Did we mention that yesterday we were sure that saw Greg Evans (remember him from Perfect Match with Dexter) at the Montreal Airport?? Very exciting - we are such geeks!!! 
Bonjour from Montreal (Montreal is in the province of Quebec, the French Canadian part of Canada for those that didn’t know it). The Auberge de Jeunnesses (youth hostel – backpackers) does a great cheap breakfast. After some brekkie Tan and I soldiered through downtown and onto to Old Montreal. We stopped off at the Basilique (Cathedral) and checked out the tomb of some of the bishops, some frescoes and an altar piece much like the one in St Peters in Rome. The cathedral also had Jesus and the twelve apostles as statues adorning the façade of the building (once again like the Vatican). The paintings within and the history were far from that of the Pope’s church. 
Then another church, St Pat’s where the coolest thing was the squirrels in the car park. The Lonely Planet has a walking tour of Old Montreal, an area which we mosied on through. Another church, this time the Notre-Dame Basilique (the windows weren’t the same as Paris). If you want to see good churches go to Europe is our call not that we are aficionados and hang out in churches in our spare time. 
It was a mix of old and new and the bronze Inukshuk looked like it was dancing!
Near the third churches there was a small square, Place D’Armes, where the early settlers battled it out with the local Iroquois and another old building, built in 1685 and is now a seminary (and in state of restoration). Up the road was three different courts, old and new, and then the gently sloping Place Jacques Cartier. This was lined with restaurants and we didn’t break our rule of “Don’t eat in piazza!” Here there was a column dedicated to Nelson after his success in the Battle of Trafalgar and a riposte with a French one of Admiral Vauquelin opposing him. Hotel De Ville, now the city hall had a Verdi gris copper green roof. The garden across the road was a period garden and we had a few of the raspberries, not knowing this was linked to the museum behind it. 
Next off the cab was Marche Bonsecours, with a large silver dome. We looked at the shops and galleries and Tan fell in love with the fur coats. There was one for $3000 and a matching hat for $350. Honestly though, Tan doesn’t like furs at all. Walking the cobble stone streets and the French architecture did remind us somewhat of Paris and surrounds. Actually some of the souvenirs here they are trying to sell are absolute rubbish but then again most places including Australia are loaded with lots of tacky shite.
We stopped off for a late lunch of beer and wine. The service was crap, he forgot to bring out Tan’s wine and when we tipped low the guy complained. Oh well…. Next stop was the quays across the road. We watched two guys on jet skis rip around the calm water and could see the torrent of the st Lawrance river in the distance. It was quite turbulent. Across the other side of the water was these wierd looking houses that were stuck together like shipping containers though made of concrete.
Bonjour from Montreal (Montreal is in the province of Quebec, the French Canadian part of Canada for those that didn’t know it). The Auberge de Jeunnesses (youth hostel – backpackers) does a great cheap breakfast. After some brekkie Tan and I soldiered through downtown and onto to Old Montreal. We stopped off at the Basilique (Cathedral) and checked out the tomb of some of the bishops, some frescoes and an altar piece much like the one in St Peters in Rome. The cathedral also had Jesus and the twelve apostles as statues adorning the façade of the building (once again like the Vatican). The paintings within and the history were far from that of the Pope’s church. Then another church, St Pat’s where the coolest thing was the squirrels in the car park. The Lonely Planet has a walking tour of Old Montreal, an area which we mosied on through. Another church, this time the Notre-Dame Basilique (the windows weren’t the same as Paris). If you want to see good churches go to Europe is our call not that we are aficionados and hang out in churches in our spare time. It was a mix of old and new and the bronze Inukshuk looked like it was dancing!Near the third churches there was a small square, Place D’Armes, where the early settlers battled it out with the local Iroquois and another old building, built in 1685 and is now a seminary (and in state of restoration). Up the road was three different courts, old and new, and then the gently sloping Place Jacques Cartier. This was lined with restaurants and we didn’t break our rule of “Don’t eat in piazza!” Here there was a column dedicated to Nelson after his success in the Battle of Trafalgar and a riposte with a French one of Admiral Vauquelin opposing him. Hotel De Ville, now the city hall had a Verdi gris copper green roof. The garden across the road was a period garden and we had a few of the raspberries, not knowing this was linked to the museum behind it. Next off the cab was Marche Bonsecours, with a large silver dome. We looked at the shops and galleries and Tan fell in love with the fur coats. There was one for $3000 and a matching hat for $350. Honestly though, Tan doesn’t like furs at all. Walking the cobble stone streets and the French architecture did remind us somewhat of Paris and surrounds. Actually some of the souvenirs here they are trying to sell are absolute rubbish but then again most places including Australia are loaded with lots of tacky shite.We stopped off for a late lunch of beer and wine. The service was crap, he forgot to bring out Tan’s wine and when we tipped low the guy complained. Oh well…. Next stop was the quays across the road. We watched two guys on jet skis rip around the calm water and could see the torrent of the st Lawrance river in the distance. It was quite turbulent. Across the other side of the water was these wierd looking houses that were stuck together like shipping containers though made of concrete.
We come across a display, Le Monde Des Corps II, (Body Works 2) which was sold out. A woman tried to scalp us some tickets but Tan decided to ask if there was any availability. As luck would have it there was so we were going to see dead people. Nice!!
The bodies have toured the world and are corpses that have undergone a process called plastination which converts all of the body into a plastic residue. From here the bodies are put into poses such as kicking a soccer ball, skating on ice, or hitting a ball. With the skin stripped away you could see how all of the muscles worked in these activities. There were skeletons, a body where just the nerves were shown and most of the organs in states of age and disease. From what we saw – if you smoke, give it up now. Your lungs turn grey and the tumors didn’t look like fun. The best part was the parts of the body stripped away leaving the circulatory system. The arm had the shape of the arm with fingers but it was just the network of connected capillaries, veins and arteries. It sounds gory which it was but at the same time fascinating.
We walked back home in time for tea at the hostel. Tan beat me at pool but the table had a curve nearly as bad as the Kerrigan’s table near Tullamarine.
The bodies have toured the world and are corpses that have undergone a process called plastination which converts all of the body into a plastic residue. From here the bodies are put into poses such as kicking a soccer ball, skating on ice, or hitting a ball. With the skin stripped away you could see how all of the muscles worked in these activities. There were skeletons, a body where just the nerves were shown and most of the organs in states of age and disease. From what we saw – if you smoke, give it up now. Your lungs turn grey and the tumors didn’t look like fun. The best part was the parts of the body stripped away leaving the circulatory system. The arm had the shape of the arm with fingers but it was just the network of connected capillaries, veins and arteries. It sounds gory which it was but at the same time fascinating.
We walked back home in time for tea at the hostel. Tan beat me at pool but the table had a curve nearly as bad as the Kerrigan’s table near Tullamarine.
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