Montreal Recap

It was still dark and early when Megan came to pick me up in an Uber so we could get to the Island Airport to head to Montreal.  Brighter as we drove up.  We had picked this airport given the chaos that has been happening with Pearson.  This was a great choice as we had a relaxing breakfast and coffee once we easily made it through security. 

Beautiful morning to see Toronto from the air.

After we got into the city and dropped off our bags at our hotel we walked over to Sainte-Catherine Street.  Our other friend Cindy was flying in a bit later. 

Pretty flower stand by the church. 

We found a cute coffee shop for our second breakfast.  Then we sat on McGill's campus near Roddick Gates, where Megan did her undergrad, and chatted.  It was so pleasant to be outside, taking it easy, and not having to worry about work or kids or anything. 

We did a bit of shopping and then walked back to the hotel meet up with Cindy.  We got lunch at The Warehouse on Crescent.  We have been to one here in Toronto and although it is a chain, it's reliable and the food is cheap!

After lunch we worked our way back through the shops on Sainte-Catherine Street and a bought a few things.  We had dinner at Gibbys steakhouse.  We like places like this, institutions with fabulous service and the little touches, like the sorbet between courses to cleanse our palates. 

It is inside an old stable.  This is the inner courtyard looking out into the street.

After dinner we walked down by the water and through Old Montreal.

The next morning we had coffee and pastries at La Finca.

Then walked down to Old Montreal for the morning.  This is the Court of Appeal of Quebec.

We thought about going inside the Notre Dame Cathedral but the tour was $15 per person.  As I was walking over to check the price I said I would go if it was $10 or less, so never mind then. 

We went back up to Crescent Ave. to eat lunch.  We wanted a patio and Wienstein and Gavino's fit the bill. We all enjoyed our Aperol Spritz's!

And pizzas :)  (and wine)

More shopping as we made our way back to our hotel.  We got dressed up for dinner again and walked to Old Montreal to eat at Jacopo.

We sort of randomly chose this because it was Italian, in Old Montreal and walkable from our restaurant, it took reservations, and the menu had lots of choices.  It ended up being an amazing pick.  We were right on the Place Jacques-Cartier so great for people watching and the patio had heaters so even as the sun went down we were very comfortable.  We had good service, yummy food and wine, and we had a leisurely meal and didn't feel rushed out.  Highly recommend.  The inside was really cute too!

Sangria :)

We got some ice cream at Mlle Catherine across the street.  Megan got pistachio gelato and Cindy and I got soft serve.  I'm not usually a fan of soft serve but the coffee flavour was amazing! 

Megan flew out early on Sunday morning but Cindy and I had the whole day ahead.  It also happened to be Cindy's birthday.  We had brunch at Du De Lorraine

We thought we would walk over to Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal, but the front was all blocked off under construction and it was a long way around to go another way.  I think there was a shuttle but we didn't bother checking it out. 

Then we went over to the Plateau area to check out some shops there, then went to Starbucks so Cindy could get her birthday drink.  Again, it was nice to sit and relax with our coffee/tea and not have to rush off anywhere.  We shopped around again for a bit, and I got a few more things to cram into my suitcase later.  We didn't really have any more shopping to do so we decided to go to Top Gun Maverick.  It was so good!! Highly recommend and a highlight of the weekend. 

After the movie we got back to our hotel, grabbed our bags, and headed to the airport. We had an awesome Uber driver that took us a 'secret way' and we got past so much traffic, then I had Nexus so I barely had to wait in security (and non-Nexus Cindy said her line wasn't that bad, that's right, I left her alone).  We grabbed some poutine and beer before boarding our flights. 

What a great time to get away with some old friends!  We met in September of 2004 which is way too long ago to do the math on how long we have been friends...but at any rate we are very fortunate!