Four days in Montreal

Thursday

We flew to Montreal on Thursday so Glen could attend a radiology conference. Ur was going to be there, otherwise we might have given it a miss as the last time we were in Montreal, we didn’t think that much of it.

We had a midday flight, which was civilised, and it was less than half full. There are about 17 flights to Montreal from Billy Bishop airport every day, and about the same number from Toronto Pearson. Ur flew from the main airport (Toronto Pearson), on an airbus that was completely full. I’m glad we left from Billy Bishop on the small Porter plane.

Having been here before, I felt less overwhelmed with the Frenchness of the place and more confident of catching the bus downtown to the hotel. We stayed at the Best Western, which is a minute walk from the Sheraton where the conference is being held. Our room was on the renovated floor, and was spacious, with a king-sized bed, and clean.

In the evening we went for dinner with Ur to a restaurant called Lemiac. It was about a 20 minute taxi ride away, which took us through some of the nicer parts of Montreal. The buildings were old style but well maintained. We also drove past one of the hospitals which looks more like a castle. I was revising my opinion of the city with each street.

Dinner was tasty and filling. I had mushroom ravioli to start (forgetting to leave some for Glen to taste) and a salmon pot au feu (a winter soup) as a main. Glen had duck breast, which he’d been fantasising about since booking the restaurant earlier in the week.

After dinner we went for drinks at Club Mado, the drag cabaret club on Rue Sainte-Caterine. Mado is the drag queen we saw hosting Divers/Cité last year here in August. She’s a Montreal institution. Her show was in Quebecois, so even more impossible to understand. I picked up one or two words but other than that I was lost through the songs and the chat.

At one point she did ask if there were any non-French speakers in the audience and I gingerly raised my hand and said I was (in my strongest and deepest Ocker accent) from Australia. I became her go-to English speaker for the night, which made it more fun. After the show, she came down and talked to people who were left in the audience and we had a chat with her. She told us to come back on the weekend.

While at the show, I talked to the other non-French speakers next to us who had come from Fredericktown, New Brunswick, for the Cher concert, which was playing the next night. Glen and my ears pricked up.

I’d seen Cher about ten years ago in Adelaide for her “Farewell” tour. I had two tickets but one was going spare. I offered it to Glen but we’d only recently started going out and he wasn’t sure if a trip away so soon would be a good idea. I sold the ticket to my friend Lyndal and Glen’s regretted it ever since.

It didn’t help that the seats were in the second row, dead centre, and was one of the best night’s of my life. With both us and Cher in Montreal at the same time, it seemed like fate.

Friday

The next morning, Glen and I were a little worse for wear, having got home late and not had much sleep. We went for breakfast then went back to bed. When we woke up I searched for tickets to the concert, and lo, bought two seats in a block on the side. Row DD. Seats 9 and 10. We hoped they’d be worth it.

Not much else happened during the day. In the evening, we went for dinner at the Persian place next to the hotel, then set off to Centre Bell (which was at the end of the street we’re staying on, and a mere two minutes away) for the concert.

The seats were amazing. We were in line with the third row on the floor, which equated to about 20 m from the stage. We could see everything. We could see faces. We were so lucky.

Cyndi Lauper was the support act. Despite only knowing three of her songs, she was a great choice to have opening the show. This 50-something rocker mum on stage with big red fake hair. She sang Time After Time (which was beautiful), Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (where the crowd went wild), and finished with True Colours (great choice).

After a 45 minute intermission, Cher’s show began. She’s still got it. There’s just something about her that makes me feel so happy to watch her perform. She sang a couple of her knewer songs (opening with Woman’s World, and a couple of Burlesque songs), but otherwise it was classics like And The Beat Goes On, I Got You, Gympsies, Tramps and Thieves, Half Breed, Turn Back Time, Walking In Memphis, Jesse James, Heart of Stone, and Believe.

Her chats with the audience were fun and light-hearted. Great voice. Great energy. And just an uplifting show that made me feel happy to be there, but also a little sad that it was going to end. Ten years ago she said she was getting too old for this. This time she said the same thing but no doubt she’ll keep going as long as she’s able.

The concert finished at about 11:30 and I left on a high. I also left hungry. We found a late night restaurant and ordered massive meals (one could have done the both of us), then went back to the hotel and crawled into bed.

Saturday

Thursday and Friday were both beautiful days in Montreal. Blue skies, reasonably warm. Saturday we woke to rain. It rained all day and was really cold out. I had work to catch up on so I spent six hours at the hotel room desk getting it done. Not the best way to spend part of a holiday but when needs must…

In the evening we went for dinner with Ur to an Italian restaurant called Venti Osteria. Funky looking restaurant, friendly waiter, and delicious food and wine. I ordered a squid ink spaghetti with seafood for a starter, which was so tasty. My main was a fish dish with radicchio and hazelnut pesto. The wine was from Veneto and was easy to drink. Oh, and for dessert I had a nutella semifreddo. Highly recommend going here.

Afterwards, the three of us went to Complexe Sky to meet Gene, a friend of Ur’s, who was there with another couple of friends. We stayed for a drink or two, went upstairs to dance for a bit, then headed up the road to Le Stud. This club is more for the men of a bear-like persuasion. Yet, upstairs there was a dance floor that played just 80s music.

It was quite something to see these “manly-men” dancing to Kylie and Cyndi Lauper. We left a bit after midnight and caught a taxi back to the hotel. Luckily we made it back in one piece as the driver was clearly insane, zooming along wet roads.

Sunday

Our last day in Montreal. We woke up late, went for breakfast, and then Glen went back to the conference for a couple of hours while I worked. When he returned we walked to Chinatown to have yum cha with Kevin. He’s an Australian radiologist who’s doing a fellowship in Montreal.

We went to Maison Kam Fung, which had a huge queue out the front. You had to get a number and wait to be called. Whenever someone’s number came up, the gatekeeper would tap the microphone then shout out the number in English, French and Chinese. We got called up soon after Kevin arrived. The food was pretty good and very cheap. We left stuffed.

We then went for coffee near Kevin’s place and he walked with us back towards our hotel. Must say that I like the look of Montreal more this time around. Saw some really interesting old architecture and the place felt a bit more comfortable than before.

Once back at the hotel, we decided we’d go early to the airport (about three hours early) and caught the bus. It was already pretty full when we got on but at the next stop, the bus was filled to bursting. We arrived at the airport, went through security and walked to the gate. Being so early, I wanted to see if we could get an earlier flight. When I asked at the desk, I was told our flight had actually been cancelled and so we were put onto a flight that was departing an hour earlier.

While the woman at the counter was sorting out our tickets, she asked, “So why are Brits living in Toronto?” Ummm…is that meant to be a trick question, I thought.

“I don’t know. We’re Australian,” I replied and laughed.

Her colleagues were standing around and laughed too. She went red. We tried to say we don’t sound English but she insisted we did and wanted us to say the word crocodile to…I don’t know. We were given our tickets and went to sit down.

So that’s been our trip to Montreal. Boarding in another hour and a half, then back to good old Toronto. We’re off to the Galapagos Islands in less than two weeks. A slightly scary – yet very exciting – thought.

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