It just isn’t Paris, But it is a good Substitute! Montreal day 2

Another lazy morning, I played on the computer and got caught on the blog while Jodi caught up on her beauty sleep. I ordered a double pot of coffee so I wold have some real cream for my coffee, wow! It was more costly than a good Starbucks, but not as good even though it is touted to be Starbucks coffee. It was worth it though because apparently Jodi thought she needed a lot of beauty today as she slept for a very long time, and I was feeling the pinchers begin to grow.

When we finally got out and about, of course, food was a priority! We ended up at a little place called Pappillion, where Jodi had bruschetta she deemed good,which for her gives it at least 2 if not 3 stars! I had a roasted red pepper soup which I deemed good as well. After we wandered toward the Notre Dame Basilica, which we had heard was a must do. We made our way in and out of several souvenir shops. I purchased a red had which reminds me of one I bought in Paris. LOVE it! We went into one Christmas shop that reeked of a familiar smell that I could not quite put my finger on, which irritated the heck out of me when I figured it out. Let’s just say the staff seemed to he having a herbal essence sort of a day, and leave it at that. There is a $5.00 fee to enter the Notre Dame Basilica, which seemed tacky to me. I understand the need to keep the building up, but what about the church? I don’t know it just felt wrong to pay to get into a church, I don’t know why I am being so hard on them, I think we pad to get into Westminster Abby, but it did not really feel like a church, like this place did. Anyway it is lovely and worth a look. After The church I wasw ready for coffee and a snack, so we headded back to a little palce I had spied on the way into the old city. Dinner this evening was another French Restaurant, Alexandre and Fils, where I ordered Steak Tartare again! Jodi ordered a vegetarian panini, but to her horror it was made with rye bread and she only ate the guts. the restaurant was interesting in that they allowed me t0 try my $11.00 glass of wine before I purchased it, and they allowed me to taste my steak tartare as they were preparing it, apparently here they like it"hot" and had consistently asked me how I would like it prepared, this was a first though. A pleasant stroll back, stopping to purchase some music at a large store; where when IAFN was in Vancouver I first encountered Sarah Harner, I had to try something new again!

Transported to My Happy Place

I have not commented much on the Lang house B&B, which is crazy as it is the most expensive night of the trip. It is a big Victorian, and our room is charming, oddly enough the room that was available was the Fisher suite. There seems to be a theme here. The bed is holds a cloudy layer of foam, covered by lovely cotton sheets and just the right amount of covers to create pleasant dreams. The only down side for me is the lack of a bathtub, but the water was good & hot and there are luscious robes just waiting to be donned to keep that cozy clean feeling alive.

Breakfast is in a lovely room with red and paneled walls, floral tapestry covered chairs and moss green damask tablecloths. I am offered a small currant scone and my choice of the offerings of the morning! Hard to choose, but I decided to try the more seemingly seasonal Vermont apple spiced pancakes with, you guessed it, Vermont maple syrup. I am served and am transported to my happy place! Apples in a perfectly spiced pancake with Cabot Creamery butter and the aforementioned mentioned maple syrup. These heavenly morsels are accompanied by ham and some fruit. It is a perfect beginning to a beautiful sunshiny day! The only cloud in my sky is the fact that I may never have these lovely little cakes again as the proprietress declined to share her recipe. This I truly don't understand because I believe in sharing joy, even the joy of a recipe.

On the way out of Burlington we went to the waterfront, where we encountered a Navy Memorial and some lovely scenery, As we were leaving, in front of my very eyes was a April Cornell outlet, but it really did not have anything tempting to my financial ruin. Further on our way Jodi had me preform an abrupt stop so he could take a photo of an unnamed object. Anyone know what it is?

After my earlier sarcasm about the ever-ready presence of chain commerce, today Jodi wanted a Mango-Pineapple smoothie and do you think we could find a McDonalds in which to purchase one? Just before the Canadian border we did encounter one, where I decided to put my neck out there and try a carmel mocha. This carmel mocha the manager prepared a frozen version instead of a hot one. I might as well have let him serve me the frozen one, because at least the taste of the incredibly icky beverage might have been a little less intense!

I was all psyched up for a horrid border crossing, and it was painless. The Canadian guard had a sense of humor, which was nice! All of a sudden I realized that we were not in the middle of the mountains any longer, we were amid corn fields! The trip into Montreal was relatively easy, much easier that Paris. I think I only cursed once or twice on the way in.

The Hyatt Montreal is an interesting number, attached to a mall sort of thing. We parked underground, took the elevator to the Lobby of the Hotel on the 6th floor and then are on the 3rd floor of the hotel, which by my math puts is on the actual 9th floor of this building. As we parked there were these two older fellows sitting on a golf cart sort of thing, monitoring the garage. They told us that we had taken their parking spot, just teasing us. It was a charming first encounter with Montreal citizens. The room is pretty much what I would expect in a modern new hotel in Europe, which is not really a vote in it’s favor. While there are curtains across the entire wall, there is only a window about one third of the size of the wall. The bathroom is an odd shape, a reasonable size closet, has about a foot of space between the top of the doors and the ceiling. Regardless it feels good to be in a place for a few days rather than packing up again tomorrow morning.

Stead Tartare is omnipresent on my mind by 5 PM, and the concierge directed us to a place called Restaurant Julian. Thank God for our earlier interaction with the natives because we had a bit of a hard time finding it, and there was not an abundance of people that were willing to assist us. So it was a challenge, but it was worth the hunt. The waiter, a cute friendly bilingual fellow who brought an amusee bouche of fried plantains and a mango chutney, we both loved it so much he brought seconds! The steak tartare was among the best I have ever eaten, accompanied by a simple salad and pomme frites avec mayonnaise. We ended this feast with a cappuccino with the tallest foam topper I have ever seen and a simple creme brulee. The walk back was brisk, and we encountered a light show like i had not seen before. The cloud cover was low enough that it made round spots in they sky where the light met the cloud. An awesome way to welcome us to Montreal!

It was not easy getting out of the nice warm bed after being lulled to sleep by the wind last night in the cool New Hampshire Mountains. I love sleeping in the cold, but hate getting out of a nice toasty warm bed. But coffee and breakfast called, so up I got to a surprisingly toasty bath, complete with a heavenly bar of lavender scented soap. Breakfast was Tomato and Spinach Quiche and an english Muffin, Coffee and Juice. The food was good and the company better, I got to chat a bit with our crooners and that was fun, always gives some insight into the music. I wanted to take the back-road to Burlington today, so off we headed. I was concerned at reports of road closings due to the hurricane, and while there was some construction, however all the roads we tried were passable. The sun has peeked out at us off and on over the course of the day, making for some lovely scenery. We only saw one coveed bridge, and odly enough it was called the Fisher bridge! We stopped and created many a digital image.

Jodi, (I think I finally have her trained), spotted our lunch place, a little hole in the wall called the Bees Knees. It was one of those cute little places where the owner has taken an old brick building in a downtown area (though this was a decidedly small downtown area) and created an interesting environment with just the right touches, without destroying that old brick building feel. I had Corn Chowder and a Salad of field greens, cranberries, tomatoes, maple candied nuts, local goat cheese, and maple syrup vinaigrette. It was all delish! Jodi had her usual egg sandwich with her bacon “cremated” and they got it just right. The staff was friendly and it was a engaging place!

On the road to Stowe, we saw a house that was just a mess, we had to stop and take a few photos, there was a strange rock formation, trees hanging in a tree in the back and farm animals in the side yard. I had thought to stop at Stowe and it was lovely; but we did not stop until Jodi had another photo opportunity attack at a nice sudsy river. Outside of Stowe we stopped and purchased some Maple Syrup, I wanted some and after the Maple Syrup Vinaigrette, it was a necessity!

Burlington is another college town, and I was worried, but the Lang House B&B is placed in a quiet area near the downtown area. The view driving down main street was of Lake Champlain, which we agreed requires a look-see. After checking in and a short nap for Jodi, we went in search of sustenance. Church street is a pedestrian area of restaurants, shops and some tourist info. We settled on a French, which Jodi knew says she knew was in her future when the Lang House Hostess mentioned it. I long for this sort of establishment at home. Leuings has the traditional French brasserie feel and the menu made my decision challenging. I settled on the Roasted Cranberry & Red Currant Chicken Statler which is a Chicken Breast Stuffed with Cranberry & Red Currant Compote, Apple, with Vermont Smoke & Cure Bacon & Cabot Cheddar Risotto Served with Sautéed Baby Spinach for a mere$27 . Jodi had the Beef Bourguignon described as Beef Tips Braised in Red Wine, with Smoked Bacon, Pearl Onions, Carrots, Celery & Button Mushrooms, Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Haricots Verts ( green Beans) and $25 I got the mushrooms! It was killer good, and we needed the uphill climb back to work of a couple of the calories prior to bed!

A Blaze of color and Kelly

We woke to a beautiful sunny but blustery day. The water slapping hard on the seawall made beautiful music to our ears. I had an encore petit dejeuner of yesterday and then we were off. We are seeing a change in the foliage already. Lunch is in a little LOCAL pizza joint called Vinnie's pizzeria. Where they sell by the pie or by the slice, it appears to have been around a while and they clain award winning pizza.

On our way to a repeat performance of Blaze and Kelly, Jodi made me listen, over and over to the CDs we bad purchased at their concert earlier in the week. So we drove admix the splendor of the fall New Hampshire foliage. Our eyes feasted on green & browns sprinkled with burgundy, peach & yellow while we absorbed the beautiful melody these two women create. I like to take the back roads but that damn Delores (aka Garmin) really prefers the freeway. So she & I fought amidst the beautiful sights and sounds all the way here. I talk to her like she is real and I wonder what Jodi thinks of that.

Our B&B seems the most authentic we have visited so far, in that, I think it has been an inn of some sort a very long time. We sat in front of a toasty fire last night. I knitting & Jodi contemplating, while we waited for the concert to begin. What a pleasant way to pass a fall evening. The music of Blaze and Kelly was even more enjoyable for me this time because I had a frame of reference for the music that way coming our way. Sigh