October 16 – Montreal

We woke to sunny weather so we have hopes for good sightseeing and a fun time in Montreal.  After breakfast we all met in the lobby and headed out on foot across the street and a small plaza to the Basilica of Notre-Dame.  Paul and I have seen it before but it is new to Jim and Phyllis.  However, it is a pretty little gem so we all very much enjoyed our visit.

We then walked across the plaza...

to the Bank of Montreal…which was also a find.  The interior was very grand.  Jim decided we should move our bank accounts here just so we have an excuse to visit.

We then found the Hop-on/Hop-off bus stop for our tour of the city.  Some art at the plaza where our bus stopped.

That is when things went less then well.  While it is sunny out it is pretty cold.  We had a bit of a wait to get on board but it finally showed up and we were able to find seats inside – again, because it was really cold.  We didn’t even make it to the next stop when the bus broke down climbing a hill.  We decided to wait for the next bus, about 15 minutes.  However, it was full downstairs so we all trudged to the top.  After stop #2 Jim came up to us and said that Phyllis was freezing and that they would get off at the next stop.  

By then we were also freezing so we decided to join them.  It just so happened that the bus made a loop and the next stop was our original stop.  How convenient.

We all headed back to the hotel for warmth and the addition of several additional layers of clothing.  We got recommendations for a restaurant a couple blocks away and headed out for lunch.  The restaurant was in a very old building with thick stone walls.  The food was good though they were a bit slow bringing it out.

By then the sun was out in full force and the buildings blocked the wind so we decided to walk through old town.  

Some of the shops were gearing up for Halloween.  

Mary and Phyllis both bought new winter hats (toques) and we walked only a bit before heading back to the hotel.  On the way we stopped at a small coffee shop and ordered hot chocolate.  It turned out to be very good hot chocolate.  Then it was back to the hotel to thaw out and rest from our “exertions”.

Dinner that night was at a nearby restaurant.  Good food, nothing too special.

After getting back to the hotel Mary worked on her camera for a while, found the “live bulb” option (finally, after searching for it off and on and failing to find it since Thailand two years ago).  So she grabbed her camera and tripod and went down to the plaza in front of the Notre Dame Basilica and tried her hand at nighttime photography.  She managed a few very good pictures.