Bienvenue Montreal
Trip Start
May 04, 2009
1
6
Trip End
May 13, 2009
Where I stayed
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
We arrived to beautiful balmy weather. All the signs in the airport are bilingual. Once out of the airport they are mostly French. I can pick out a lot of what is written however I seem to want to respond with si instead of oui.
At the airport in San Francisco we were standing in line and the businessman in front of us dropped his passport and Marty picked it up and handed it to him. We later saw him on the plane and it turned out he was at the same hotel. We ran into Bill again in the hotel lobby. We wanted to go or a walk and he invited us out for drinks. So the three of us, map in hand hit the streets.
Bill had been to Montreal and directed us to the old section of downtown by the river and beautiful old buildings. He filled us in on history of the area as we walked through the cobble stone streets.
The first building Bill took us had been a stable. I figured it out by the layout of the courtyard and the hay pulleys, left of nostalgic effect. Bill ran inside the restaurant and confirmed it had been for the nunnery that had been nearby. Then I had my first horse sighting. Happiness. Click on the title of Marty in the Courtyard for the story of the Youville stables.
The weather was beautiful and the streets were filled with people strolling and biking along the waterfront. Bill took us to the old town square and tourist area and we wandered the streets until we found a outdoor café were we order French onion soup, Quebec mussels and Canadian beer. Sorry, George, I don't remember the name but I will do better next time. By the end of dinner I could remember to say oui and merci.
