Montreal, June 2017 (Final Entry - Getting Cultured)
As has become a tradition in our travels at this point, Audrey and I try to visit at least one museum in whichever city we go to. When we awoke on Sunday morning, the first order of business was to get some breakfast, followed by a 20 minute walk from our AirBNB to the Fine Arts Museum of Montreal.
When we awoke on Sunday morning, the first order of business was to get some breakfast, followed by a 20 minute walk from our AirBNB to the Fine Arts Museum of Montreal.
Fortunately for us, our trip to the museum also happened to be the last day of a temporary exhibit on the works of Marc Chagall.
Chagall was a fascinating man and an impressive, multifaceted artist, capable of painting, sewing surreal costumes, composing music, writing plays, and much more.
After taking in the as much art as I could handle, we caught a cab to the Marche Jean-Talon, a well known open-air farmer’s market located in Montreal’s little Italy.
Although it’s open all year round, the bulk of its busy period happens around the summer. At it’s peak, Jean-Talon is made up of over 300 independent vendors selling everything from fresh produce to fish to meats to dairy.
The market is also encircled by a variety of other food businesses including meat and cheese specialty vendors, herb and spice shops, and several restaurants.
We decided to get lunch at one of these restaurants, Le Pourvoyeur.
We decided to get lunch at one of these restaurants, Le Pourvoyeur. Serving also as a gin pub, Le Pourvoyeur has a great atmosphere with plenty of alcohol, good food, and great music including hits from the 70′s and 80′s.
After lunch and dessert, we roamed around the shops tasting the dry cured meats, unpasteurized cheeses, and talking with some of the vendors about their shops. Later on we got on a cab back to our AirBNB to get an early night’s sleep before our drive back home the next day.
We woke up early on Monday morning to begin the 5 hour drive back to Boston. The route took us through Waterbury, Vermont, home of the original Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream factory so we took full advantage of the opportunity and took the $4 tour of the factory before finishing our drive back to Boston.