, Toronto and Niagara Falls and after reading your reports I can't wait to go back. The Hippo Bus sounds interesting - that must be fairly new. I'll also have to check out the tours you mentioned in New York. We're planning a trip there next year so my dh can visit Yankee Stadium before they move to the new stadium in '08. 
That is so romantic 
Can't wait for the next installment!
I LOVE XFiles and hope they make another movie one day. Well...off to finish reading. 
