Montreal

April 28, 2008 MONTREAL

We took the bus from Ottawa to Montreal at 8 am and we arrived in Montreal at 10.30 am.

It was raining heavily, so we couldn’t walk in the street. However, Montreal has a wonderful subway system and an amazing underground city. We bought the one free day pass, also called “la carte touristique” which allowed us unlimited accesses to buses and metro for one day in the city of Montreal.

Because we didn’t want to waste time, we left our stuff in the bus station’s lockers and we started our tour.

What did we visit?

Notre Dame Basilique. You have to pay USD 5 to enter there. At 2.pm there was a tour in English. We took that tour. The guide explained us the history of the Basilique and some curiosities. For example, in this church Celine Dion got married and in the small chapel his son was baptised.

Chapelle Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur. If you want to get marry here, you need to book one year and a half before.

After that we asked the guide what else we can see in a rainy day and he suggested walking through Saint Paul Street or watching an IMAX movie. We chose the first option, of course.



Saint Paul Street. This is the oldest street in Montreal and today is home to many art galleries, boutiques, restaurants and cafes.


Place Jacques Cartier : It was originall a market place , created in the 19th century and dominated a monument to Admiral Nelson.

City Hall or Le Hotel de Ville: The building went up between 1872 and 1878 and survived a disastrous fire in 1922. And it was from this balcony that French President General De Gaulle uttered his famous “Vive Le Quebec livre” in 1967.

Rue Notre Dame

Bonsecours Market. It was opened in 1847 and as the city hall until 1878. Now it is the house of some excellent designer boutiques. There we were not allowed to take pictures.

Place de Armes Subway Station.

Underground City at Mc Gill Station

We had dinner at Eaton Center

We went to the Hostel: Hi Montreal at Mc Kay Street.




April 29, 2008 MONTREAL

Luckily, it was not raining. My friends wanted to go to a museum but I didn’t. Sometimes it was very difficult to agree about what to see and where to go. We were six people, very big group, however, we didn’t need to be together all the time.

The day was cold but it was not raining, so it was my opportunity to walk all around the city. The day before we visited some places but I didn’t know where they were situated. So, I decided to go again to “Old Town”. Luckily, I met a partner. Byong Wook, who had arrived the night before, joined me that day and we went together.

We walked all day long. What did we visit?

Well, we started our tour at the bus station and we visited:

OLD TOWN

• Berri Street
• Notre Dame The Lourdes Chapel
• Molson Beer Compani
• CBC: Canadian Broadcasting Company
• Biblioteque et archives nationales
• Saint Paul Street again.
• Notre Dame de Bon Secours Chapel: we went to the top.
• Margerite Bourgoys Museum
• Marche Bonsecours
• Notre Dame Basilique
• Noel Eternel Shop where everyday is Christmas www.noeleternel.com
• Place des Armes

DOWN TOWN AND THE UNDERGROUND TOWN

• Holiday Inn China Town
• Palace dus Congress subway station
• Le Eaton Center

OLIMPIQUE STADIUM

• Centre Sportif
• Biodome

BUS NUMER 11 to MONT ROYAL

• Mont Royal -Point of View
  Montreal was name after this place: Mont Royal. The meaning is the same: Mont Real = Mont Royal

SAINT JOSEPH ORATORY

• We light a candle.
• Beautiful sunset view of the city of Montreal
• Beautiful night view of the city of Montreal