Montreal

On the menu at lunch today they offered 'Warm Bree with a baguette and caramelized pears.' Yummmm.  I didn't order it.  I was doing the touristy thing, walking around the city; I thought that a lunch consisting mostly of soft cheese might not sit so well for the rest of the afternoon.  What I should have done was order the bree and a glass of wine, and spent my afternoon hanging out in this beautiful back terrace.  It had ivy-covered bricks walls, trees decked out with fall leaves and Campari umbrellas over wooden tables.  There were even heat lamps and ashtrays. And my kindle was in my purse.  Right? I'm such a jackass.  Hopefully I'll get better at making these type of decisions as my travels continue.

Instead I kept walking and ended up at the Basilique Notre-Dame.  During my two years in Italy, I overdosed on churches. Now I tend to find their design and art inevitably dull compared to the ornate Roman ones, and I got my fill of even those years ago.  But it was cold, so I headed inside.  I feel strongly that churches should not charge admission.  Request a donation? Fine.  Sell your postcards while having a no-photo policy? Sure. Charge for tours? Perfect.  There are lots of ways to raise money with out a visitor admission fee.  Ornate churches were originally designed specifically to attract visitors and pilgrims who might then became congregants.  That was the whole point! So when I opened the door into a ticket office and was asked for $5, I almost turned around on principal.  But I realized that I hadn't actually 'visited' anything yet.  In Saratoga Springs I had wondered around and went shopping; in Montreal I had wandered around and eaten.  It was time to actually go inside a building with some cultural significance.  (Plus, I'm already hemorrhaging money so what's another $5? And Canadian dollars at that!)

I'm glad I did, because I was blown away. The church is gorgeous and absolutely worth visiting, even with an admission fee.  I took tons of pictures, so see for yourself in the slideshow on the right.  (Have you noticed?  I've been adding sidebar widgets like crazy.) One fun thing was seeing an alter to Marguerite d'Youville (a little googling to remember her name just now), who was the first Canadian born saint.

In 1990, my father dragged me to the Vatican to watch John Paul II canonize her -- he thought it would be a good, catholic, learning experience for me.  I knew that all masses at the Vatican last for hours and that it is a lousy way to spend a sunny, weekend afternoon.  My dad's loving response to my bitching was, "this is great -- torture a teenager, go to church and it's educational to boot."  When we got there, the Canadians were out in force and St. Peter's Square was packed with members of her religious order, known as the Grey Nuns.  It was a sea of women in grey habits, most of whom were unable to get tickets into the Basilica.  I vividly remember my 18-year-old-self thinking, 'look at how young they are.' I was astonished that a girl my age would commit herself to the life of a religious.  It was eye-opening.  The piazza was so crowded I was sure that we would never get past the slightly hysterical mob of nuns, but my father flashed his press credentials to a Swiss Guard and we were inside.  Another Swiss Guard escorted us up to the front near the alter and coincidentally sat us right next to my best friend from school and her family.  The Wrights are Canadian (Dad was/is a diplomat) and Jewish.  They were utterly excited and basically pretty confused.  I had a hoot at the mass sitting with Mrs. Wright as she analyzed the service point by point.  "I really like the hand shaking and 'peace be with you' part. What a nice thing."

After visiting the church I went to the Contemporary Art Museum, which I regret.  I just don't... get it.  I don't need to see a diorama of Bonobo monkeys having sex or see a light installation of a tissue box.  There was one piece I liked: it was a video instillation of a statue.  The artist has taken still videos of the bronze figures in an outdoor statue and then regrouped the figures together, but each represented on an individual tv screen.  The statues stand still in the videos, but behind them you see the traffic and other park life. I'm not explaining it well, but it is oddly memorizing.