Fogged in at the Mont

Extremely good as we are at sleeping in, today we excelled ourselves. Whilst the apartment is brilliantly located in the centre of town, our street is exceptionally quiet and as such we didn't emerge into the grey metropolis until just before midday. Fully prepared for a big day on foot the first agenda was to head uphill... and then more uphill...... ever on towards the views known as Mont Royal which overlooks Montreal (suspected connection there... whatever).

As we tolled up towards the peak we could see a thick fog pouring over the hill. By the time we got to the top it had almost obscured the entire view with just a snippet of distance viewable to west. By the time we sat down in the impressive chalet for 1/2 hour waiting for it to clear it became so thick that it was almost impossible to to see the trees at the end of the path. It was interesting that the roar of the city streets was still clearly audible though. And so taking it on good faith that the views are impressive (on a clear day) we trolled back down the 435 steps, the slippery paths and the soggy dead leaf covered grounds back into town. All of this "mystical" landscape should be covered in snow (get used to this whinge over the next few blogs - there are a lot more pending) however all we got was a cold, foggy, soggy experience. On the bright side we did get some classic fog photo's and saw a squirrel.

The treck back through greytown led us to the Marie Reine Du Monde cathederal - which was very granduos (and out of the wind). Many words could be used to describe this building. First to mind is "Money has been spent here". Then heading off to the old quarter a slight detour showed us some slummy areas before we stopped in a café for a releaving caffine hit. Emerging into rain (which persisted for the rest of the day) we finally made it to the Notre Dame - modelled on the one in Paris (sort of) it is very touristy and certainly worth a look. Pleased that we could compare the two churches in one day as the first was serious - this was almost.... glistzy. Very photogenic though.

Giving thanks during communal drinks at a local micro brewery afterwards we reflected on the days undertakings and all agreed that even though the weather is not to plan - the town is looking pretty cool due to all their lighting efforts. And so at 5pm we trolled back in the dark, drizzled laden streets snapping photos of all the Christmas lights on the way to our apartment. Where we had a takeaway dinner (thanks to our tour guide and the internet) and a quiet evening in. Spent mostly planning our next adventures...