Utterly random Montreal brain droppings

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I thought that having remote rental car facilities was pretty common these days at larger airports, no?

Both of Chicago's airports do. At MDW you take a shuttle bus to get there (though you can walk the 1/2 mile outside if you really want to), and at ORD it's almost 2 miles away from the main terminal cluster and you have to ride the airport train to get over there.

Same at LGA and DTW. And last time I rented a car at LAX it was also like that, but it may have changed since then. Same for CLT.

[InlandEmpire]

It seems it's more typical to have rental car facilities directly adjacent to smaller airport terminals, but all of the larger airports I've been to - at least in the past decade - have their rental facilities away from the terminal. It's certainly much nicer to avoid the crowded busses if available.

Montreal is one place I'd really like to visit and haven't had the chance.

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by Velvet_Highground

Lucky SOB Bond I’ve only heard great things about Tremblant. Few of my buddies went on a snowboarding trip there back in the day & it was a measuring stick for trips we ended up going on afterwards. Definitely a place I want to hit up one of these days.

Maybe I'm jaded with the Pyrénées and the Alps, but to me Mont Tremblant is a- super cold, and b- not some real mountain, more like kid's stuff.

This is real mountain (the Pyrénées photographed by me 2 weeks ago at sunset, way above the sea of clouds):

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

But since I'll be mostly driving tomorrow I might as well check out some areas that are driving-friendly.

Many Francophone areas are car-centric (in fact most are). Laval and Longueuil are very Francophone, and are totally car-oriented.

And in those English-speaking areas that you pointed out I don't think you'll notice anything special driving there, given that all signs have to be in French, so they don't appear any different from the suburban Francophones areas like Laval or Longueuil.

In general the best place to "feel" the atmosphere of a place is the local supermarket. At a local supermarket in Laval or Longueuil you can probably feel how it is to be in North America en français, just by listening to other shoppers around you.

[Wigs]

Québec is blessed with many ski hills to choose from.


But thanks for posting that the Laurentides are not the Alps, capitaine évident

[New Brisavoine]

^^Just puzzled why one would come all the way from the US to ski there, that's all. I understand Montrealers ski there, since it's next door, but wouldn't have suspected a more distant appeal.

[Wigs]

James Bond is a new dual citizen, having received his Canadian passport only months ago. He's been choosing Canadian destinations to visit to get to know the country of his father's birthplace. Canada is one part of his ancestral homeland. He might decide to move to Canada one day.



Aren't you French? What is your attachment to Canada?

[New Brisavoine]

^^You're his attaché de presse ?

[Crawford]

I'd be more worried about temps on Tremblant. It's pretty cold.

At least it won't be super crowded.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

^^Just puzzled why one would come all the way from the US to ski there, that's all. I understand Montrealers ski there, since it's next door, but wouldn't have suspected a more distant appeal.

Been wanting to visit Montreal for years. I decided to do it in the winter 'cause it gives me an excuse to go to Tremblant.

Haven't gone skiing in about 15 years so I'll just do the bunny slopes. And since it's going to be really cold and start snowing in the afternoon I'll probably only end up doing a few runs anyway.

[James Bond Agent 007]

6. Graffiti. Montreal is the exact opposite of Calgary when it comes to graffiti. In Calgary I saw a small scribbling of graffiti on a highway sound barrier, and there was so little graffiti there I was like, "Whoa! Graffiti!" Here in Montreal there's graffiti scrawled just about everywhere one can access a place to scrawl some graffiti.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

Many Francophone areas are car-centric (in fact most are). Laval and Longueuil are very Francophone, and are totally car-oriented.

And in those English-speaking areas that you pointed out I don't think you'll notice anything special driving there, given that all signs have to be in French, so they don't appear any different from the suburban Francophones areas like Laval or Longueuil.

In general the best place to "feel" the atmosphere of a place is the local supermarket. At a local supermarket in Laval or Longueuil you can probably feel how it is to be in North America en français, just by listening to other shoppers around you.

Today I drove to L'Île-Perrot, where indeed I visited a supermarket (mostly to go to the restroom .... ermm, washroom). But I also wandered around the supermarket a bit to see how much packaging was in French, how much was in English, and how much was mixed. I don't think I saw anything that was French-only, a majority of things were mixed, and there was still a good deal of English-only packaging.

After that I drove over the bridge to Vaudreuil-Dorion, then got off the freeway and drove up Avenue Saint-Charles, which was actually a pretty nice ride, there's some quaint suburby areas along there. That said, it could also easily pass for a dozen places in New York, PA or NJ.

Then I went back to Montreal on route 40. I stopped in to the Royalmont mall for a while, which is the ritziest mall I've ever been to. I'll discuss it some more when I get to making some more retail comments.

[James Bond Agent 007]

BTW, at one point I took a wrong turn and got on some local streets that I didn't intend to. I was turning around on them and saw this:

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4378...oASAFQAw%3D%3D

Stop, not Arret.

[James Bond Agent 007]

7. Canadiens game. WOW!!! IT WAS FUN!!! Just got back from the game against Minnesota, and I could not have picked a better game to go to if I tried. It was almost worth the trip to Montreal just to see this game. Notes:

-- A. I think the smallness of the puck kind-of forces you to pay more attention to the game than in most other sports. Plus it's always moving fast. If you want to see what's happening in the game you really need to pay attention. I think this is probably one reason why a lot of people struggle or get bored with it on TV, but it's a different experience when you're at the game, you get the whole rink in your view and you can follow it better that way, rather than relying on a TV camera which constantly has to pan around. Plus, I had first row seats on the upper deck which gave me a great view.
-- B. Clearly a major appeal of hockey is its chaotic action. There are no "possessions" like in football or basketball. Since the puck is so hard to control, "possession" of it can change 3 times in 3 seconds.
-- C. The PA announcements seemed to be about 2/3 in French and 1/3 in English, roughly.
-- D. TWICE during the game I decided to pull out my phone and take some video of the game action, and these two times I did it THE HABS HAPPENED TO SCORE! First time was about 3/4 through the 1st period, and the second time was about 2/3 through the 2nd period. For that reason I consider myself personally responsible for 2 of the Habs' 4 goals!
-- E. With the game tied at 3 the Canadiens scored a bit of a freak goal WITH 15 SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME!! WOW!! That was quite the ending. Unfortunately I wasn't shooting video on my phone when that one happened.

[montréaliste]

@James Bond Agent 007/

You should come back often and attend more Habs games.

Suzuki needs more of your "assists"!

[James Bond Agent 007]

^
After me catching the 2nd goal on video, I was thinking, if I had season tickets they'd win the Stanley Cup every year.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

they'd win the Stanley Cup every year.

They kinda did that back in the 60s/70s.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by JManc

Make sure you have a bagel while you are there. Forgot the neighborhood but better than anything I've had in New York.

Mile End.

Make the pilgrimage to at least one of these places for the world's greatest bagels. Expect lineups.

St. Viateur
https://www.google.com/maps/place/St...oASAFQAw%3D%3D

Fairmont
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fa...oASAFQAw%3D%3D

And don't forget to go to World-famous Schwartz Delicatessen for the best Smoked Meat Sandwiches on Earth
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sc...oASAFQAw%3D%3D

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

7. Canadiens game. WOW!!! IT WAS FUN!!! Just got back from the game against Minnesota, and I could not have picked a better game to go to if I tried. It was almost worth the trip to Montreal just to see this game. Notes:

-- A. I think the smallness of the puck kind-of forces you to pay more attention to the game than in most other sports. Plus it's always moving fast. If you want to see what's happening in the game you really need to pay attention. I think this is probably one reason why a lot of people struggle or get bored with it on TV, but it's a different experience when you're at the game, you get the whole rink in your view and you can follow it better that way, rather than relying on a TV camera which constantly has to pan around. Plus, I had first row seats on the upper deck which gave me a great view.
-- B. Clearly a major appeal of hockey is its chaotic action. There are no "possessions" like in football or basketball. Since the puck is so hard to control, "possession" of it can change 3 times in 3 seconds.
-- C. The PA announcements seemed to be about 2/3 in French and 1/3 in English, roughly.
-- D. TWICE during the game I decided to pull out my phone and take some video of the game action, and these two times I did it THE HABS HAPPENED TO SCORE! First time was about 3/4 through the 1st period, and the second time was about 2/3 through the 2nd period. For that reason I consider myself personally responsible for 2 of the Habs' 4 goals!
-- E. With the game tied at 3 the Canadiens scored a bit of a freak goal WITH 15 SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME!! WOW!! That was quite the ending. Unfortunately I wasn't shooting video on my phone when that one happened.

Nothing like going to a Habs game. Montreal is the best hockey city on the planet. One of my classmates from High School is now the General Manager of the Habs (Kent Hughes).

Montreal is my hometown.

Other places to check out:
1) the Belvedere, atop Mont Royal (breathtaking view of Montreal). Go there before it gets extremely cold this weekend.
2) Vieux Montreal (of course) and the Old Port of Montreal. Wander the narrow streets. Check out Basilica Notre-Dame (Notre Dame Cathedral), Place Jacques-Cartier, Bonsecours Market, etc. Check out Place d'Armes, and nearby Rue St. Jacques (previously Rue St. James, the former "Wall Street" of Canada).
3) Just a few steps away from Place d'Armes is Chinatown. It may be small, but it is great: Pedestrianized, with great places to fill your stomach. Toronto's Chinatown is much larger, but Montreal's is much more charming.
4) for the really cold days, do Montreal's famous underground city. it spans a total of 32kms. You can walk underground across most of the central core (the most extensive contiguous section spans a huge U-shape, running from Peel Metro to McGill, then down to Place Ville Marie and thence Gare Centrale, then onto Place Bonaventure (forks there, but if you head east, you can walk all the way to Palais des Congres, which is adjacent to Chinatown and near Place d'Armes, then turn north to walk to Place des Arts). Part of the fun is the tricky navigation, and exposure to an incredible array of architectural styles (check out Bonaventure Metro station, my favourite). https://montrealundergroundcity.com/
5) Rue Ste Catherines. This is the "Fifth Avenue" of Montreal.
6) The Plateau-Mont Royal, and Mile End neighborhoods. Bohemian, trendy. The latter is the former heart of Jewish Montreal, and is the home of the bagel places mentioned in a previous post, as well as Wilensky's Light Lunch). Check out Square St. Louis and nearby Rue St. Denis (some good nightspots around here, including Pub Ste. Elizabethe). Lafontaine Park is nice in the summer.
7) Oratoire St. Joseph. The largest church in Canada, and one of the largest domes in the world. A famous landmark, on Mont Royal.
8) Jean Talon Market.
9) La Banquise for Poutine. This is the most famous place (although any greasy spoon will do: the greasier the spoon, the better the Poutine).

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

7. Canadiens game. WOW!!! IT WAS FUN!!! Just got back from the game against Minnesota, and I could not have picked a better game to go to if I tried. It was almost worth the trip to Montreal just to see this game. Notes:

-- A. I think the smallness of the puck kind-of forces you to pay more attention to the game than in most other sports. Plus it's always moving fast. If you want to see what's happening in the game you really need to pay attention. I think this is probably one reason why a lot of people struggle or get bored with it on TV, but it's a different experience when you're at the game, you get the whole rink in your view and you can follow it better that way, rather than relying on a TV camera which constantly has to pan around. Plus, I had first row seats on the upper deck which gave me a great view.
-- B. Clearly a major appeal of hockey is its chaotic action. There are no "possessions" like in football or basketball. Since the puck is so hard to control, "possession" of it can change 3 times in 3 seconds.
-- C. The PA announcements seemed to be about 2/3 in French and 1/3 in English, roughly.
-- D. TWICE during the game I decided to pull out my phone and take some video of the game action, and these two times I did it THE HABS HAPPENED TO SCORE! First time was about 3/4 through the 1st period, and the second time was about 2/3 through the 2nd period. For that reason I consider myself personally responsible for 2 of the Habs' 4 goals!
-- E. With the game tied at 3 the Canadiens scored a bit of a freak goal WITH 15 SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME!! WOW!! That was quite the ending. Unfortunately I wasn't shooting video on my phone when that one happened.

Nice. That's a great Montreal experience. It sucks you aren't there in the summer to visit the Atwater Market which is one of my favourite things to do, but hockey in Montreal is not to be taken lightly.