Montreal

We made our way out of Quebec City early in the morning and made the quiet drive to Montreal. There isn’t much between these two major cities. We did find a brand new Starbucks serving breakfast so we felt like true locals. HA! Montreal itself is a major city with major city traffic.

We eventually made it to our hotel, parked the car and agreed to not drive again until we were leaving town. The entire city seems to be under construction so walking was just easier. We got settled in our new room (which was quite nice in a high-rise Holiday Inn) then headed out to see the sights. 

The French Poodle

The English pug

I loved this piece of public art called, "THE ENGLISH PUG AND THE FRENCH POODLE." 

The inspiration for this work comes from the Commedia dell’arte and Two Solitudesfrom novelist Hugh MacLennan; these two snobs set up an ironically touching scene of the cultural distance between English and French Canadians.

A dashing looking English man, holding his pug, gives a superior stare at Notre-Dame Basilica, symbol of the religious influence on French Canadians. Feet away to the northern corner of the building, a woman in Chanel style suit, poodle against her, shoots an offended look to the Bank of Montreal’s head office, built in 1845-1847 and symbol of English power. With their masters oblivious to each other, the two dogs on the alert already sniffed out the opportunity to unite.

Notre-Dame Basilica

The altar was STUNNING.

The ornate staircases were amazing

This was simply stunning. I have no other words.

The pipe organs in the back of the church

Montreal was known for its own Notre Dame so we went that way. WHOA. This was one of the more gorgeous churches I’d ever seen and this girl makes folks visit churches with her all over the world! 

Their municipal building was even lovely

DIPPED CONES!

It was a gorgeous day so we wandered around the old town, got some more of region’s famous dipped ice cream (SO GOOD) and then decided to take a little break before our evening plans. Jackson’s favorite restaurant is called “The Keg” and there are tons of locations in Canada so we made reservations at one of Montreal’s locations. We walked there, enjoyed an incredible dinner and then saw another cathedral that had not even been on my list. What an exciting find!

Petefish.
Looking at boats. Always.

Jackson enjoying his dessert at The Keg

I thought this was a government building and it turned
out to be a magnificent church!

Isn't this a lovely aisle?

The dome was just amazing

Check out that light peeking in!

We wandered through the shopping district and just took in all of the people watching. This was like a very miniature NYC. We got back to our hotel and went to its spa area before calling it a night.