It was another beautiful day weather wise in Montreal. We have been so fortunate because it has been perfect walking weather every day. Low twenties, sun and not too humid. I have been loving the warm evenings.
We had breakfast with Mark before he headed to work and then we walked to Rue St. Catherines for a little retail therapy. I saw several things I liked, but the prospect of either carrying them or mailing them home limited my purchases to things for Mark. I need to come back to Montreal with an empty suitcase.
The focus of the day was lunch at Laurie Rafael. It was an incredible experience. We were over two hours at the restaurant enjoying a feast. We tried to remember to take pictures of all the courses but missed one. You will have to imagine that one. The real fun in it for me was the round window into the kitchen where I could see Mark at work. This is the first opportunity we have had to enjoy his professional cooking, as opposed to the feasts he has prepared in the home kitchen, and wow, was I impressed. Remember though, mine is not exactly an objective opinion. The atmosphere was perfect as well. The restaurant is beautiful and the servers were professional...even when Keith spilled his full glass of water. This was out of character for him, as it is usually me spilling things, red wine being my favourite. I was horrified as we were already somewhat underdressed, but we had the giggles too. They had the linen changed in a wink, and Mark wasn't any the wiser that his parents tried to mortify him.
We were able to have a tour of the kitchen at the end of the meal, and then spend time with Mark, who had a break before starting to prep for dinner. Today will be about twelve hours in the kitchen for him. Good thing he loves it.
Then there was a little more retail therapy and some shopping around for Euros. That done, we wandered happily up St. Denis, and back to the apartment to get organized for tomorrow. Currently most of our clothing is in the washing machine. The last time it will have such treatment for a bit I think. Hand washing here we come.
Our flight tomorrow isn't until 9:30 PM, and Mark has the day off, so there will be a little more fun in Montreal before we head to the airport.
We continue to be impressed with the bike infrastructure in Montreal.
We were not even tempted to choose the last wine on this list! The wine list was pages and pages long. We had a lovely red Bourgogne chosen for us by the maitre d' to complement the meal.
Next course, foie gras. Now I understand why Mark felt the foie gras I tried a few days ago at a wine tasting in Old Montreal wasn't that great. This was amazing.
Here is where we accidentally ate a course before we took a picture. Keith had lobster bisque with prawns and I had pigeon (a first for me) but we gobbled it up before we remembered. I didn't get the lobster bisque because chef knew I am allergic to lobster. The picture is of halibut with zucchini flowers among other things and teeny baby zucchini on top. Again, just mouth watering.
Tomorrow we will explore Montreal for one last day, and then head to the airport in the late afternoon. I am going to write the blog, but don't know when I will be able to post it.
