The roads around Montreal are a jumbled mess of construction, detours and traffic. I can see why everyone recommends not driving in the city. It takes 2 hours to drive from Brockville; the scenery reminds us of Illinois as do the cloudy gray skies. We are staying at Le Dauphin in Longueuil, which fortunately is across the river from Montreal city center. It is easy to find and has clean and very modern rooms.
Le Dauphin is just a 5-10 min. walk to the Longueuil-Univ. Sherbonne station. The infrastructure in Montreal is older and the subway, though an efficient system, is not as sleek as Toronto. We easily get into Montreal which appears to be about half the size of Toronto. Since it is gusty and chilly, we head for the north part of downtown where 20 miles of underground promenades connect shops, restaurants, museums, theatres. What does that tell you about the weather here? After walking through one short section, we decide it feels too much like walking through a big mall and emerge at the Palace D’arts. Surprise, it is sunny and warm outside! There is an exhibit of big chess boards and games are being played.
We walk and walk and walk, through Chinatown, into the old town, through plazas with street musicians and lined with restaurants.
We stop for a simple early dinner at Modavie where tables are still available at 5. She says we must be out by 7! I guess we Americans don’t spend enough time lingering over dinner.
In our strolls, we come upon an Exposition of the World Press Photography Competition. These are the winners of the annual competition of press photographers, powerful images, some difficult to look at but a reminder of the hardships and tragedies we have seen on the news and that people endure – at the border, in Mexico, Honduras, Afghanistan etc.
The streets and plazas are quite lively this saturday night and as we head back, groups of young people are just starting their evening of fun.