Today we needed to relocate to our more centrally located hotel. We ultimately did, but the day started off with quite a transportation adventure. I was feeling pretty cocky from my successes navigating public transportation the day before, so I confidently led the way to the bus station. The bus that I thought we wanted was pulling out as we walked up, so we (I) decided we'd take the second choice bus. We boarded and found a seat. I watched our progress on my phone. For a while, we went the way I expected. It wasn't the most direct route, but seemed to be headed generally in the right direction. After a while, that seemed to change. I couldn't figure out what our final destination was or where we should get off. We were supposed to be headed toward one of the Metro hubs, but never got there. More and more people got on at every stop. Finally, we pulled in at a Metro stop but it wasn't the one I was expecting. We (I) still thought that the bus might take a turn that would ultimately bring us to the expected Metro.
Everyone got off the bus. Every last person. Except us. The bus leaves again, and we start getting kind of funny backward glances from the driver. The route now heads through the industrial warehouse district (not like the trendy, re-urbanization warehouse district). Finally, James gets up to ask the driver if we'll be arriving at the Metro stop. Boy, did James get an earful. All...why didn't you ask when you got on the bus? And...why did you wait so long? And...Google maps? Not going to work.
The driver must have been ahead of schedule because he pulled over at the next stop and turned off the bus. He came back and sat in the back with us and bent our ears for a solid 20 minutes about his own travel adventures! Finally, he ran out of words or realized that he better get back on his route. Luckily, that route circled back around to the Metro station and we were able to get on the correct train and find our way to the hotel. TWO. HOURS. LATER. oops.
Anyway, after we checked in and dropped our bags, we made our way toward downtown/old town Montreal. We were headed for Notre Dame Basilica. We passed this church on the way and popped in for a peek. After all, what's a visit to a French city without a plethora of church visits?
Everyone got off the bus. Every last person. Except us. The bus leaves again, and we start getting kind of funny backward glances from the driver. The route now heads through the industrial warehouse district (not like the trendy, re-urbanization warehouse district). Finally, James gets up to ask the driver if we'll be arriving at the Metro stop. Boy, did James get an earful. All...why didn't you ask when you got on the bus? And...why did you wait so long? And...Google maps? Not going to work.
The driver must have been ahead of schedule because he pulled over at the next stop and turned off the bus. He came back and sat in the back with us and bent our ears for a solid 20 minutes about his own travel adventures! Finally, he ran out of words or realized that he better get back on his route. Luckily, that route circled back around to the Metro station and we were able to get on the correct train and find our way to the hotel. TWO. HOURS. LATER. oops.
Anyway, after we checked in and dropped our bags, we made our way toward downtown/old town Montreal. We were headed for Notre Dame Basilica. We passed this church on the way and popped in for a peek. After all, what's a visit to a French city without a plethora of church visits?
Marie-Reine-du-Monde Catherdral, previously known as St. James Cathedral, is a 1/3 replica of St. Peter's in Rome.
The next stop was Olive and Gourmando for lunch. Recommended by a coworker of James' and enthusiastically seconded by TripAdvisor reviewers, this was at the top of our priorities for lunch one day. The sign below greets you in the entryway: " YES, it looks crazy bonkers in there..." It was, but Canadians are nothing if not friendly, so a kindly waiter took pity on us and showed us how to successfully navigate the system. We were both reminded of the crazy bonkers that is The Cheese Shoppe on a beautiful fall afternoon! We ordered our sandwiches and sat down at a table by the window to people watch. The sandwich was pretty tasty, as promised!
The next stop was Notre Dame Basilica. I sometimes feel like I'm missing out on the history and stories when in foreign countries; thankfully, there were English language tours here to provide some of that detail. The current building was constructed over many years in the early 1800s to replace a smaller church that had been on the same site. The interior is astounding in its lavishness.
The chapel was destroyed by an arsonist in 1978. When it was rebuilt, this more modern altar piece was added. It symbolizes the "march of humankind toward the Holy Trinity, as it makes its way through difficult times (represented by three arches)."
You don't see a lot of Native Americans or pilgrim types in stained glass...
The colors and lighting are much more vibrant than typically seen in historic churches! They even have a light show at night. We couldn't quite wrap our heads around a light show in a church.
After Notre Dame, we strolled around more of the old town area. We had planned to visit Pointe-a-Calliere, a museum built right on top of the original foundation of the city. It's supposed to be a great museum of the history of the city, with an archaeology excavation of the city's foundation on site. We walked to the building identified on the map as the museum and found a sign that the building was closed for renovation. We were disappointed, but signs like that are fairly routine at least once per trip in our experience, so we moved on.
James on the pedestrian-only old town street, and looking out over the St. Laurence River:
On the waterfront, and looking back at the skyline:
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