Something Old, Something New

I used to love taking Art at school!

When I was 17 years old, I took a stool and easel and sat in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal and 

painted this watercolor rendition.

My mother wanted me to get it framed, but I never did.

It sat in a cardboard tube for 45 years.

As we were staging our home, my husband came across the tube and asked me what it was.

I told him and continued on with what I was doing.

He gave me this framed painting for Mother's Day!

Priceless!!!

Scenes from Montreal

There are lots of old, beautiful churches in Montreal!

My mother lives in Westmount.

If you walk behind her apartment building and up Mount Royal, you can see an endless amount of gorgeous homes!

We walked up the mountain and saw an awesome view of the city!

We had to take a selfie :)

My daughter Vanessa and my brother Paul :)

We walked through a lot of woods, it was such beautiful scenery, at the edge of the city.

It was a lovely day for a picnic too :)

We saw the "Horst" exhibit, a famous Ferman photographer who designed many Vogue magazine covers and styled lots of famous movie stars. 

It's been so wonderful spending time with my family!

Montreal's Architecture and Statues

I'm home from Montreal now, and ready to get back to work sewing and blogging.

I walked a lot with my brother Paul, and did a lot of walking on my own while my mother was at her painting class.

Here is some of the beautiful architecture and statues I saw in the city.

This is the Westmount City Hall, taken from the inside of the car when it was raining.  It looks like a castle!

A beautiful church in Old Montreal.

This is also Old Montreal, the road is made of cobble stones.

Can you imagine someone being serenaded from this balcony?

Lots of copper on this edifice!

Even though Montreal is a large city, there are still lots of green parks.

We had our backs to the St. Lawrence river when I took this photo.

This is St. Jacques Square, the heart of Old Montreal.

 The weather was beautiful :)

That's my brother Paul from the back, he knows the history of all the buildings and statues in Montreal.

Corinthian columns and lots of detail.

Paul said that the gold building with the clock tower is his favorite.

In the distance, do you see the spires of the Cathedral Notre Dame?

Paris, France, gave part of their Metro gates to the city of Montreal as a gift.

We're out of Old Montreal and into the heart of the city.  

The building to the extreme right is called Place Ville Marie.

There is an underground network of shopping malls and restaurants under these buildings that goes on for blocks.

It's great in the winter when it's really cold and you don't want to go outside.

Take the underground metro and shop and live underground :)

Another church with many saints on the roof.

This is me and my tour guide and baby brother, Paul.

I love this photo of my mom, I took it on the sly!

This is where my mother lives, a beautiful, historic building in Westmount.

 Every year, their flowers are a different color :)

My mother's apartment is pretty spacious and has lots of character.

I hope you enjoyed my little mini tour  of my favorite city :)

Food, delicious food!

I am visiting my family in Montreal, Quebec.

My brothers Paul and Wayne, and our mom, Elizabeth.

This photo was taken at Miss Italian, a pizza restaurant we frequented, growing up.

We ordered an extra large with veggie on one half and pepperoni on the other half.

I was the bright one who said "extra cheese"!

I'm not kidding, each slice had half a pound of cheese, gag!!!

Despite the cheese, it was extremely yummy!

Only one and a half slices for me thank you ;)

Schwartz on St. Laurent has the best smoked meat in Montreal!It isn't pastrami, it's closer to corned beef, but not really.....it's Montreal smoked meat. You have to taste it to believe it!

At Schwartz', you have to share a table with other people, the atmosphere isn't very good, and they only accept cash. I have a secret to share with you... Directly across the street is a restaurant called "The Main." They serve the exact same smoked meat and fries, and you get to sit at your own table, and the ambiance is a little better. The Main accepts credit cards too.

Mom and I went to "The Maharaja", an East Indian restaurant. They have a huge buffet, with every type of Indian food you can imagine, even desserts!

Paul and I went on our annual walk together, which means miles and mikes of brisk walking, looking at all the architecture and historical landmarks. We are luch at a creperie in View Montreal, called "Chez Suzette". The crepe was good, but definitely not the best I've ever had.

 

Walking through CN station, I snapped some photos of this bread!

I have a thing for Macarons. These beautiful pink ones were huge and instead of frosting in the middle, there were raspberries! Yum!

Loved seeing all of these cinnamon rolls :)

 

Nothing beats Mom's cooking! She made some delicious soup for us!

I hope you've enjoyed my food experience with me. Maybe someday you'll be in Montreal and remember these restaurants :)

Au Revoir!

 

Montreal, a Walk and some Window Shopping

My brother Paul took me for a five hour walk up the mountain and down again.  This week, I will take you along with me, Montreal is a very interesting city!


Montreal is built on an island, surrounded by the St. Lawrence River.  We walked up Mt. Royal and on the way, stroll around Beaver Lake.  This is Paul, my tour guide.

On our way up the mountain, we walked along this beautiful trail.

We reached the top of Mt. Royal to see this gorgeous view of the city of Montreal.  You can see the Jacques Cartier bridge in the background.

It was a really hot, humid day, you can see the haze in the air.  The Champlain bridge is visible in the background.

We began our descent and found some dinosaurs!

Window Shopping

Vintage Shops

A changing room at one of the vintage shops.

On Wednesday, I will show you some more ♥