Sometimes a girl just has to turn her back on the brainstem, you know?
We were talking at work the other day about beautiful words: words that have their own intrinsic value as sounds, like "sycamore". Or "glioblastoma". Or "brook". We came up with quite a few, but the best remark came from a foreign doctor who remarked that "pus" was the best English word he'd ever learned. "Sounds like what it is and what it looks like. There's no question, when you hear the word 'pus', what the other person is talking about."
Apropos of nothing, United Nude shoes has usurped the place that Irregular Choice used to have in my heart. Any company that puts out a pump based on the Eames chair gets my vote. Unfortunately, I have no excuse whatsoever to buy even the least-pricey of their designs, as I just dropped a couple bills on some MBTs. They come highly recommended by the orthopods and physical therapists at work. Chef Boy's reaction was, "Do they come with training wheels?" No, but they do come with an instructional DVD, which kinda scares me. Still, if they ease my plantar fasciitis, they're worth it.
Pal Joey has a wedding to go to in Quebec City while I'm in Montreal this July. Anybody know of anything I should see or do while I'm there? Keep in mind that my French is limited, rusty, and slow.
L'Escalier Casse-Cou has a glass-blowing place and a few bistros where the food is good and the Fin-du-Mond is $3 Canadien.
ReplyDeleteIn lower Quebec down by the galleries there are places where an ommelette goes for a fair price. The galleries are hit-and-miss, but you might find a Patricia Ngyuen Minh-Huong cheap. They'll ship for free. Usually they're eager to make a sale.
Basically, Quebecois do not drink wine. They drink Trois Pistoles, Maudite, or Fin-du-Monde, and eat burgers and salads.
Unlike Montrealeans, poutin isn't that big. Brisket is everywhere, though. I've always avoided it.
It's a great city. Of all the cities on this continent, it really rates because of its walls, cultural fusion, and history. New York, Boston, Philadephia, etc, pale in comparison.
The restaurant at the top of Montmorency Falls is good, too.
Just sayin'.
In Montreal you can't go wrong with just about any of the restaurants on Rue St Denis. "Old Montreal" doesn't offer much in the way of wine, food, nor art. It looks really nice though, and you'll see Burchfield's "LOVE" sculpture way down by the tent market.
ReplyDeleteYou would probably really like the Chinatown section not far from Old Montreal, for dumplings and pork rolls.
There's an Irish pub near the Museum of Fine Art that's decent, too.
We've always went for "non-Canadien" foods while in the big cities there.
For example, "The Blue Nile" on St Denis is the best Ethiopean restaurant we've ever been to, and try the special coffee which they make at tableside. Divine, minty, muddy *strong* coffee!
Of course wherever you go you have to drink Quebecois beer like Maudite or Fin-du-Monde. Such a handicap!
Shrimpy, funny you should mention the tent market: the woman I visited in Montreal two winters ago just bought a condo near there. Wahoo!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward--a LOT--to Quebec City. Thanks for the tips.
And you're right; having to drink Maudite is *such* a burden.
juliet et chocolat on st denis in montreal - a chocolate and other sweet things cafe. mmmmmmm
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