Travelogue: Montreal Part Trois (Sept 2015)

It was a rainy day. And quite chilly too. We passed by the Olympic Stadium on the way to the Botanical Garden. I adore the inclined tower and the structure of this stadium. The concept was based off the structure of animal vertebrae and sinews. It cost so much money to build that it was actually not finished by the time the Olympics came around.

The Botanical Garden is mostly outdoors, with a small greenhouse area which we explored. Then we found this “Chinese garden”…

Wait there’s more.

Pretty normal so far… and then

…

…it was quite strange. There were all these paper mache people and lanterns, kind of like the ones people burn at funerals to send to their relatives beyond the grave.

I love the art that’s all around the city.

We went to Au Pied de Cochon for dinner.

I made a reservation ahead of time, of course. The couple who gave me a taste of their cake last night was also there. They told us the tuna tartare was good.

It was. And so was the foie gras poutine:

Then came “duck in a can”; the most famous dish here:

After eating duck and foie gras for 3 nights, I found this underwhelming. It was a small portion of duck (Joe Beef wins on portion size), and the winner in terms of taste would go to Le Quartier Général.

Maple creme brulee.

Dinner again, took 2 hours. We accepted this fact already.

The next morning, I jogged around Old Montreal towards Lachine Canal and it was perfect weather for it. I love running in other cities and getting to know the neighborhood that way. By foot, I can see so much more.

Perfect morning jog.

Lachine canal.

After that, I met up with my mom and we went to see Notre Dame Basilica.

Entrance fee $5. Free tours (check their schedule). I’m glad we went on the short 20 minute tour. I learned more about this church; it has quite an interesting history.