M:
Since it is clear that I am on a campaign to point out the silliness that surrounds some of VIA's organisation, I guess I should explain the picture. This morning, Anne and I decided we would head over to the newer part of the city, but on the way to check out a few things at Gare Central - like how early did we REALLY have to check in, and would we be able to get breakfast - the questions we didn't ask in Toronto. Logically one would go to the assistance desk. So we followed the arrow to be faced with the scene in the photo. Problem 1 - to get to the Assistance office you were supposed to go in the exit. That didn't faze me. I did. Then, despite the fact that there was someone in the little glass fishbowl, the sign very clearly said FERME. Anne, meantime went straight to the ticket office and got the answers. Get there 20 minutes before departure. There's a girl who understands the system! (A: And just as I lined up, a large number of people with all their baggage did so behind me- lucky!)
We wanted to have a look at McGill and the central city, so we just ambled on up Rue University and followed our noses. The campus was surrounded by striking admin staff - whose pensions were in danger. It is a rather grand old dame, with lots of rather drear looking buildings in a grey stone - all the drearer in a day that was doing its best to depress. One interesting note was that good old James (McGill - the benefactor) was described on his monument as coming from Glasgow, North Britain. That's like describing Melbourne as North Tasmania! I can't imagine old Jim would be too pleased either >-(

One of the things we have been discussing is whether there are more people begging on the streets here in Canada than in Australia, or whether we are simply noticing them more. They don't get in your face. They simply stand, or sit, on the sidewalk with either a paper coffee cup or their baseball hat in hand, and sometimes a sign with a message - either pleading or encouraging - the "Have a nice day" kind. We've also seen quite a few people wandering around who seem to have a mental illness - the kind that causes them to talk to themselves, and call out. We may not have had a fair sample, but I find it interesting that the language of choice for swearing among the afflicted in this francophone town is English. Must be something deeply satisfying about those old Saxon words?

Montreal strikes me as a city full of confidence in itself. None of its major churches stop at half measures. You have heard all about the Sailors Chapel and Notre Dame. There is a one third scale replica of St Peter's in Rome called the Oratory of St Joseph. On Mt Royal it is "quite the building". As the churches seem to reach for the heavens, the financial institutions (the target of the current "Occupy Montreal" campaign), particularly the older ones, send messages of permanence . They are solid, powerful looking edifices. The Bank of Montreal sends the message through its echoes of Greek temples ( a different kind of god, I guess) while the Sun Life building attempts to impress by its sheer scale - which must have been extraordinary when it was built.
With the weather getting worse and worse, and having had our fill of museums yesterday, a bus tour of town was looking good - particularly as it would get us up to Mt Royal. As we lined up to get on the bus the rain came, went, poured, and then tried to get serious as hail - but not as we know it. Tiny little things. Actually better than the rain as you didn't get so wet.

A:

Our guide was Denis and he chatted to us as he drove, alternating between English and French with the ease we have become quite used to. (I have barely had a go myself and the one time I thought I had the question well prepared in French at the hotel this morning, the woman responded in English without blinking an eye- so much for that, then!) The less said about the woman at the back of the bus speaking very loudly on her cell about work, at the same time as Denis, the better....hmm... Apart from this the tour was enjoyable with a few stops to explore.We drove through the old town but we had seen plenty of that already such as the Notre Dame Basilica. We had our first stop to check this out if we wanted but Mick and I had not had the chance to look inside the rather imposing Bank of Montreal nearby so took this opportunity. The security guards are quite used to tourists- we wandered around and spent some time in the small museum that has old coins, photos and memorabilia of this bank which is proud of its status as Canada's first bank opening in 1817. There were also some mechanical money boxes where you put the coin in to Jonah's hand, and the coin and Jonah were both swallowed by the whale. Another was a Punch and Judy with the usual violent outcome.
Denis thanked us for returning on time to the bus and made a gentle comment about six who arrived late. We noticed that it was generally the same ones who consistently returned late to the bus after every stop.

The next point of interest was the Olympic stadium which proudly hosted the games in 1976. We remember when we were here in 1984 /85 the discussions about the massive debt this caused and we wondered if it is paid off yet. Denis made no mention of it. The stadium has the world's tallest inclined tower at 175 metres. There was a pod moving up and down as we watched, taking sightseers for a view. We stopped for five minutes for people to take picctures. Moving on, Denis mentioned that the garden nearby is the second largest in the world- I was wondering where the largest is!

Next was a stop at the previously mentioned St Joseph's Oratory- an Italian Renaissance style basilica dedicated to Canada's patron saint. It founder, Brother Andre, is said to have performed many miracles here in the early 1900's. He was canonised in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. That makes three modern Canadian saints- there are also eight from around 400 years ago. With such a strong Catholic heritage here in the province of Quebec, I suppose they do have a head start on Australia with our one saint!

Last stop was Mont Real after which of course the city is named. We were blessed with a clear part of the day so had a really good view of the city including the stadium which just looks huge from the top of the mountain. Denis then came around to check what hotel passengers wanted to be dropped off at and we headed back to town. We got out at the Tourist Information where we had started and decided to take the Montreal Surterrain- Montreal Underground Path similar to PATH in Toronto back to our hotel. Claims for its length ranged from 25 to 33 km. This was quite circuitous but Mick directed us masterfully. If it were up to me we would still be there! These underground walkways are also referred to as the underground city- full of shops, cafes, restaurants. They are brilliant and would be very well utlilsed during storms and snow. (Mick's cousin Alex commented in Toronto that he can go all the way from his office to his metro stop or car if he has driven in a T- shirt in winter.) We stopped for a chocolat chaud/ cafe and muffin enroute to our hotel. Couldn't resist returning to the same Vietnamese restaurant for another delicious meal.