I just woke up and took a short walk to the train station below my hotel. The station actually has quite a nice market and food court which includes coffee shops, food court style restaurants, convenience stores and even a wine shop.
I headed for the bakery...
At the bakery I eyed up every thing in the case and selected a chausson au pomme and a date-orange muffin. OK, I am a hog. I also picked up a cup of coffee at Canada's answer to Starbucks, a cahin called "The Second Cup". I am not suppose to be drining coffee right now because I am bleaching my teeth, but I really need the "pick me up".
This morning I am eating my breakfast on the nightstand in my room as I wanted to type this post and prepare for my day. It is bright and sunny outside, the temperature is cool and the hunidity is low. What a perfect day for...
SHOPPING!
Believe me Montreal has more shops than anywhere I can remember in my recent travels. Not only are there ton of shops at street level but in the downtown area you can get lost in the "underground city" which is a sprawling complex of connected underground shopping centers. Yesterday I was quite far from my hotel and it started to rain so I went underground (like a rat) and navigated my way through the passages and tunnels all the way back to my hotel.
Back to breakfast...
The chausson au pomme I ordered is really delicious, one bite and I was back in "i heart paris" eating my breakfast at a boulangerie in Le Marais. The muffin was good too. It wasn't really a cakey type muffin but was sort of natural and fresh flavored. It really spiked with the tatse of orange and had anice caramelized top. The coffee from The Second Cup was good too. Not as nasty as Starbucks.
Did I mention that yesterday I had the most delicious chocolate filled almond macroon? Well, it wasn't as good as in Paris, but it was the next best thing. I got it at a chain bakeshop but I can't remember the name.
In addition to the macroon I also had a few other sweets yesterday. While in the touristy "Vieux Montreal", I stopped in a place that specializes in maple syrup products. I had a maple syrup flavored ice cream that had a great flavor and a shortbread biscuit topped with maple syrup flavored icing. How do you spell...
S-U-G-A-R-H-I-G-H ???
Anyway, I had a nice time walking through old Montreal and even though it is pretty, it's a big tourist trap. I wouldn't recommend eating here unless you know of the few places that actually don't rip you off. Do your research.
While in old Montreal I did buy one of those little watercolors that you see being sold on every sidewalk in every big city in the world. For C$10 I got a tiny little watercolor of Montreal's Hotel de Ville which is the city hall. Wherever possible I always pick up these little tokens and have them nicely framed for my home gallery. Unfortunately it usually costs a small fortune to have them matted and framed but they do bring back memories at each glance.
OK, the day is waiting...
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