Dan and Janet keep finding these amazing flight deals the first week of April.
This was their third trip to visit us and boy did we have fun! They flew in on a Friday morning early.
They rested for a little bit while our kids finished school and then we headed straight up to Montreal Canada for the weekend!
We stopped at Ben and Jerry's on the way for a cone and tour of the Flavor Graveyard
We were lucky that as of April 1st, no COVID tests were needed, unless you just turned 5 and have had your COVID shots, but not 14 days ago.....then you might be stopped at the border since you are over 5 and not considered "fully vaccinated"....so we got a PCR that morning for Ollie, just in case.
Our hotel in Montreal was nice and roomy, and very very close to the Old Port. It was a little run down, well priced, and just what we needed.
We were also right across from Chinatown.....yum!
Felt like being in Europe on St Paul Street. Cobblestone and pretty shops.
It was colder out by the port than up by our hotel and were were all a little underdressed, unfortunately.
But the shops were nice to pop into and warm up.
This was the "Sailors Church" They had ships hanging from the ceiling that were gifts from sailors who believed that Mary protected them at sea.
This was an indoor mall of sorts with only arts and crafts for sale.
This was a table made out of an old door.
We had gourmet Crepes for lunch! They were delicious and filling!
We took the Metro to Mont Royal as a recommendation from the Visitor's Center.
(A maple sugar shack)
Beautiful views of the city from Mont Royal
It was an easy metro and bus ride up, and a beautiful walk down the back side of the mountain....really cool trail! However, the walk back to the hotel felt pretty long!
We got a great tour of the city that way though and were lucky to have our friends the Wendt's tell us all about the University and town. They even showed us the hotel where John Lennon and Yoko-ono stayed for their famous album.
Dennis is a professor at McGill University in Psychology and Candice is a coordinator at the Office of religious and spiritual life. They have such an interesting life in Montreal, learning and teaching so much as expats. And their children speak such beautiful French!
Some historic foundations in the cafe on Mont Royal
Janet walking the street in Montreal
Our big splurge was to go to the light show at the Notre Dame Basilica. It was really cool! They lit up the whole church with very interesting lights. Sometimes it looked like Spring and sometimes it looked like a rainstorm outside. The windows were made to look invisible, and then like cherry blossoms, and then like thunder....it was really fun!
After the show we had dumplings in Chinatown
Aaron, Ollie and I ran to see if we could view the 30 minute outdoor Movie that they project on this building in Champ-de-Mars. We saw some of it, but we couldn't hear any sound and it was freezing, so we ran back to the hotel and ended up arriving the same time as everyone else.
The city has these projections on the buildings all over the old city actually. You can walk from one to the other, but this one is the longest and gives an overview of the whole story of Montreal, supposedly.
We got a better and much warmer movie at the Museum the next day anyway, so it all worked out.
Our last day in Montreal, we got bakery treats after breakfast at this cafe in Chinatown, and then headed to Old Port. The streets are very charming by Old Port.
Across from the Pointe-A-Calliere museum is a building you can climb up to and see a decent view of the port and city.
Pointe-A-Calliere is a fantastic Museum
They have ruins from the early city preserved in the basement and lights projecting on the artifacts to tell you what everything is. Very modern and interactive.
This was to show how the city might have looked above the sewer where we were standing.
Moving Projections.
Inside the sewer! I felt like I was in a clean version of Les Miserables
A neat video telling the story of why there is a cross on Mont Royal
Here are further archeological sites underfoot
They also had a fun pirate ship display where the kids could play
We stuck around for the 20 minute movie and it was WELL worth it!
After the museum, we had Poutine at a restaurant off St. Paul, and it was delicious!
We got 4 different kinds and they were all yummy!
One our way out of Montreal, we stopped at a local grocery and picked up lots of Canadian candy, and treats. Aaron ordered something from the bakery in French, his big goal. The kids thought it was really interesting that they sold milk in bags.
We found a nearby park to eat all our delicacies before crossing the border.
Canada! You were fun - we'll be back!
