First stop - caffeine from Tommy located in the opulent yet quaint British Empire Building. This is becoming a welcome tradition - we sip exquisite coffees and plan our day and the girls get a little break with their pastries and electronics.
We wandered the streets and grabbed Montreal smoked meat for lunch at the famous Schwartz's Deli. There are many delis that serve this local delicacy but according to many, this is the best and most traditional. The decore is from a 50's diner and the service is surley and inefficient. The food was straight down the middle - Montreal smoked meat sandwich; check!
For dessert we grabbed Poutine from Patati Patata - a suggestion from Emily from the coffee shop. It was good -squeaky curds, crispy fries and the gravy had a pleasant funk to it - like there was a splash of molson golden in there.
Next stop was a little playtime at Parc Jeanne-Mance. Named after Jeanne Mance, a French woman who is credited with co-founding the great city of Montreal. The park is at the base of popular Mount Royal and boasts two baseball diamonds, a full-size football field, tennis courts, a sandy beach, lovely tree-lined jogging paths, and, of course, an awesome playground. The sand-based play yard is packed with a myriad of equipment to climb over, under and through. Benches are scattered throughout for parents to sit back and watch, and a cluster of hulking mature trees provide shade from the sun for a nice afternoon nap (Jack). I mean, really, who could possibly stay awake after a smoked meat sandwich with a Poutine chaser!!
We dashed for our Uber just as the clock struck 3:00 - the magical hour that marks the start of date night! Courtney took it from there with the kids and we went next door to the yoga studio that also hosts pole dancing classes. It's weird doing yoga among the poles but we managed! Heck - maybe I'll take a pole dancing class while I'm here ... or maybe not!
After a quick change and an affectionate peck on the rosy cheeks of our adoring children, we gratefully slipped out into the early evening and headed toward Montreal Jazzfest. Our timing was off and we ended up there between shows but they have SF-worthy food stalls and sponsored street performers to keep the crowds happy. We tried Japanese Poutine ... French fries, mayo, seaweed and grilled onions ... and it was as weird as it sounds 😖.
Our dinner spot, Hotel Herman, came highly recommended and did not disappoint! The food has been remarkable in Quebec and Hotel Herman was no exception. I'm more surprised by the warmth and genuine friendliness of the staff, though. The service has a French cadence which is very hard for us go go Americans to appreciate but I'm not feeling the pervasive condescension that is such a cornerstone of service in France! I am not being made to feel the unsophisticated rube that I undoubtedly am. It's nice.
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