last lundi!

Yesterday I finally got to explore a little bit of Montreal on a week day. James and I were busy running around town picking up last minute souvenirs and things I had my eye on throughout our stay, and trying to spend all of our Canadian cash! I managed to get knitting supplies for cheap at a dollar store, a dress for Steve and Bethany's rehearsal dinner, and souvenirs for friends and family.

We also met up with Karen and Amos one last time for a dinner of savory and sweet crepes. I had wanted to do the crepe thing since we got here, and finally found a creperie with solid enough reviews. We managed to get there 30 minutes before they closed since they are only open til 6, so we were the only people there and had a great time. I got a crepe with potatoes, chicken, mushrooms, Dijon sauce, and swiss cheese, and James and I shared a banana crepe with chocolate sauce and ice cream for dessert. Yumm!

It's definitely sad to see our time in Montreal coming to an end, but I'm glad that I've had a few days to wrap everything up and that we haven't been rushed to get packed and head out. We leave Wednesday morning, and then will head to Boston, Rhode Island, and finally back to Tennessee!

dernier weekend a Montreal! :(

Friday

After finishing up the last day of my internship, James and I got to look forward to a visit from one of James's college friends, Jody. He came in around 8:45 pm on Friday, and we promptly took him to our neighborhood sushi restaurant to enjoy their sushi for the second time. After sushi we stopped by a nearby bar on Avenue du Mont-Royal and had a good time talking and getting some drinks. We got to sit in the outdoor sidewalk seating area, and as a result learned that after midnight you can't consume alcoholic beverages outside in Montreal--who knew?

Saturday

What a day! I started off by picking up breakfast for everyone at our corner bakery, and then James and Jody went to Energie Cardio to work out. Once they got back and showered, we headed out on this HOT day to Schwartz's to introduce Jody to the smoked meat sandwich. We had to wait in line, but it didn't take too long, and the sandwiches were as good as ever. James experienced the pangs of jealousy however when he saw a guy next to us get something called the "Grande Assiette" (Big Plate), which is just a plate full of the sliced smoked meat and a pile of bread so you can make A LOT of sandwiches for yourself. He was upset that I didn't tell him that was available (for the record, I didn't know!), and I'm sure that will be his order if we ever come back.

After Schwartz's we hopped on the metro to visit the Olympic Park and Tower north of the city. We took the funicular up to the top of the tour (which is the highest incline tower in the world) to get some spectacular views of the city. It cost $15.25/person, but I would say it was worth it. We then walked around the stadium for a little while and then hopped back on the metro to go to the Underground City. Jody bought a couple of T-shirts, some popcorn, and some candy, and I took notes for our big shopping day on Monday :).

We then went home where I made burgers and corn on the cob for dinner, and we all enjoyed some much-needed rest from the hot day. We did head back out on the metro to go to Parc Jean Drapeau to see Canada's fireworks display in the International Fireworks Competition. We had never gone out to the island before to watch the show, but MAN was it worth the distance! We were so close, and the fireworks just filled up the sky. Canada had a very impressive show, and I wouldn't be surprised if they won!

Sunday

We all enjoyed a little later wake up times on Sunday after an exhaustive Saturday, and then headed to L'Oeufrier for brunch. After brunch we headed up Mont Royal for the last time, and Jeter once again got to join us. Still an exhausting 3 hour hike, but still so worth it for the views of the city and the beautiful park. Needless to say, a hike up Mont Royal always equals a low-key remainder of the day, which was a nice treat after such a packed weekend.

saying goodbye

Today was my last day at Arion, and although the past week has been filled with annoying mundane tasks, I have to say that I am going to miss the girls that I work with. They took me out for lunch yesterday to celebrate (or maybe mourn?) the end of my internship, so today I bought them cupcakes to thank them for all their help this summer. They have talked about visiting me in Nashville, and I hope they do--it's been really nice to get to know them, and I hope that I will be able to stay in touch with them.

The orchestra gave me two Arion CDs as a thank you for all my work, and they all said very nice things about how great I have been, how much I helped them, and how sad they are to say good-bye to me. It's always nice to know that you've done a good job, especially in a world that is so foreign to me--seriously...what do I know about non-profit arts organizations?

The other highlight of my day is that James swiped 20 Montreal phonebooks for me that had been sitting on a stoop for a few days. I'm excited to use them for simple reading activities in my lower level classes--I might even start every day off with a little phone book challenge--so awesome!

yankees weekend

Saturday morning James and I woke up at 4:45 am to catch our 6:40am train to Toronto. We made it everywhere on time, and the train ride was SO great. We were on a newer train, with lots of leg room so we were able to catch a few Zs on the way. We arrived at Rogers Centre in Toronto just in time to get our tickets from the VIP Will Call window (one of our colleagues at Webb knew a trainer for the Yankees, so he was able to get us GREAT seats for free) and find our seats a few rows behind the Yankees’ dugout. One of the guys sitting near us was even a Browns and Yankees fan just like my dear husband! The game was great, as the Yankees won 4-1, Jeter went 2-5, we got to watch CC Sabatthia pitch a great game, and Mariano Rivera was the closer. The only downside was that we were in direct sunlight the whole time, and we forgot to pack sunscreen—whoops! Luckily after a few innings we got up the nerve to ask a woman near us if we could borrow some of hers, so although we got sunburns, they could have been much worse! And karma struck as the woman who generously shared her sunscreen with us won the 50/50 raffle of over $8,000! It was pretty exciting J. We once again got the pleasure of experiencing over-priced stadium food--$4.50 for a bottle of water, $5.25 for a hot dog, and right around $10 for a beer. (I’m hoping that in 20 years I will be able to read this post and look back and laugh at how cheap things were “back in the day”!) We also got some amazing good luck as James left his Blackberry in a cup holder, and one of the workers at the stadium picked it up before anyone else could walk off with it! The highlight of the day for James was undoubtedly being mistaken for a Yankees player in the stands after the game—talk about a pick-me-up!

After the game we swung by the train station to pick up our bag and headed to the hotel—the Westin Harbour Castle. It seemed as though everyone at the game was checking in at OUR hotel at that time, and as could be expected, our room was not ready yet. They asked us to wait an hour to an hour and a half, but said that we would get a King-Sized Bed on the Penthouse floor—which was pretty exciting! So we went and ate at Mr. Greenjeans restaurant in a nearby mall, I got to eat my first ever banana split, and by the time we made it back our swanky room with an awesome view was all ready to go! We relaxed the rest of the night, went down to the pool, and fell asleep to the soothing sounds of Law and Order: SVU.

On Sunday we realized the pricelessness of black-out shades in our room, as we slept until about 9:00 pm without knowing the sun was even shining. James went to work out, and I scoured the city for Egg McMuffins and sunscreen (both successful endeavors). We checked out of the hotel and made our way back to the stadium for game 2 of the weekend. This time we sat in left center field, and it was nice to have a different vantage point. The worst part was the jerk who sat behind us, talking smack about the Yankees and those who like them, and even saying something highly inappropriate about little un-assuming me. James and I were both getting pretty mad, but my wise husband turned around and asked him a question about one of the Jays’ pitchers, had a nice conversation, and the guy didn’t say another negative word about “the losers who cheer for the Yankees”. Some people are just SO RUDE in the words of Stephanie Tanner! The Yankees won again, 7-2, but strangely enough there were no home runs on either side throughout both games. The game went by pretty quickly, meaning we had a longer than expected wait for our train home, but it wasn’t too bad.

The train ride home was LONG, and I couldn't help worry about Jeter being in his cage for 16 hours straight--I promise we do love that dog! The A/C was also broken in our train car, making it seem even longer, but luckily we bought some candy at the station so I had that to keep me going. We got back to our apartment around 1am, catching one of the last metro trains of the night, and PRAISE GOD Jeter had zero accidents in his crate after being caged for so long. We took him out for a walk and went to bed at around 2:00 am. GOOD NIGHT, indeed!

chad's visit

On Thursday James’s friend Chad flew in a for a long weekend visiting in Montreal. It was quite a godsend, because he planned it so that he could watch Jeter while we were gone for a weekend of baseball games in Toronto. So Thursday night we took him around town and got some burgers and poutine at La Banquise, and stopped by the St. Sulpice Bar in the Latin Quarter. That night I also had a major milestone in my usage of French—I argued myself a discount while buying toothpaste at a pharmacy. They tried to overcharge me 50 cents (outrageous, I know!), but I caught their mistake and was eventually proven to be the victor. James and Chad thought I was pretty ridiculous for causing such a scene over 50 cents, but I was just trying to be treated fairly!

Friday after I got home from work we headed to Percival Molson Stadium at McGill University to catch a CFL game between the Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts. It was a packed house for the game, as they were honoring one of their great receivers, BYU grad Ben Cahoon, at halftime, and the Alouettes’ QB was one TD pass away from breaking the CFL career record. He did indeed break the record right in front of us (we sat in the endzone), and it was pretty exciting even though I had never even heard of Victor Calvillo before J. Tickets were pretty reasonably priced ($28 a piece) and although the food was not (typical of stadiums) we still really enjoyed ourselves. (And the Alouettes won, 40-14.)

week-end du monde!

Today James and I set out to discover some new areas of Montreal, as we realized that we only have one more weekend left after this one! Pretty hard to believe!

We first stopped in a different area of Old Montreal at this restaurant called Olive + Gourmando.

This little sandwich/bakery shop was pretty well hidden in Old Montreal, but it was pretty obvious that the secret was out. James and I both ordered panini sandwiches, and James got this cold spinach/split pea soup. The food was masterfully put together, and I loved the atmosphere...lots of cute decorating touches, and we got to sit right next to the cooking station--my favorite place!

After lunch we headed out to the Parc Jean-Drapeau, a park that spans two islands on the St. Lawrence river. We set out with the intention of seeing the Biosphere and checking out the Festival Week-ends du Monde, a multi-cultural festival over the next two weekends. However, I had read something about the Canadian National Rowing Team Trials happening at the Bassin Olympique, so we decided to see if it was still going on. We caught a bunch of 200m men's kayaking heats, and it was pretty cool to sit in the stands and realize that people watched Olympic events from them 35 years ago. It was also a reality check about the Olympics...this great complex was built for rowing events, and now it's obvious that it rarely gets used...there were spider webs all over the seats and a classical music radio station in one of the buildings.

We then walked around the island to see all the countries that were represented at the festival today (it changes every day of the festival). Today was Turkey, Jamaica, and Peru.

After a short break at home to take Jeter out, we headed out to Little Italy to go to the Pizzeria Napoletana--I had the lasagna, and James ordered this great meat-stuffed tortellini in tomato cream sauce with mushrooms and prosciutto. YUM! We wanted to catch the fireworks after dinner, but they were already done by the time we made it back to the metro station. Still, a great day in a city that always has something new to offer!

week 5 recap

Well, this was our 5th week in Montreal, and it's beginning to feel like "home". We've finally got a handle on the grocery shopping situation...I think we only spent about $50 on groceries this week! YAY! Monday night we went to the B-52s' free concert to close out the jazz festival, and MAN, were there a lot of people there! I would estimate about 100,000, we were all squished together and I never saw the end of the crowd in any direction. Who knew they were so popular? We stayed for about 12 songs, didn't get to hear Love Shack, but Roam was played. I got pretty annoyed by the people smoking cigarettes and marijuana so close to me, so the hour we spent there was enough for me. We also got hot dogs as our tribute to the 4th of July!

This week at work I spent time making summary sheets for each of the CDs in the orchestra's discography--35 in total. I had to type up the track listings, get excerpts from reviews, and write up some important points about each of the CDs. I first did it in French, and then I got to do it all over in English. That task took me about 3 days, and then I had to translate the musicians' dress code, go through the old concert programs and catalog how many of each we were keeping and how many were being thrown away. My final task of the week was double-checking the tax receipts that were to be sent out and using the postage machine to get them ready to be sent out! Another exciting week :). There was plenty of drama regarding the ridiculous demands of the marketing director, as well as some issues with the musicians' union "La Guilde", but by Friday afternoon everyone was in their usually silly mood. I feel like I'm really beginning to form some good relationships with the girls that I work with, and I can definitely tell my French has improved--it's nice not being stuck using French I and II vocab/structures all the time!

Last week James started coming to pick me up from work in the afternoon, and this past Thursday he showed up with flowers for me, brie, a baguette, and Skip-Bo for a date in the park. It was really sweet and a complete surprise!

stuffed sunday

This morning James and I headed out to beat the brunch rush at L'Avenue, a 15 minute walk from our apartment. (Looks interesting, right?) I had read great things about this little restaurant, and the repeated claims that they serve the best Eggs Benedict in the world had James sold.

We did wait quite awhile for our food, but when we got it, we knew we'd be waiting quite awhile until we ate again. James got the Chorizo Eggs Benedict, and I got french toast with shredded cheddar cheese and caramelized apples. James was able to fight through his, but I had to stop about halfway through my scrumptious dish. Cheese and apples are two of my favorite things in this world, and they did it right! It was pretty reasonably priced, too...especially when you consider that one meal will have you feeling stuffed all day long!

After brunch we watched Djokovic win Wimbledon, James went to work out, and then we took Jeter to the dog park. He always has so much fun meeting new friends and exhausting himself! Then we did our grocery shopping for the week--it's getting cheaper every week as we eat less meat and opt more for seasonal items--definitely getting the hang of this thing!

the love boat and beaver tails

Saturday was a FULL day. We left our apartment around noon to finally fulfill James's wish of taking a boat cruise on the Saint Lawrence River. The cruise was a little pricey (about $30 a person), but it was an hour and a half long, so it kept us occupied for awhile.

The worst part of the cruise was waiting to leave the port. It was 1:30, we were on the upper deck, and it felt like we were just baking in the sunshine. Once we took off it was fine since there was a nice breeze on the water. We learned a lot about some of the buildings that we have seen repeatedly, and all in all it was a fun "tourist-y" experience.

Once we got off the boat, we bought a Canadian original confection--a beaver tail. It is essentially a pancake-sized piece of fried dough, and the one we chose was topped with chocolate, peanut butter, and Reese's pieces. I cannot explain how AMAZING it was. Ooey gooey, warm melt-y deliciousness.

After our Beaver Tail, we headed over to Amos and Karen's apartment for dinner. They served us some delicious fish tacos, and we enjoyed getting to see them and their kids again.

The worst part of the day was our return trip home. We left the Tubbs' around 11:00, and unfortunately the Ville-Marie Tunnel was closed, requiring us to drive through downtown to get to our side of town. A trip that was supposed to take us 15 minutes, ended up taking about 1 1/2 hours between the fireworks and jazz festival crowds, as well as the normal bar-hopping folks.

a quick trip across the border

Since today was Canada Day and I didn't have to work, James and I decided to take a day trip to Vermont to do some outlet mall shopping. James needed a pair of Brooks Brothers khakis for Steve's wedding at the end of July, some new tennis shoes, and we needed to get an inflatable air mattress for our overnight guests over the next few weeks.

We were stopped at the border for almost an hour--it was strange to see so many cars from Quebec going into the US, which is probably what took so long. After satisfying my craving for some Mexican food, we hit up the Essex Outlet Shoppes in Essex Junction, VT. James managed to find a pair of Nikes on clearance at Dick's, Brooks Bros. had khakis 40% off, and he got a dress shirt from the Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet for $20. I bought some clothes that were UBER cheap at Osh Kosh for Danica--and luckily there was a post office right across from the outlet mall so I mailed them right off! The best part of this whole excursion was....there is no sales tax on clothes in Vermont!

We (unfortunately) had to swing by Walmart to get the air mattress, and boy, was that a "Welcome the USA" experience. There were so many loud, overweight, and just plain embarrassing people there--it was driving me crazy being in that environment. And let's remember, my regular Walmart is in Shelbyville, TN...I should be used to an eclectic crowd...but this was a whole new level of strange.

One interesting fact about Canada that we noticed A LOT--July 1 is not only Canada Day, but it is also "Moving Day". Every lease expires/is renewed on July 1, so EVERYONE is moving in/out on this day--and who can blame them? No one's working, so it makes sense...but it does make driving difficult.

We returned to Montreal around 6:30, ate dinner, and hopped on the metro to head down for our first taste of the Jazz Festival. WOW, were there a lot of people! We saw some good acts--a lady with curly red hair who recovered from a double lung transplant to sing really awesome 30s still swing music--Alex Pankerman was her name, I think. We also heard a rock/blues guitarist play who was also really good. And it was all for free! We found out the B-52s are playing a free concert on July 4th, so we'll definitely make a trip back for that!