Bienvenue à Montréal

Mom and I returned stateside from the wild Canadian north a little over two weeks ago, and I'm just now finishing up the photo edits.  We didn't arrive in Montreal until 10:30pm so the exploring started after a good night of sleep and cup of coffee in the hotel room.

We were in a really good location that was close to things we wanted to see, and in between two metro stops we could take for anything further away.  The first morning we decided to stick to walking our surrounding area of Old Montréal.

There was still snow on the ground and it was a briskly cold, but we had our big coats on and walked along the main street to the docks.  The river was frozen so there wasn't much boating activity going on, but it made it more quiet and peaceful.

After admiring the ice, shadows, and skyline we headed towards the ferris wheel.  There was a natural ice rink loop going around it!  Nobody was skating but how fun would that have been?!

We continued on, looping up and down streets and stopping in a shop here and there.  It was pretty touristy but the workers were all very friendly.  As it is part of the name, this area of town is the oldest, and had a strong European feel to it.  We kept walking until it was time for another coffee.

We found a cafe that looked promising.  Comfy chairs, lots of sunlight, and a variety of plants made for good ambiance; however, this was the only place the entire trip where someone was rude to us for speaking English.  The coffee was delicious though, so oh well.  And, it was connected to this really cool home decor shop.

Afterwards, we headed back towards the hotel, stopping into a little convenience store for some snacks and things for later on in the hotel.  And this shopkeeper was extra friendly and nice, and was there every day after too.

(photos by e.hunt, and r.hunt)