Montreal Day 3

This morning a colleague from France joined our group for breakfast. We went to the same restaurant where we’d eaten crepes the first night because it was one of very few that was open before 9 AM. Breakfast was very good. I had a toasted baguette, brioche, and a bowl of hot chocolate. The omelets also seemed to be very good. The French guy had been to Montreal a couple times before, so it was interesting to get his opinion on the differences between Montreal and Paris. He didn’t think they looked at all the same because of Montreal’s skyscrapers. He thought Montreal looked like Boston or Philadelphia.

I took three years of French in high school, but I can’t say it’s been of much use to me here. I think I was expecting people to speak French with an American accent, but it isn’t that at all. The French guy confirmed that Canadian French did not sound like European French, probably like the difference between American and British English. Not only does it sound different, but there are some variations in terminology, and some expressions while spoken in French, are actually translations of American expressions and would not be said that way in France. There was also a bit of a twist noticeable even with breakfast: one could order crepes with maple syrup, and the baguette was served with jam and peanut butter.

After breakfast, four of us took a cab up to the top of Mount Royal. From there, we walked a loop around the top of the mountain, stopping at viewpoints, squirrels, and antenna towers. The guys were amused to discover that at the very base of the transmission tower, their phones had no reception. The view of the city was fantastic. It was a very nice walk on a brisk and sunny morning. A few trees were beginning to exhibit the first of their fall colors.

Next we walked down to an enormous church, St. Joseph’s Oratory. We took a few minutes to bask in the sun at the base of the structure before facing the 282 stairs. From the outside, I was expecting something ornate and European looking on the inside, but I was surprised by the modern interior. Construction began 1924 and wasn’t completed until 1967.