Day 40 - Rigeau(ish) to Montreal

(pics are up - do the usual)
Voyageur campground to MTL
94 km
Mainly sunny, overcast in MTL

Bonjour from la belle province, ou il y a tellement de belles filles, de la bonne biere, et aussi de la bone bouffe. Les filles, apparently they have a certain reputation over here, so I'll try to do some research (theoretical, of ccourse).

I am currently starting this entry even before I finish off my cycling. I am sitting in the St. Ambroise patio having the samples of bear. Tasty. There are no tours offered in the summer – too bad.

I was really lazy today. I think my body needs a bit of rest (sleep). In a few days, I'll be all caught up. I thought I might leave at 10 or so, but left the campground at 11:45. Nice relaxed, easy and lazy morning. I did end up chatting with a Montreal guy, originating from Czech Rep who cycles a bit. One of the stories he told me completely amazed me – he knows a guy who paddled from North-West BC to Newfoundland. The longest portage was around 13 miles (near Thunder Bay). Imagine that, water connects East to West. Plus, the accomplishment of doing such a thing. Incredible. Another story I heard from a MEC guy the other day was – he knows a guy, who could be the only guy up to date, that cycled across Canada in the winter. One day, in the prairies, after 4 hours, only did 10 km. Unbelievable.

Leaving the campground, it was a beautiful strip (Hudson, Como) into MTL. There are beautiful homes, correction: mansions, on that strip. After a while, I would be dumped onto Ile Perrot, where I expected to fight some traffic. Luckily, there were lots of detours due to construction on the bridge, so there was very little I had to battle. I did go by the Dairy Queen that I have always stopped at for the last 10 years when I go to/through Montreal. But, breaking tradition (call it a new beginning, or turning a new leaf), I didn't stop for a Blizzard.

In MTL, I get to ride on the paths all along the water, and eventually on the canal – which lead me to the St. Ambroise Brewering company.

I saw that last year on the ride with Tanya and Atilla, but it wasn't my trip to say “Stop! I want to drink!”. On the menu for beers over here: 1. St-Ambroise Blonde, Noir (Oatmeal Stout). 2. McAusland Cream Ale, Apricot Wheat. 3. Griffon Rousse (Red), and Extra Blonde. They were all tasty. The Apricot Wheat is a regular at my place. The Rousse turned out to be quite tasty. They were all good. Extra Blond was a plesant surprise too. Seems like they are a bit sweeter beers – could be the hops they use, or maybe that I've been biking a bit (things tend to taste sweeter after a day of riding). But, I haven't ridden that much today, so it must be the ingredients.

Next stop – the hostel. I chose the one downtown so I could go to a few different micro-breweries in the area, see the Bell Centre, and have some good food. I'll try not to stay up too late, or end up at those swinger's party.

(interlude. insert elevator music here).

I'm back. After a nice shower, I decided to hit something I saw earlier that looked like a micro-brewery. It was called “Brassiere (something)”. I sat down, asked what was on tap, and nothing was original (special). So, I actually had enough guts to say that I was going somewhere else.

I put in some Tom Waits (the more bizarre, yet great albums) on the MP3 as I thought it was appropriate. It makes me think of Frank the tank a bit. It was also appropriate for the city, as it gave me a freaky, excited and scary feeling (all mixed in together). For those who dont know Waits, it can be beatnik jazz, sort-of pirate music, singing over rhythmical screaming (as music), even melodic poetry over soft piano. It's everything. Great stuff.

I was walking up the street, and saw Peel Street. Great, I get to find the famous Peel Street Pub. I found it, and went in for a pint. But, I had to have some food with it (without ruining my supper). I found the smallest and cheapest thing on the menu – potato skins with cheese and bacon. What a misnomer – they were actual potato quarters with that stuff put on top. A bit filling. But, it all worked out well. For the beer, I had their house Red beer. I hope it's not recycled beer.

Afterwards, I had to burn off the supper to make room for the supper. I climbed up the street to reach the base of Mont Royal, then headed to a spot that Alex recommended. Some of you have read comments from Alex and were hoping that person was a girl (since they were saying things like “I love you”, and “I want you”). Mystery. Anyways. The micro-brewery “Le Dieu du Ciel”, quite nice. I tasted eight 6 oz samples, with the following names: Paienne Ale Blonde, Fumisterie rousse de chanvre, Corne du diable (IPA americaine), Gaelic Irish Cream Ale, Solstice d'ete – biere de ble sure aux framboise, la Basse Messe (Kolsch), Penombre (IPA noir), et le Peche Mortel (Imperial Stout aux cafe). Toutes les bieres etaient 5%, appart de la corne du diable (6.5%), et le peche mortel (9.5%). Je plannais d'avoir souper la, mais c'etait de la bouffe de pub. Donc, j'attendais a mon souper. Le lunch etait un panini Cappocoli, Provologne cheese, pickled eggplant and hot peppers, mmmm) en rentrant a MTL, drette avant que j'y alle a la micro-brasserie St-Ambroise. Oops, I just realized I started writing only in French. Maybe I'm a bit drunk.

Alright. After drinking close to 50 oz of beer, and a bit hungry, I headed towards home (close to an hour walk, as the micro-brewery was further than I thought). I spotted Schwartz, a meat shop that has been running sice 1928. I figured with a name like that and opened for that long, it probably had a good reputation, so I decided to have their smoked meat sandwich. That is the best tasting smoked meat I have ever had. So good. The secret is to have tons of juicy meat, and a very very little piece of bread. The meat has to overflow. I was eating while walking, and a chunk of meat fell on my arm. As I bent over to eat it, I dropped the other half of the sandwicch on the street. Shit. Now what. On to search for another meat place. I was also craving another beer, as I was beyond just having a drink to chill, and under being drunk.

I heard music near Ste. Catherine, as the Jazz Festival was still going on. Sweet – I get to experience it again. In the festival area, they were selling beer – your choice of Heineken, or Heineken, or Molson 0.5. Guess which one I took. So, I had to drink that one fast as I was walking in the streets and the edge of the Festival boundary was fast approaching. What do I see up ahead? Another micro-brewery: something with the number 3 in it. The Three Micro-brewerers? Anyways, I entered, hoping the kitchen was still open. Negative. I just went next door to have another Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich. It's Celine Dion's restaurant (Nickel's). I noticed they had beer there, so I had one. The sandwich wasn't as good, but the beer was better than the Heineken. Twenty minutes later, I finished my meal and beer, and headed for home again.

There's a church downtown that caught my eye. I decided to stop and take pictures. While focusing on the structure, I hear nine inch nails playing somewhere – a great instrumental tune. That was odd – nails, and watching a church. As I approached the church to take a picture, there were kids on the front steps who were saying sarcastic things such as “dont take a picture, jesus will come down and strike you”, “Jesus is a f***”, etc. It was funny.

While heading to the hostel, I spot a familiar face. I know MTL is only over 2 million people, but I run into “the Doc”. His father is opening and closing the Jazz Festival. Weird that I run into him in a big city, at 1 am on a Thursday.

Well, I finally made it to the hostel. I will now head to bed. I pretty much decided to change my travel plans for the next two days. I just will wait a bit tomorrow to see if I get an answer. But, I think I'll still go that route even though I dont get confirmation that they will be in that area. Being spontaneous – the way I have always been. Ok, that was a bad joke. As I like to say, “I plan on being spontaneous one day”.

Bonne nuit.

p2
(oops, longer entry than I thought).