It’s hot. A top of 33C is forecast for Thursday. That’s not my kind of weather. In an effort to avoid the sun, I spent the morning running errands: doing laundry, posting stuff at the post office and going for a run (only on the shady streets). Even when you’re travelling these things must be done.
At about 1pm, covered in sunscreen, I make my way to my first destination: Jean Talon Market. The market, near Little Italy, is undercover. So that’s a big plus for me. I get there without having lunch and unintentionally seem to fill up on free samples. I did actually buy stuff!! I was a little surprised in the difference in quality among the stalls. The market is mainly fruit and vegetables and flowers, although there are some boutique stores selling various things such as cheese, olives, ice cream and chocolate.
Armed with some food for dinner I go back home and fine that by the time I take care of some trip planning (sending CouchRequests, checking my bookings for my upcoming trip legs etc) I don’t have much time before I have to meet Lucie, so I relax a little, prepare dinner and head into the city about 5pm.
Our plan for the evening is to visit Mont Royal – a mountain, or perhaps more correctly, a hill, in the centre of Montreal. We meet at the Mont Royal station and decided bagels are in order. Fairmount Bagels is known as having some of the best in the city so we catch another metro and walk a few blocks to find this tiny, hole-in-the-wall store. The store is jam packed with ceiling-height trolleys full of bagels. There is room for about four customers at any one time. The bagel store is in a neighbourhood known as Mile End. It’s a very hipster area full of cafes, bars, boutiques and galleries. I wish I had a bit more time to spend here.
En route to a bus or metro station the threatening dark clouds above deliver. First just a speckle. Then big fat rain. We take shelter in a bus stop and wait for it to pass, which eventually (after a few false starts) it does.
We get off the #11 bus near the top of Mont Royal and walk to the chalet. In my backpack I have our dinner: fresh vegetables from the market to make into a wrap and some fruit for dessert. The skies lighten up and we’re able to enjoy the picnic without rain or ants. There was one raccoon, but he was over the railing and wasn’t climbing up anytime soon.
The view from Mont Royal is lovely, especially with the rainbow and setting sun. We don’t stay until dark and climb down back into the city, and it’s noise. Our next destination is Juliette et Chocolat, another item on Lucie’s List. We shared a sundae filled with bananas, ice cream, strawberries, brownie and whipping cream, and an intense brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce, before walking out of the store straight into the path of the nightly protest.
Students have been on strike and protesting for more than 100 days over a hike in their tuition fees. In an attempt to address the protests the government passed a law requiring all protests of more than 50 people to submit notice and a route map to police at least eight hours in advance. So the students (and many many others) protested about that. Then last night they arrested 518 people for violating the new law. So tonight everyone is protesting about that. The army of people, sporting little red felt bits as a sign of their solidarity and banging pots and pans, marched through the city. This happens every night all around the city.
