Thursday – Montreal

Today, we arrived in Montreal, the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec, the second largest city in Canada and the eighth largest city in North America. It is also the second largest primarily French speaking city in the world, after Paris.

With no tour escorting duties again, my plans were pretty much the same as for Quebec; a leisurely breakfast, a mooch around the city in the morning, and then make use of any available free wi-fi in the terminal in the afternoon. The Marco Polo is here for the whole night, leaving early in the morning, so there was no rush.

I emerged from my cabin at almost 8:30am, to be greeted by the lady from the cabin next door, who asked if I’d seen Susan from Shorex. When I explained that, no, I’d only just left my cabin for the first time today, she told me that Susan had been looking for me. As I turned the corner in the corridor, heading for the stairs, another passenger asked me if Susan had managed to get hold of me… I repeated what I’d said to my neighbour and headed for the Shore Excursions office. Susan was pleased to see me; she was short an escort.

As I was handed the dispatch sheet, for ‘Montreal Highlights’, I noticed that the escort instructions told me that I had to be on the quayside for 8:30am. No breakfast then….

‘Montreal Highlights’ was a coach trip around the city. Our guide, René was entertaining and knowledgeable, had a great sense of humour, and punctuated his accompanying narration with lot’s of ‘Ooh La La’s’.

Our first stop was to take a brief look at the Notre-Dame Basilica; North America’s second largest church (apparently), situated at the Place d’Armes, which is the place where Pavarotti recorded his famous Christmas Concert. René also spoke frequently about one of Montreal’s famous daughters; Celine Dion, enthusiastically pointing out where she got married and the 6 floors of the grand hotel in which her wedding reception was held.

Our second stop was to a shopping mall. Eaton Mall is one of several malls that are built underground. In fact, René explained that there are many large buildings and malls built underground, and connected by pedestrian walksways so that, in the winter months, when Montreal is covered in snow and ice, it is possible to go about one’s business without ever having to come out into the open air. Underground it may be, but I’m afraid it was still just a shopping mall, and 30 minutes seemed like quite a long time to expect 41 passengers to meander. Since the mall is on 6 floors (3 of them underground), and quite extensive, I was slightly worried as to whether 41 passengers would be getting back on the bus, and thought about what a headache it was all going to be if anyone went missing (not to mention the paperwork…).

Fortunately, everyone turned up, and we continued on our tour of the city.

Montreal is like any other modern city. It’s big, with tall buildings made of glass and reflections and traffic jams. As we drove through a small area known as Chinatown (again; something not uncommon to any large city), I chuckled at a restaurant named ‘Wok and Roll’.

René pointed out policemen on several occasions, and explained why it was that many of them were wearing non-regulation camouflage, or brightly coloured, trousers. He explained that the police are not allowed to strike, but were all wearing such casual clothing in protest against some new pay regulations, or restructuring of their working hours, or something similar (Underground Rail Workers take note…).

He also told us that there were a lot of white vans about because a film unit was in the city, filming for a new X-Men movie. He told us that there are many films that have been made in Montreal, including The Avengers movies and a TV series I can’t remember the name of.

Our final destination was Mount Royal, a triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city; Montreal is, in fact built on an island, and Mont Royal rises up in the centre, green and heavily wooded. No buildings in the city are allowed to be built any higher than Mont Royal, which stands at a lofty 750 feet above sea level. At the top, the coach pulled over, and we all got out to admire the view; a stunning panorma across the whole of one half of the city, which included a good view of the St. Lawrence River and the distinctive tower and dome of the Olympic Stadium.

We were back at the quayside for 12 noon; perfect timing for lunch (and boy, was I hungry!)

After lunch, I took my planned stroll into the Old Town of Montreal, enjoying the bouyant atmosphere as many visitors bustled their way around streets full of artist, entertainers and musicians (musicians are also entertainers, but you know what I mean).

Montreal has 180 festivals each year, and is currently preparing for a Reggae Festival. ‘Just For Laughs’ is an annual International Comedy festival that happens every year, and the Theatre Area is bursting with musicals and comedy at all times of the year.

Despite all of this, the Cruise Terminal is old and delapidated (not dissimilar to Tilbury then), and in dire need of extensive renovation. René told us that such renovations are planned for next year; in the meantime, they make do. Sadly; this meant there was no wi-fi on hand, like there was in Quebec). When it came to security, however, Montreal takes things very seriously. Despite the fact that everyone on the tour this morning simply climbed on a bus, were driven around the city, and returned to the Terminal only for them all to climb off the bus again three hours later, all luggage, handbags and camera bags had to be placed on a conveyor belt to be scanned, and all jewellery, wristwatches and even belts had to be removed before passengers were allowed through the walk-through scanner. A few folks took exception to this, but the security guards weren’t going to be pushed around. As someone pointed out; it was like going through security at Gatwick…

One thing that Montreal does have is a distinctive skyline. In the evening, when it was dark, I headed for the upper deck, to enjoy the sight of a cityscape at night. Impressive it was, too…