Montreal

You could say we are hanging in there by a thread. I'm talking about the weather. A week slated to be rain doused has been wonderfully rain free. Well, except for last night, though I have to say that walking in the evening with an umbrella out was rather refreshing. Or this morning, while I was blissfully unaware, riding the metro. Still, on other days, we've been lucky, but just barely. And it looks as if we are to have one more day of good fortune. I'm returning to the farmette Friday, so I will have had a great run of it: the big time rain is now said to arrive here in Eastern Canada tomorrow. Full force and swinging, or you could say pelting. But starting tomorrow.

Since we're looking good this morning, I set out for that morning walk through the old town all the way to Olive et Gourmand. Hands down my favorite breakfast here.

To the port, and back again.

Our morning meetup is at the Marche Atwater -- the second of the big markets of Montreal (and in my opinion, the nicer of the two).

Want to know what's blooming and selling here now? I'll flash you some highlights:

Plants and flowers -- lots of them.

Local strawberries -- lots of them.

More flowers! 

Rhubarb -- makes me think of ours back home.

Oh, hey there, Sandpiper!

As the young family trickles in, I take the big kids for a pizza lunch while the grownups search out something a little bit more exotic.

Oh, and ice cream. I'm always good for an ice cream treat.

(Others at the market opt for buying salamis, cheeses, tomatoes and a baguette. No, they're not part of our group, just a pair of Quebecois, acting very... French.)

From the market, it's a short stroll to the Canal Lachine. There are paths along this serene and once very important body of water. 

The sun is poking through, it all looks so pretty! (The big tower? That's part of the market.)

It's the last time that the whole Gang of ten will be together, so we get someone to take a photo...

We head now to the metro and in doing that, we pass a flag shop. It's tucked to a side street and I can't imagine who comes to it and for what reason, but it catches the interest of the kids (and some grownups) and so there is a small shopping detour that takes place. I'm not sure who purchased what flag, but here are some very satisfied kids:

(this next one was taken by my son-in-law)

At the metro station, Joe, one of the grownup friends, gives Snowdrop a lesson in sketching with pencils of a different thickness. It was a chance thing that he saw her frustration with creating sketches that never quite fit her idea of what she'd wanted to draw. Since he is an accomplished sketcher, he went to the trouble of showing her how to handle such frustrations (start with a thin pencil and keep a nifty eraser with you).

We split up now. I stick with the young family and we head to the blow-up playground in the Old Port.

Things are a little wet after that morning shower, but the kids have fun. Too, there is a crazy little merry-go-round with a spinning saucer which both Snowdrop and Sparrow manage to spin so fast that I get dizzy just watching. That was epic! -- Snowdrop tells me, with a look of deep satisfaction.

(The littlest guy concentrated on navigation of a different sort.)

In the evening, the kids are again home with a sitter. I'm with the grownups. Six of us. 

At Pichai. A Thai place.

With very very good food.

It really is impressive how well you can eat here, for prices far lower than south of the border. I have yet to have a disappointing meal and indeed, some have been exceptionally fabulous. Of course, we are in a major metropolitan area and so there are choices. Many choices. But my memories of past trips to Quebec the province are equally positive. Fresh and honest rather than frozen and fried. 

One more day before me. And of course, with it comes (for me, not them yet), the Covid test that will permit me to travel back to the US. It is not a little frustrating to know that you can travel by land back to the US without testing, and you can criss cross the US by airplane without testing, but this one form of reentry -- a flight from another country, a neighboring country, requires you to have no sign of the virus. Of course, it is a far far bigger deal for families than it is for me. Were I to get a positive test result (despite my double boost, it is possible), I'd have to wait it out a few days. For families -- that's not easy. Ah well. Let's hope all our mask wearing in public places has served us well!

In the meantime, I'll borrow the sign I saw at my breakfast place. Goodnight...

Montreal

If you had a choice: rain in the first half of your trip with good weather for the ending, or, good weather first, followed by rain, which would you pick? Though I subscribe to the best for last mantra, I'm happy we started off grand. It was not a disappointing introduction for the kids, for us too. If all else fails going forward, we still remain satisfied.

Of course, we don't have a say in how these things play out. But I do want to note that we have been exceptionally lucky. The trip -- a first for a family of five now -- has been a fantastic adventure, with plenty of high points along the way, played out well because the weather cooperated.

But this morning we've been warned: it's going to rain out there. Or maybe drizzle. Wetness for sure. Well fine: I have work to do rewriting another PR piece on Like a Swallow  (what can I say, I'm fussy!) and so I settle for another breakfast at the hotel. Oatmeal no less! 

And the kids -- they are oblivious to weather. They are drawn to outdoor activities and they press for us to move forward with their favorite bouncy stuff. We're agreeable, though I'm taking along an umbrella. I have little confidence in the weather at the moment. Those clouds look mighty thick: like they may want to stick around for a while. A long while.

I take the metro and once again we meet up just outside the Biodome. This time it's the whole gang of five plus me. And guess what -- despite an internet page claiming otherwise, the bouncy castle thing is deflated and closed. We ask at the Biodome, we try to find some person of great authority -- no luck. No one knows. A shrug, a shake of the head. 

Are the kids disappointed yet again? Well yes and no. Only Snowdrop cared deeply about the activity and she was content to switch focus. Sparrow is at an age where he still sort of rolls with it and Sandpiper? Well, he bounces around plenty without the aid of an inflatable castle.

We go back to the Olympic training field (this used to be the center of Montreal's Olympic Games back in 1976). Sparrow bounces on a trampoline in his own gentle way and Snowdrop finds new ways to strengthen her arm muscles!

We're nearing the lunch hour. There's an outdoor cafeteria just by the entrance to the Botanical Gardens and so we head there. I'd say the food choices made several of the kids very happy.

Good lunches make good energies flow.

And since we are so close, so close to the Gardens, wouldn't it be a splendid idea to show at least a little of them off to mommy and Sandpiper? They missed it yesterday. 

Yes! It's unanimous. In we go.

I'm itching for a picture of the kids against a background of color. That same color that we long for in early spring. They oblige, the gardens oblige, the weather obliges.

And now be patient with me. I'm posting a half dozen pics from our walk through this corner of the Gardens. You have to understand: I grow flowers. I love flowers. I love watching kids move freely between flowers. So, six photos, in a row.

Okay, I cheated. That was seven.

Note in that last photo that we have had another piece of blooming luck! We hit the peak peony blooming season!  I had to horn in on the act here. I set up the camera and the two big kids and I had some fun doing  a timed release photo. I like this one best:

I'll leave you with one last glance at the peonies, with a dab of iris. I mean, just sublime!

Our dinner tonight is just for a group of five. Adult five. We were to be six, but a friend's flight got delayed. Wait, the traveler did arrive in the end? Yes he did. Alright, five, but eventually six.

The kids are home, us big people are trying out Maison Publique. 

Wonderful food. Small plates, so we have to share. Baked oysters, asparagus, seafoods, wild mushrooms, tartare this, tartare that, halibut, pork, pasta dishes, desserts. We ate it all.

When my daughter's friend finally does arrive (straight from the airport), I have a chance to sit back and just take it all in: these guys have all been together, and therefore part of our extended family since college. So for over twenty years. (Here's the original threesome...)

Their banter has come closer to being the banter of older adults (rather than very young adults), but not anywhere near that of my generation. The energy level is high, the conversation far reaching. From the personal, to the political, to the inconsequential. Always with humor, because really, if friends can't help you find reasons to laugh, then you're in trouble.

And then the evening ends. Well, not for my daughter and her friends, but it does for me. I walk in the drizzle of a Montreal evening... 

... and I think -- knowing when to say goodnight is perhaps the most important lesson. 

Yes it is.

Goodnight,

with so much love...

Montreal

The kids really wanted to go to La Ronde, the amusement park just across the river from Montreal's downtown. It's there, tempting them with a visible roller coaster, and the usual Six Flags whirling spinning crashing stuff. We set aside Monday for this.

Wait, today is Monday! And the weather is great! A bit warm perhaps, but we'll take warm! No rain.

We do not go. 

When it came time to purchase tickets on line, we noted the park was open yesterday, but closed today. And the next day. And the day after that. Basically, until the Canadian kids are out of school, the park opens only on weekends.

Sweet kids that they are, Snowdrop and Sparrow swallowed their disappointment. While the grownups mulled over the alternatives, I had a quick breakfast downstairs in my hotel...

And then I had a Zoom meeting about my book,  Like A Swallow. One needs to do these things if you want your work to reach an audience. You discuss distribution. You discuss promotion. I suppose it becomes part of your job as author person to do this stuff.

And afterwards, I went for a leisurely walk. 

It's quite pleasant to window-shop here...

And it struck me that it might be a good time to look at some sweet Canadian stuff for the grandkids. And so I went further north, and further west, walking, walking, until I came across a perfect little store.

(This is how far I wondered away from Old Montreal...)

This is when I got a text from my son-in-law. He and the two older kids were right now on their way to the Biodome -- an incredible place where you can come face to face with animals from very diverse biospheres. Penguins and puffins, parrots, beavers and so much more! Let's meet up there!

But first, we pause at the planetarium, where the kids get about as close to Mars as they'll ever come. We dont have access to rocks and minerals from that planet except when flying debris comes our way. Here,  you can see it, touch it, get close to it.

And you can, with the help of a joy stick, propel a buggy across Mars in search of water. Now that's really fun!

Lunch. With Montreal bagels which both kids agreed are better than the American version. 

And now the Biodome. Just an amazing place for kids, for adults as well.

I thought we had run them ragged inside, but no -- they were willing to continue. On the other end of the park you'll find the Botanical Gardens. It's a hike, much of it uphill and, too, we pause at the Olympic exercise station and the kids, especially Snowdrop, really get a workout there...

And still, they continue, even Sparrow with his short little legs, surely tired by now...

The Botanical Gardens are vast and I'm sure we touched only a few of the corners, but what we saw was just so beautiful! 

We were lucky. The Gardens have extensive Japanese and Chinese segments and of course, the iris will be emphasized and of course this is the week of the iris.

I could not get enough of it all!

How could you not reach for the camera again and again!

And again.

It's a long walk back to the subway. I thought their feet would surely give out but they continued, with only the occasional pause for a rest. Such good travelers, both of them!

I zipped on the metro to the hotel to dump my shopping bag which had been my companion all day long and to freshen up (I needed a hand scrub!) and then I set out again, this time meeting up with the whole pack at Vices et Versa. I'd call it a pub with pub food, though they swear it's very fresh and honest. From the poutine to the fried chicken.

We were ten for dinner today. A group shot was taken.

And then the young family and I took the metro home. They got off first, I got off much later. It's good thing I didn't doze off with the sway of the rapidly moving train. I am that sleepy tonight!

Good night, with love...