Friday, July 29, 2005
The heart of Montreal;
Our Pierre et Cecile

We met with our dear friends yesterday afternoon, became reacquainted by taking long walks along the rapids of the St.Lawrence River, chatting in their lovely condominium in the nearby community, Lachine, and then returned to the city for dinner. In advance they reserved for the exquisite La Prunelle, a charming French restaurant in the delightfully upscale Plateau Mont Royal. Yes, there were yuppies all around,but we drank and ate for three hours, ignoring the arrogant, youthful, handsome, wealthy brats. The dinner was divine.

Before noon on Friday we rendezvoused (pardon our French) at the Parc la Fontaine and strolled for hours. Our path took us through the universities, old Montreal, the old port, and then an outdoor lunch at the lively Place Jacques-Cartier. We watched as more than a hundred cyclists finished their ride for charity from Toronto, a distance of four hundred miles. Alas, we were a day early for the Divers/Cite parade, a cultural festival for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride.

Montreal is a city so vibrant it will not stand still while you try to describe it. She is the very best of Paris and New York, but so much less taut. And the girl watching is also very nice.




We even treated our friends to a visit of the Pointe-a-Calliere, the fine museum of archeology. Although much of it was as exciting as a Corian countertop, a very small but enchanting exhibition on floor two, entitled Montreal Love Stories, will forever embrace the essence of our visit. A lilt, popular in the childhood culture for French schoolchildren, was playing and Pierre and Cecile sang along softly;

"Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamars je ne toubliern..."

"Long I have loved you, I will never forget you...."