Parc Jean-Drapeau

Parc Jean-Drapeau is situated in the middle of St. Lawrence River. It spreads across two islands: Île Notre-Dame and Île Ste-Hélène. The tourist booklet reckons the best way to get around the island is by bicycle. Since I don’t cycle, I took the Metro to Jean-Drapeau station and used the traditional method of getting around, by foot.

The main attraction is the Biosphère Environment Museum. Its spherical dome is a former US pavilion in the ’67 World’s Fair. As you can tell by the name, the main focus of this museum is environment, primarily water.

I did not bother paying $10 to get in. So all I have is a picture of the exterior.

Right beside the Biosphère stood the Ecoological House. It was built by several university students for the 2007 Solar Decathlon competition. The 2 main elements of the house are the solar panels and the green wall. The solar panels consists of photovoltaic panels which converts light into electricity and thermal panels which converts light into heat. The green wall is a vertical structure of a garden, which is purposed for maximizing the garden space. Brilliant idea!

The other parts of the island such as the Musée Stewart (Stewart Museum) and La Ronde Amusement Park are only opened late May / early June. I should have picked this up from the travel booklet to save walking a few hundred kms.

There is a bus service from Île Ste-Hélène, right outside the Metro station to Casino De Montréal (Quèbec’s largest) in Île Notre-Dame. A major part outside the casino is under construction, so I did not manage to get a good picture.

A Formula One racetrack can also be found in Île Notre-Dame.  It is used by cyclists and in-line skaters during non-racing season. 

Read more...

Mont Tremblant

Dan & his colleagues decided to hire a car during the weekend to go somewhere out of Montréal. They decided to check out Mont Tremblant based on the recommendations of their local Canadian colleagues.

Mont Tremblant is the highest peak in the Laurentians. It is located in the North-West of Montréal which is about 2 hours drive away. It is the favourite ski destination for the locals.

The scenery? Absolutely breathtaking!  

We were introduced to this local dessert called “Beavertails”. It’s basically an oval-shaped flattened doughnut with toppings. Definitely fattening and full of calories!

I was too eager to take a bit that I did not manage to take a picture.  If you would like to see what it looks like, check out their website: http://www.beavertailsinc.com/

Correction (28th May 2010): I just realised Dan took a picture of this, so this is how it looks like.

Read more...

Bread making class at L'École du Pain

One of the highlight of my trip is attending a bread making class. Knowing that Montréal has a strong French influence and the main food is bread, I decided to learn from the expert. Most of the cooking classes I found online are conducted fully in French.

After a bit of research, I found a place that offers baking classes in English. I signed up for a class before coming Montréal without realising how far the place was from Montréal.
It takes 2 metros and 2 buses to get to the place. To add to the excitement, I don’t speak French and have never caught a bus here. It was rather nerve-wrecking, but I thanked God that the bus driver understands English and I arrived safely at the place.

While the lesson was about to start, I found out that the other 5 students were French speaking. The teacher decided the lead the class in French. Occasionally he translated the important parts to English for my benefit. It was a bit challenging for not being able to fully understand what was said by the teacher. Thankfully, the class was very structured and I could easily follow the other students.

We started off with making the country bread. It took 2 ½ hours for the fermentation to complete, with an occasional fold through every 20 minutes. The teacher showed us the correct method of shaping the dough which was very helpful. While waiting for the fermentation, we started working on the next batch of dough, the sweet dough used for making Brioche. It was nowhere near as complicated as the country bread but still require a bit of time to ferment. Finally, we moved on to the French bread (Baguette) after lunch. The process of making the different dough is quite similar. The main difference would be the ingredients used for each one.

Six hours later, all the breads were out of the oven. We had plain country bread, oat country bread, pecan country bread, French baguette, chocolate brioche and raisin brioche. We left the place with the fruits of our labour. I can honestly say that I have never owned that much bread in a single day!

You can check out their website for more information on the courses available: http://www.lecoledupain.com/

Read more...

Montréal Botanical Garden (Jardin botanique de Montréal)

The Montréal Botanical Garden is located right near the Biodôme and Olympic Park. It is free to stroll around the garden but it costs $14 to visit the Insectarium. I have decided to give it a pass since I am not a big fan of insects.

The 75-hectre site garden has over 30 thematic gardens, 10 exhibition greenhouses, Tree House and Arboretum. I did not manage to visit the entire area as my feet started to sore from too much walking. I only found out later that the best way to view the entire garden is to catch a Mini-Train.

With Tulips being in season now, the front yard to the Garden is covered with bright red and pink tulips.

The Perennial Garden is also filled with big and colourful tulips. Red, Maroon, Yellow, Orange, Purple, Pink, White and all the beautiful colours you can think of.

My favourite is this yellow Tulip. Not sure what it is called but the intricacy of the petal definitely caught my attention.

I have also come across this interesting heart-shaped landscape of Spanish Thrift.

My other favourites are the pink peonies. Yes, I’m a pink person and anything that is pink draws my attention.

Overall I enjoyed the lovely sight of the Botanical Gardens.

Read more...

The Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal (Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal)

The Notre-Dame Basilica, located in the streets of Old Montréal presents a wealth of exquisite details in its design.

The grand exterior is complemented by the two towers, known as Montréal’s Twin Towers. La Persévérance (Perseverance), the nickname for the west tower housed a single massive bell weighing 11 tons (11,000 kilograms). La Tempérance (Temperament), the nickname of the east tower, on the other hand, houses a carillon of 10 bells.

The grand exteior with the twin towers

“The church's Gothic Revival architecture is among the most dramatic in the world; its interior is magnificent and colourful, its ceiling is coloured deep blue and decorated with golden stars, and the rest of the sanctuary is a polychrome of blues, azures, reds, purples, silver, and gold. It is filled with hundreds of intricate wooden carvings and several religious statues. Unusual for a church, the stained glass windows along the walls of the sanctuary do not depict biblical scenes, but rather scenes from the religious history of Montreal.” (Wikipedia)

The magnificent interior

The organ is another amazing feature of this place. It has 4 keyboards, 99 stops and approximately 7000 pipes. There was a performance going on during my visit  and it sounded astounding!

The organ

One downside of travelling alone is that there is noone to take a picture of me. I managed to find a table high enough to stand my camera on timer. :)

Entry is free for those attending religious services, but it costs $5 for visitors. It is not too expensive considering its remarkable interiors.

More information is available from the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal website: http://www.basiliquenddm.org/en/basilica/
Read more...