Oui, merci beaucoup!

Today, we departed a 4°C Calgary and arrived on a hot day in Montréal--they were having a 31°C heatwave. Our AirBnB accommodation had some trouble with WiFi and aircon but thankfully enough the day cooled down later on and keeping the windows open had been enough to maintain our comfort.

My family and I had a wonderful catch up with Jimmy's family at Café Myriade but it ended with a sudden downpour. It truly was my father's birthday as it usually does rain on his natal day! Mom and I let the rain pass us through by stopping inside Marché Ferdous, where we had some baklava, a sweet delicacy of filo pastry, honey and pistachios from the Middle East--its origins presumed to date as far back to the Byzantine empire.

We then bought some umbrella from a nearby pharmacy as we left ours back in Calgary, then walked back to our accommodation to change our clothes that got a bit damp and scoured the internet for a good place to have our celebratory dinner.

Luckily the rain did not last long and we were able to locate Hakata Ramen just down the road. We had a sake toast for Dad's good health and wished him for more birthdays to come.

As we were just billeted in Rue Crescent, we enjoyed a little stroll along this popular avenue of restaurants and pubs that were buzzing with life even on a weeknight. It was also interesting to note that some luxury boutiques and art galleries in a Victorian architectural setting can be found on the other side of this same street.

I was expecting to be predominantly surrounded by French speakers, however it seemed like there were just as much English conversations occurring around us. It was still very fascinating though.Read more