One Eyed Hero
Today started in fine style. I turned to give Sarah a kiss in bed and turning to meet me, Sarah poked her thumb into my left eye!
When I’d regained my sight, we went for breakfast in the hotel café, then packed our bags in Mica and walked to the old quarter of Montreal. Montreal is one of the oldest cities in North America having been founded in 1642. There’s been lots of development since the 17th century but the old quarter around the port still has many original buildings. My favourite monument in the old town is the last thing you’d expect in a proudly French city: a statue of Admiral Lord Nelson. To further grate the French, the Montreal Nelson statue was the first erected anywhere in the World to commemorate the victory over Napoleon. AND the money wasn’t raised by patriotic British Montrealers, but by the Sulpician priests who didn’t care for the short emperor and who were engaged in delicate land negotiations with the British government at the time. The French jumping on the winning band wagon? Surely not.
On our way to the Notre Dame cathedral we came across a film set and got a bit of an insight into the glamour our Hollywood. We didn’t care for it much as nothing happened for a good fifteen minutes, then someone shouted “action”, four people walked out of a hotel and got in a car and drove away, only as far as being out of the shot and that was it, more waiting around. The clapper board said the movie was called “W.B.O.” so we’ll look out to avoid that one!
Notre Dame cathedral is beautiful at anytime but this was particularly poignant as Pope John Paul II had passed away this weekend. The Pope had visited Montreal and the basilica in the 1980s and there were lots of pictures and shrines to the him inside. We lit a candle.
Before going back to Ottawa we had lunch and got a taste of how diverse Canada is. We ate in an Italian restaurant that had English farmhouse décor and Spanish music playing and we were in a French city! I ordered for Sarah, but wont be doing it again as the food was too spicy.
When I’d regained my sight, we went for breakfast in the hotel café, then packed our bags in Mica and walked to the old quarter of Montreal. Montreal is one of the oldest cities in North America having been founded in 1642. There’s been lots of development since the 17th century but the old quarter around the port still has many original buildings. My favourite monument in the old town is the last thing you’d expect in a proudly French city: a statue of Admiral Lord Nelson. To further grate the French, the Montreal Nelson statue was the first erected anywhere in the World to commemorate the victory over Napoleon. AND the money wasn’t raised by patriotic British Montrealers, but by the Sulpician priests who didn’t care for the short emperor and who were engaged in delicate land negotiations with the British government at the time. The French jumping on the winning band wagon? Surely not.
On our way to the Notre Dame cathedral we came across a film set and got a bit of an insight into the glamour our Hollywood. We didn’t care for it much as nothing happened for a good fifteen minutes, then someone shouted “action”, four people walked out of a hotel and got in a car and drove away, only as far as being out of the shot and that was it, more waiting around. The clapper board said the movie was called “W.B.O.” so we’ll look out to avoid that one!
Notre Dame cathedral is beautiful at anytime but this was particularly poignant as Pope John Paul II had passed away this weekend. The Pope had visited Montreal and the basilica in the 1980s and there were lots of pictures and shrines to the him inside. We lit a candle.
Before going back to Ottawa we had lunch and got a taste of how diverse Canada is. We ate in an Italian restaurant that had English farmhouse décor and Spanish music playing and we were in a French city! I ordered for Sarah, but wont be doing it again as the food was too spicy.
posted by Ian @ 9:14 pm
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