Montreal in April can be a sullen affair. Low hanging colorless clouds and cold gusts of wind and Quebecois in scarves smoking cigarettes. The architecture has a medieval look to it, everything grey and made of stone, which shines and looks frigid in the crisp Canadian air.
St. Lawrence Iroquoians gritted out the harsh winters at the foot of Mount Royal before the French arrived and established a trading post and put up all the Gothic stone architecture and the rest is history.Truly brave and hardy souls.
Everything now is very clean and polite. Take the metro from Old Town to Le Plateau-Mont-Royal and you will be amazed at the spotless , roomy cars and smooth ride up the hill and the most pleasant recorded voice asking you to please watch your step as you exit.
A group of four or five young homeless people had a short shouting match in Parc Lahaie and immediately the cops showed up and everyone kissed on both cheeks and promised not to cause such a disturbance again. Not quite the same as Brooklyn. It must get brutal being homeless in such a cold climate, head south young vagabonds.
What to do in a cold, rainy city for one’s anniversary? Stay at the boutique Hotel Nelligan across from the Notre Dame Basilica of Montreal and have gourmet coffee and croissant in the mornings and drink killer microbrews at Dieu du Ciel in the afternoons. Stalk through La Fontaine park to have mouthwatering poutine at La Banquise. Celebrate a bit and have the meal of a lifetime at Joe Beef and find out you love sea urchin and bone marrow and caviar and the charming blonde waitress who was probably six foot two and curvy as hell.
And get a hot towel shave. One of the best things a man can do on vacation is splurge on a hot towel shave. Leave your own shaving kit behind and instead kick back with three fingers scotch and smell the sandal wood lather and the rose water spritz and look at your new supple mug in the mirror when that glorious hour is over.
Definitely worth the price and trust me your wife will love it too. ‘Just try to keep your hands off dollface.’ So that reminds me of something else you can do on a cold rainy anniversary trip. Bonne nuit.
Links below of some of the places we enjoyed-
