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Had to go east for science geek business tomorrow.
So I took the Red-Eye 12 hours early, landed at Dorval at 7:30 in the morning...took the '747' bus into downtown Montreal and climbed the hill up past the Royal Vic and the MNI to see Bigger E. on her last weekend in residence.
It was a madhouse.
And melancholy in the extreme - at least for me. The kids themselves seemed to be pretty alright with it.
E. took me for a walk over to 'The Plateau' which is a hipster zone just Northeast of campus where she will be living with a bunch of kids next year in a chunk of kinda/sorta brownstone not far from the bright lights and happening scenes of St. Laurent.
Best of all though, we walked over to a little park with a bandstand with a chicken on top...Something to do with the history of the area apparently, and we played.
Not too long, and not too loud, but king-heckfire nice nonetheless.
Then we walked back to the residences, in through the backdoor past the Tam-Tams.
I helped her start packing (barely), and then left her to say real good-byes to all her new friends.
It really is a crazy, mixed-up world we live in.
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Typing this out on the train to OttaWash....I highly recommend it...The train I mean....Ottawa, not so much (although that's only because it always means the worst kind of grant review nightmare work for me)...And for the record, I'm actually saving the folks I'm working for money...Flight cheaper to Dorval; Train on my dime, upfront...So don't be goin' fittin' me for no BOdaHorns, OK?
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8 comments:
BOdaHorns
Clever, RossK!
I'm guessin' you weren't tossin' lit ciggy-butts in a trash can, either . . . .
There was a really special eatery on Parc one time a long time ago, called Patati et Patata, a French expression for "and so on and so forth", or "yadda yadda", except that it was essentially a poutinerie, with gobs of greasy fries, cheese curd and gravy piled into a basket, ut the basket was made out of shoestring potatoes, and you'll have guessed that the œuébécois palate figured heavily in the cleverness of the name. Two people ran it back in the winter of '98, both pimply-faced, though one was in his fifties, the other in his twenties, by my reckoning, and there was Led Zepplin in the time-warped air. Took my darling Erica there in 2006, there was construction noise, Heineken on all the tables, nary a pimple in sight, and out the door we went, sensing that perhaps the heart attack in a basket wasn't going to have the same cultural engagement that it had had the previous trip. I was back in April of '98 for another workshop and spent a good part of the Saturday helping clean up broken trees from the ice storm. Hundreds of locals and visitors were doing the same. Lovely people, lovely town.
Patati et Patata...gonna file that one for everytime I hear Bill Good
Bob--
Don't want the crawlers crawlin' all over me on that one, and I reckon that term will keep the bots away....
No butt cleanin' required - And thank the Goddess for that.
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Thanks for the memories Danneau - will have a look for it next time I'm there.
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IP--
Always glad when the comment threads can provide you with new and improved images with which to fill the theatre of your mind while listening to the good Mr. Good.
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Montreal is a fabulous city, the most fun city in Canada. I lived in Toronto many years ago and a joke around there was "Second prize in a contest was a trip for you and your wife to Montreal, first prize was a trip for one to Montreal."
A few years later I lived for a year in Montreal and it was vibrant. This was in the early 70's. Lots of great clubs music venues. I'm not exactly sure where you were but I was near Park and there were many great clubs at that time. Some have been shut down for various business reasons. Can you believe that? But there was lots of fun and much great music incredible night life as well as some day life. Maybe I'll have to go back. i did a few years ago and the clubs I remember have shut sown and one burned down. Can you believe that?
Anon--
We were very near Park/Parc.
Still lots and lots going on.
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So...
Go!
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