I <3 Montreal Theme Week: Le Germain

My phone camera kind of let me down here - which is too bad because the Germain has just updated its rooms - and they are really fine.

The website, while vaguely irritating, has some lovely, professional-style photos to review.

We stayed in a deluxe room with king sized bed - which managed to be large enough for the 3 of us with room to spare. Like 200 sq. ft. to spare. I wished I'd brought my yoga kit (though I improvised, you'll be happy to know). One must, after walking up mountains all day. (And eating all night.)

The service, location and atmosphere in this place means it's money well-spent. We used to stay here years ago (but the former room design, while nice, made everything feel very small). Our regular place was all booked up so we ended up back here and, gotta say, I think it will be my new regular place (as long as they continue to offer room rate specials / reasonable $ - the regular rates can be steep).

Here's a view of the bathroom (shower) visible from the bedroom - don't worry the blinds close:

M made me promise to post a pic of the mini-bar, which she loved, though did not sample from:

I needed to show the closet, because I really like closets:

The sitting area:

The king sized bed (M got her own cot):

Indian Summer

So we just returned from the most terrific weekend in Mtl. Totally spur of the moment - a brief respite before school starts and a way to break up the incredibly busy and somewhat stressful time I'm having at work. When I say that the weather was awesome, it was so fucking amazing I cannot stand it! 15 - 22 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. That's utterly perfect when you're climbing up mountains.

This trip wins the award for most Montreal-trekking (in approximately 20 years) because my kid veritably mandated a number of tourist excursions. Usually we stick to the walking and eating and shopping in the east (French) side. But we went kind of Anglo this time, trying a bunch of new restaurants and experiences. It was great.

Our most intriguing restaurant moment (though not the best, if extremely delighful) was half way up the mountain at a place called La Pavillon. It was oddly elegant given that it is niched in a public (albeit cool), Olympic-era building that is largely occupied by a cafeteria. Like abutting the chichi restaurant. Dicey proposition, dining in the middle of tourist-central next to a queue cafe, but it turned out to be an excellent meal at an instant of utter exhaustion and hunger. And, most hilariously, we ate at a table next to Gilles Duceppe and his wife. The average patron was older than Scott, M's and my combined ages, and tres properly dressed. It was a bizarre time culminating in a dessert of chocolate ganache, mounds of whipped cream, meringue and vanilla ice cream - a puff-ball combo about the size and shape of a bunny, which is to say huge for a dessert.

I've got a pressing deadline on Friday - the first of many between now and mid-November so it's likely I'm not going to have a chance to post for the next week.

Having said this, pls. stay tuned for some fun and maybe even transportative-by-proxy travel posts in the works, namely:

• Photo essay of the Mountain - including a trek to the famous cross

• Photo essay of the Oratoire St. Joseph (it's commercial religion at its consummate best) and Westmount - probably my favourite neighbourhood in the world

• Photo essay of Atwater Market - the best market I've ever been to, bar none - and I'm not just talking it up. It's world-famous! Oh, and I'll throw in a few shots of the Lachine Canal.
  

• Fun post about the shopping M and I did. It was brief, but very satisfying!
  

• Photo essay of the hotel room - not my usual place (it was booked, given how spur of the moment this trip was), yet a place I've stayed in before. I'm happy to tell you that it has improved immmeasurably with renovations - and it was a very adequate boutique hotel in the first place.
  

Hopefully I've hooked you! Please stay tuned.

I Wanna Live Here Too...

Here are some candid shots of the Gault. Check out the outrageous, beautiful design. If only it didn't look like a tornado had hit, I'd have taken a couple of photos of the room before we left. (Note to self: In future, take photos of room before the child enters.)