Friday, June 26, 2015

Peaking in the Plateau

Scott likes to call this vacation: Toronto in Montreal. I'm disinclined, as the whole reason I've left Toronto is to find the otherness of Montreal. He has also been warning me, like, for years, that sleeping in a house, 2 inches from the edge of the road, in the Plateau in the summer, would be more noisy than I can handle (note my legendary noise sensitivity). Um, it was so quiet that I couldn't sleep. It was like the freakin' country.

We're situated slightly north of Mont Royal. As one approaches our residential intersection from the south, the hum of voices from the patios and restaurants with floor to ceiling windows, buzzes increasingly, like a hive. As one moves through it towards our pied a terre, it fades. There is no bass thud. Idiots aren't revving their cars nor speeding by. There is no drunken stupidity and disrespect.

What I love about Montreal is the cultural predilection to find and claim joy. This winter climate is amongst the harshest - harsher than most will encounter. It lasts, more or less, from December to May. Wandering the streets in late June, watching women with their babies in carriers and toddlers in tow (Lord, there are a lot of children in this 'hood), you can feel the vibrancy, the gift of ease. Everyone is eating ice cream. All the time.

Ain't nowhere nicer than Montreal when the weather's good:

These sidewalk gardens are ubiquitous...


One of those rare moments when my child is smiling (and I'm around)...
We're off to Jean Talon market today - not that we haven't already stocked up on the most fun of foods and wine - or to mention that we've got lunch plans at Quartier General and dinner at Salle a Manger. Friends of ours arrive today and tomorrow and we'll be having a little barbeque or two in our back garden away from home:


Yeah, it really is that nice.

12 comments:

  1. Oh, Montreal... it's just so beautiful! I went there for the first time when I was 15 for a weeklong service project, and it was the first time I'd traveled alone and really the first time I'd been more than a few hours from my home. I fell in love with the city and with traveling because of that week! Have fun at Jean Talon! We went last May and really loved it.

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    1. How wonderful that you continue to return to Montreal - and to love it!

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    1. It really is. But tomorrow the rain comes. And the cold (17C). Which is cold for summer, IMO.

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  3. Montreal, when the weather is just right, is a wonderful city... And if you have time, there's the jazz fest just starting. Ste-Catherine will be a zoo with all the free concerts - but so worth it! Have fun!
    Julie (from Montreal ;-)

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    1. I know - I wonder how accurate that forecast is going to be. I can scarcely stand the thought of rain and cold encroaching. We had tickets for a concert but it was cancelled the day before yesterday. The musician had visa problems at the last minute. :-(

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  4. Thank you for posting from holiday! So fun! Your family is beautiful. And I'm sure you look great in your new me-made-togs.

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    1. Thanks! And you know I already got a compliment from a woman at Jean Talon market! We had a whole convo about it :-)

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  5. Perfect! I miss Montreal, although I'm not a fun of heat and humidity mixed. Will you get to jazz fest? (and btw, your daughter looks gorgeous and in that photo, at least, just exudes personality! and she is clearly her own self, but there's lots of resemblance to you there!)

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    1. I know! And that heat humid combo is pretty hard to take - but I'm very used to it. It's like a slightly amped up version of TO. And really, can I possibly complain about EVERY kind of weather other than that in Santa Barbara? :-) And Miranda is definitely her own self. All the freakin' time! I think she looks exactly like Scott...

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  6. One of the few things I miss about living in Montreal was being 10-15 minutes away from Jean-Talon market.

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    1. It really is awesome. So much better than Kensington, IMO. I still don't know why you left this place - but I do realize that the winter weather is a tough sell. (Not that it's all peachy in TO?!)

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