Montreal...

          July 3 - 14, 2023

And yes, despite the current, we made it to Montreal.  We stayed at Port E'scale Vieux, also known as Old Port Montreal.  You can see the haze as we approached the effects of the smoke in the air.  Interestingly, the Molson facility has been there in that same area since 1784.  The operations are no longer there even though the building still stands.

Judy and Gary arrived the same day as well and met us for dinner.  They stayed at a complex about 20 minutes walking called Griffintown.  The first week we were here was the end of the Montreal Jazz Festival and the beginning of the Montreal Completement Circus Festival (Montreal is where cirque de soleil started in 1980).  There are many jazz programs outside at night not requiring tickets and the same for the performers with the circus festival. 

While walking, we found a gymnastics performance on a structure called The Giant 

Also we were fortunate that even more so than in the smaller towns where we have been, the people are more fluent in English.  Usually the people will say English a little and I quickly say, I bet your English is much better than our French, that usually gets them to crack a smile or laugh!
The four of us chose to do a bus tour throughout Montreal on our first full day.  The city is quite large and we were told Montreal was 8 times larger than Manhattan.  We drove to see where the 1976 Olympics were and went to Mount Royal Park high above the city. You can continue to appreciate the smoke in the air! 

Montreal was founded in 1642 by the French Huguenots led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve(what a name).  The Sulpician priests that have been here since 1650 own all the land on which the Notre Dame Cathedral stands, the guide said they are known as the Lords of Montreal.  There are also places for this group to live in retirement next to the cathedral although their numbers are quickly dwindling.  The current cathedral was built from 1824-9 by a Protestant American architect named James O'Donnell.  The people on the outside are (L to R) St Joseph who represents Canada, the Virgin Mary representing Montreal, and St John Baptiste who represents the province of Quebec and its people.  The inside is absolutely beautiful and so colorful.  The pastor at the time it was built asked for the inside to be designed similar to the Sainte Chapelle in Paris.  While the building was completed, the interior was not completed until 1840.  The wooden statue of Christ seen here is from the original Notre Dame Cathedral in 1683.

 

In addition to this church, we went into several others but seemed like there was a Catholic Church about every 2-3 blocks.  We enjoyed the Bon Secour Chapel which is the church nearest the water where sailors would go to thank God for their safe passage.  The lights hung down from the ceiling and were in the shape of a boat.  I also learned that American soldiers came into Montreal trying to convince the French to become apart of America and help fight against Britain.  The Quebec leadership decided not to go with the  colonists.  Britain assured those in Quebec that if they turned away from the Americans, they would allow them to maintain their lifestyle including their French language.  In 1977, there was a decision made with the public schools, if you were not English, in Quebec, you were made to attend French schools.  You may take English as a second language but it would be a French school.
The city of Montreal's coat of arms pertains to the multiple communities living in harmony.  This includes the English(rose), French(flour-de-lys), Irish(shamrock), Scottish(thistle), and the most recently added Indigenous(pine tree) people.

Between walking or riding the subway, we have been able to experience not just old town but Little Italy, Chinatown, the financial district, the shopping district, and the art district.
We had great food of all types of ethnicity (Ristorante Lucca- Little Italy; Kim Fung Dim Sum- Chinatown; Le Petit Sao-Vietnamese; Garde Manger-Seafood; Keg & Steak-Old Port)  One of Montreal famous food items is something called Poutine!  It is french fires with gravy poured over it and scattered cheese curds.  It is pretty good and we only had it once!  Other special Montreal foods are smoked meats(I'm not eating that) and Montreal bagels(they are really good)!  The bagels are thinner, not as dense, and have a bigger hole.  I walked 5 miles round trip to go to St Viatour Bagels.  It has been here since 1959!  Our favorite place visited FREQUENTLY was mlle catherine.  This was ice cream, next door to Ben and Jerry's and we much preferred hers!!!

                                      

After our Montreal bus tour, there was a terrible storm and we ran into Dunn's one of the famous smoked meat places in Montreal that has been around since 1927.  I did not eat the smoked meats. But we did have the poutine.

Across from our boat are parked wave runners.  This Mama duck has found a place to keep her babies cool.  The heat AND humidity is really quite shocking this far north.

Montreal is a wonderful town for public art.  I was able to walk many places through the city and saw great art for everyone to enjoy.  I am sure I missed many other items throughout the city. 

        

  

Some of the different things I saw in Montreal included:

Apartments and condo are advertised as the number of rooms in the unit.  You would see ads like this.   1/2room, we were told pertains to bathroom, not sure what happens if you have more than 1 bathroom?

                                                                  We saw this on Contraceour but didn't think anything of it until we saw it again here.  Something called a "dry" beach.  Areas with sand and chairs above the river.  No access to the water.

In older buildings, you would see walkways to a unit on the 2nd floor with metal walkways angled to the side of the building.  I would not think this would be a good idea in winter.

While we certainly enjoyed ourselves in Montreal, we probably could have enjoyed it more had we not both gotten COVID.  We are better now but my effort to deal with the Canadian health system for Danny was very entertaining.  I had COVID first and suffered through it.  Danny then followed but wanted meds.  We found a telehealth group in Montreal and the doctor was very nice and asked Danny a multitude of questions.  He explained to Danny, he would give him a prescription for the Paxlovid, but he really did not qualify for the medication due to not being high risk.  Danny said ok and the doctor found a pharmacy close to the boat.  The doctor told us, the prescription would be about 1000 dollars because there was no longer the emergency authorization in the US and for non qualified patients in Canada.  Danny contemplated renting a car and driving to the US, but I looked at him like he was crazy!  So the pharmacist calls Danny on the phone and asks him additional questions while he is on speaker so I can listen.  The pharmacist quickly tells Danny he doesn't qualify and refuses to fill the prescription.  Danny said if I am willing to pay for it, why should you refuse since the doctor called it in for me.  The pharmacist was very quick to point out because he was taking the medications from someone who qualified(which is what the pharmacist should have said).  That was the end of that and Danny survived COVID.  Just another experience on The Great Loop!
During our stay in Montreal we had a very big yacht at our marina.  You can see it below in front of the fireworks, Vive La Vie(look at the description on superyachtfan.com for the description LOL).
While the picture above was when we came in with smoke, above is a picture without the smoke as we left Montreal.

From our boat for Thursday night fireworks!

35 Locks 
18 Bridges Open

TOTAL MILES TRAVELLED 3673.2

TOTAL DAYS 245