A little brush with Aussie fame... And more walking...
We had a slow morning as we both felt that we were coming down with colds. Around 9.30am we were out again pounding the pavement of Montreal (so much to see and so little time). Today's plan was to swing by Atwater Markets for some picnic food and then wander via the canal onto the islands.
This is the Runkeeper mapping of our stroll... About 10kms.
As we are always on the outlook for something new to see and walk through, we wandered southwest on Boulevard Rene-Levesque to Atwater Avenue where we turned south. We passed an interesting sculpture park squeezed in between 2 freeway ramps. No name according to Google Maps.
Before we did anything at the Atwater Markets, it was time for a cuppa. We had seen, and smelled, this coffee roaster and cafe last time we were there so this time we road tested it. Pretty good and strong coffee.
Of course, wild horses would not be able to keep Hans away from this fantastic Boulangerie. Another "Parisien" bagette to go, please.
Some cheese and pepper salami later, we continued our walk along Canal da Lachine but this time on its eastern side going north. As shown in earlier blogs, Montreal is still very much an industrial city along its canals.
To the right behind Di on the picture above is Weir No 2. The water was coming down good here.
Confirmation of the weir and that in earlier days mills used this fall of the canal to generate power for their operations.
A bit further along we encountered the Port of Montreal, validated by the blue sign to the right. There were quite a few semitrailers lined up outside, waiting to get in and load whatever cargo they were supposed to load. It did not seem like a super efficient system, rather crowded and too long to wait.
We just love the industrial landscape, in particular around ports and water.
We saw these sets of apartments from Old Montreal across the water and from a distance they looked dull. Up close, they looked far more interesting and if they would have painted each block in a different color, it would probably look quite spectacular.
The are gaps all the way through so some apartments seem to be held up by just small overlaps with others. Not sure Di could live there...
This Grey Crane looked very calm and peaceful at the water's edge despite a nearby tourist boat.
Self portrait with the Old Port of Montreal behind us (you can see the gold dome of Bonsecours Market).
As we were approaching Pont de la Concorde, a girl with a surfboard came towards us. As Montreal had not struck us as a surfing destination, we asked her where she would be surfing. The lady was first quite secretive but then revealed that there was a track behind the apartment blocks above that led down to the water and to her surfing spot. But don't tell anyone, sshh she kept saying. Sorry...
Well, up on Pont de la Concorde, you could see where they were surfing. Not really that much of secret then.
Here is Di on Pont de la Concorde with Pont Jacques Cartier in the background.
And Hans in almost the same spot but looking back towards downtown Montreal instead.
As we wandered down from Pont de la Concorde and onto Ile Sainte-Helene, it was clear that some big event was coming up soon. Lots of activity, fencing, security and a large stage as you can see behind Di in the photo below. We found out later that an Indie Rock Festival is on here this weekend (probably starts tonight).
Montreal seems to love festivals, they claim to host 100 a year. May be a summer thing to cram in as many festivals as possible before the seasons turn colder again.
Ile Sainte-Helene was the site for the World Fair of 1967 and in the background of the photo below is the Biosphere, which was the US contribution.
We found a nice picnic spot in the shade at Piscine Recreative or Recreational Pool close to the metro station on the island, where we enjoyed our lunch. We love shopping at the markets and the fact we get top quality food for lunch, like the Parisien baguette, salami and fromage, for a total of $10. Delicious lunch and relaxing.
OK, Di had some cherries too that she seemed to enjoy.
After lunch, we decide to check out Biosphere. As we wandered towards it, we saw 2 people on Segways traveling back and forth while being filmed. Hans was checking out the Segways while Di checked out their faces and she thought that the guy looked much like Wil Anderson of Gruen fame in Australia.
It is, nah, it can't be, no it is... we had to ask and yes indeed, it was indeed Wil Anderson and with him was Kitty Flanagan of Melbourne comedy and stand up fame. Cool. We both recognized Kitty's face but couldn't recall her name fast enough before Wil jumped in and saved us from embarrassment.
They were in Montreal filming a segment for the Just For Laughs festival. We asked Wil whether he was going to Edinburgh Fringe Festival after this but Wil had to return to Australia to film another installment of Gruen. We told him that we were big fans of Gruen and he thanked us for that.
Hans asked them whether it was OK to take a photo, it was, and he then jumped in to the photo almost throwing the camera at Di to take that photo of him with them. Celebrity hound! A small brush with Aussie comedy fame...
Self portrait outside the Biosphere.
Another photo just inside the shell. We didn't go inside, which a now an Environmental Museum, as we were sure that it would cost some $. We have already been to the "real" Biosphere outside Tucson, AZ so we didn't feel a need to repeat that experience in a much smaller scale.
Outside Biosphere and surrounding Di were display boards with great nature photos taken by a guy called Pierre Dunnigan, who we later checked was a Montreal based photographer.
At this time, Di was starting to fade a bit (cold tablets were wearing off) and we decide to call it quits and take the metro back home. The metro station Jean-Drapeau is very close to the Biosphere so we strolled there. This station was presumably also built for the 1967 World Expo and bare concrete was the predominant material and color.
OK Di, we will be home soon (note from Di - no I was not in pain just trying to avoid a photo... Note from Hans - that's OK, we let her get away with that)
Back at HI Montreal around 2.30pm where we had a break and Hans blogged while Di slept. After telling the world on Facebook about our brush with fame. Will we see Adam Hills in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival there? Or Jimeon?
Dinner and evening yet again low key apart from Di's cooking, garlic chicken stir fry. Amazing.
We were surprised how quiet it has been in the hostel's common room and kitchen in the last couple of days. One would think that 7pm would be prime time for cooking, but when we arrived just after that, the kitchen was empty. A few people arrived later, but it was nothing compared to earlier this week when there was a French school group here. Then it was busy.
From the wounded warriors (well, we both have colds now so early to room and bed), good night.
Footnote on Peter Dinklage, the actor: We saw him at Comedyworks last Wednesday night. We assumed that he would be performing there but, of course, he is in town for the filming of the new X-Men installment called "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (or HK project as we came across yesterday).
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