Montréal Vacation 2011- Day 1

After our long drive yesterday we were all pretty keen to get around and walk somewhere. We started the day by going to a local café called the "Café Imagination" (Didn't have to get our dictionary out to read that one). It was pretty good apart from how hot the room was.

 I was trying to get a shot of the interpretive artwork and unique, jazzy decor but it was blocked by a tired, depressed girl due to lack of mushrooms on the menu. 

For the record, I would like to point out how most of our conversations go when we walk into a restaurant. It always amuses me and goes something like this:

Hostess: Bonjour. Combien personnes pour le déjeurner aujourd'hui? 

My mother: Hi. 4 please.

Hostess: -starts speaking in perfect English like nothing happened-

Never gets old.

After breakfast, we took the Métro for the first time to the Montréal Biodôme and the Olympic Stadium. We didn't bother going up the lift thing at the Olympic Stadium but the Biodôme was impressive. It's basically a giant horseshoe-crab-shaped building that is split into different ecosystems for those of you who were curious. The first ecosystem we encountered was the tropical rainforest and it was clearly the most impressive (and most humid). The animals were also by far the most impressive.

Trying to navigate the Métro.

Capybara. New favorite animal? YES

Awesome oiseau rouge

The next section was the Deciduous forest section (which is basically what we live in). We should have offered to donate a few chipmunks being as we have more than enough to go around!

The main attraction of this section.

I think the one on the top was winning.

 The next section was the "Golfe du Saint-Laurent" section... so basically it was just local fish (not too exciting) followed by the Arctic section which lack a certain polar-bear-esque that I feel it needed.

The gulf exhibit.

PUFFIN

We think he was meditating.

After our day at the:

... we took a stroll through China town, saw a few good restaurants and found our way to the Basilica on Rue Nortre-dame. It was an enormous church that was so ornate and intricate down every last detail that pictures cannot do it justice.

China Town. 

The Basilica.

Ornate Staircase.

We finished off the day with a meal at the "Factory bar and restaurant" not far from our hotel. Tomorrow we'll be going up some big mountain of some sort (weather permitting of course) so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!