Montreal

We caught the overnight train from Moncton to Montreal, arriving at 9am. We left the station at 10.30am. It took an hour and a half for our bags to appear on the baggage carousel, thus breaking all known records. After about half an hour I wondered whether it was in fact a baggage carousel at all, but was perhaps a modern art installation. After an hour I started making dark cracks about Quebec adopting the French industrial relations model, and that the baggage handlers had a go-slow on. After 90 minutes our bags arrived, and we left to find a taxi – there would have been at least 50 people still at the carousel, waiting. Found a cab, our first sight of the streets of Montreal involved a picket line. I asked the cabbie if there was some industrial action in the railway station, which he confirmed. Apparently it’s summer, and therefore is the season for strikes. Just like Paris, I thought.

Got to the hotel but obviously weren’t able to check in as it was still only about 11am. We left our bags and went for a walk around Old Montreal (the historic bit near the river), taking care to remember our umbrellas - these came in handy once the rains came. Streets and buildings looked amazing in the rain. Visited the Museum of Montreal which is mostly an archaeological site, but the 30 minute AV presentation upon entry (which covered the history of the city from about 12000BC) was remarkable.

Following this, we came back to the hotel and checked in, then found our way to the Osheaga festival. It’s like the BDO but runs for 3 days; the day we arrived in Montreal was the final day, but Cathy thought ahead and bought tickets before we left. Given the weather still looked incredibly unsettled, we brought some cheap plastic ponchos before we went. These came in handy. We saw Tame Impala’s set, which began in blistering sunshine, but its ending ushered in the wind and rain, which were initially violent (and a bit scary) but then settled into a steady rain that lasted for the next few hours. I left my backpack and umbrella at the hotel, expecting BDO-style security, but Canadian festivals are very different. We got frisked on the way in, but that was about it. Many other punters brought bags and umbrellas, and I saw a number of people with hip flasks of spirits. Also saw someone selling shots of vodka directly from an esky, and there were a number of people couriering out massive trays of beer (with softdrink lids on, to keep out the rain and the mud) to the crowd, which meant that punters didn’t have to queue up for a beer provided they were happy to pay a $1 tip to the courier. A very good idea, I thought. Stood in the rain watching Bloc Party (they were on one of the smaller stages), then we went to walk back to the main stages to see Metric but there was a tsunami of people with the same idea, and we were funnelled over a very small bridge which effectively meant we missed half of their set. Still, despite the beastly mud and oomska (much of which is still plastered over my boots), we had a good time. The hotel shower was a welcome relief.

Yesterday morning we went to the Olympic Park area (Montreal held the Olympics in 1976). The stadium looks to have fallen into disrepair, but the tower which housed the torch is still spectacular. We went to the Botanic Gardens and the Biodome, where we saw a beaver (but he didn’t look very happy to see us) and some very playful and friendly otters which made Cathy very happy. We were a bit tired after this so we came back to the room to watch Canada get badly cheated in the Olympic women’s soccer. It reminded me of seeing Australia get cheated out of the 2006 World Cup by the cheating Italians. Still, there was an upside – as the game got deep into the second half and the substitutes began to come on, I introduced Cathy to the term ‘fresh legs’. Dinner last night was at a lovely vegan restaurant (Montreal’s only one, I think, which is a surprise given it seemed quite popular).

This morning we had a very late breakkie at Eggspectations (a name which doesn’t really work in French – oeufspectations?) then went to a couple of art museums, and had a bit of a lazy wander around the main shopping area and/or CBD. Today has been lazy but I don’t mind at all. We need fresh legs. We’ll go out for dinner tonight at a vegie restaurant, and probably not do too much else.