Chez Nous

It's good to be home again, even if it is dull, wet, rainy and cold here. I see that the table cloth has not been changed since I was gone, nor the toilet cleaned, nor the cookies replenished in the jar. The boys stayed up too late last week and are sick and a bit grumpy.

I am eating for two time zones, as my friend says, and find myself extremely famished at 9 am.
Now is the time to sort through my photos and start blogging about my trip. I read a great book on the way home called How to Be a Woman by Caitlan Moran. I was struck at how similar (in nature) a few of her observations are to some of the anecdotes I recounted in my piece. She is a witty and wise feminist and her words are inspiring and affirming.

I had such a good time in Montreal that I cried in the taxi on the way to the airport--tears of joy, sadness and relief. Plus I was going on very little sleep since we partied like the end of the world was coming and had poutine in an all night diner called Claudette's at 3 am. Partied more, and then had three hours of sleep before waking up and getting ready to depart. I was reclaiming my youth in some ways and hell, I had a great time doing it.

Performance Art Bordello, Here I Come!

So I had my tech talk through yesterday, which meant I had to take the Metro. I found it overheated, stuffy, noisy and claustrophobic and it made me realize just how posh the RAV line really is. I found the venue, which is on the street with all the fetish shops. The entrance was just a black door with a number on it--very discrete. The manager is amazing and she says the space was probably a clothing sweatshop at one point, a Chinese restaurant and a bordello. It dates from the late 1800's.

My technician is a diva. I am not worthy. Still, I woke early this am with details running through my mind. I had to sign a "messy contract" to agree that any weird materials I use would be cleaned up WITHOUT A TRACE at the end of the show. I guess they know their performance art history.

I found a chocolate shop that sells savory buckwheat crepes for lunch. It was exactly what I wanted. Then I finally found Camelia Sinensis and bought some locally grown herbal teas. I also found this crazy manga tea room that sells manga and serves tea and cupcakes.

Last night we went out for cheap and tasty curry and then saw some internet pieces in a grubby internet "café".

Kitty has decided I am now subject to her rule and this morning she showed me where her food was and demanded to be fed.

Some of my French is returning and I am inspired to take some more classes when I get home. There is much less tension between the French and the English now than when I was here many years ago. People are pretty chilled out about helping me figure things out. Also, I am in a very Anglo neighborhood, so I'm hearing a lot of English all the time.

Today we are going to have goulash with a textile artist and see work at Oboro. I also have to buy beer and a mirror--easy to remember because it rhymes.

All About the Breakfasts

Montreal is really into a darned good breakfast. Yesterday I bought baking from Guillaume and doughnuts from a place beside it called Sardine. Sardine proudly displays a toolbox full of yeast-raised doughnuts on their counter, so I bought some with cardamon and sugar and some dark chocolate-orange glazed ones. They were doughnuts with attitude, not wimpy and not over-sweet. I realize that the plateau/mile end is a great place for eating, even on a low budget. Yesterday we headed over to the Jean Talon market in Little Italy and Sarah took us to a little depanneur where the woman makes one amazing soup of the day. It happened to be a rich and delicious pea soup. Apparently there are a lot of little deps that also sell sandwiches and/or lunch specials. We also stumbled into a high end Italian deli with one table and a chef who will cook you specials from all over Italy.

Kitty has accepted me and sleeps on my lap now. She is a VERY mellow cat.

Yesterday I had a fantastic sandwich at Santropol with veggie pate and all the fixings. Why can't we have good sandwiches like this in our neighborhood????? Santropol thrives on serving a sandwich based menu and has done so for over 40 years. It is a warm and congenial place and even the staff hang out there after their shifts. I headed from there to listen to my friend's choir rehearse at Oboro and saw an Htmlles video screening. Today we are heading to Jean Talon again to an internet cafe to see some work and I have a tech meeting.

And speaking of breakfast, I am eating a maple goat milk yogurt from Beurrerie Patrimoine which is so rich and creamy I am in heaven

Montreal Love

Well, I am in such a fantastic neighborhood for noodlin' around on a warm November afternoon. I walked down to the Studio XX Gallery and had lunch at a place called Steak Frites on St. Denis. There's a simple blackboard menu and it's Apporter Votre Vin. I had a really good calamari salad and managed to spill tzatsiki sauce all down my shirt. (Not very chic!)Yesterday we had a really good lamb pita with the best tzatsiki sauce I have ever tasted at Arrahova. The pita itself was chewy and flavorful and I spilled tzatsiki sauce all over my sweater. Zut alors!

I also found a place that makes a special Breton pastry called Kouign Amman. Lots of places are closed on Mondays, but we are thinking of getting special rotisserie chicken for supper. Last night my hosts threw a spontaneous dinner party with awesome curries and a gorgeous ginger cake, moist and infused with fresh ginger. Sarah makes cakes for Santropol so today she made her own candied ginger to decorate another cake for the restaurant.

I sat down and watched a fantastic video at Studio XX called Emerald Town: Gary Indiana by Zanny Beg and Keg de Souza. Highly recommended!