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Wednesday, September 10: After breakfast, we walked the long block to the Berri station and caught the Metro to Olympic Park, site of the 1976 Olympics. Our first visit was to the Biodome, four distinct ecosystems, complete with fauna and flora, housed in what had been the velodrome during the games. Then we took the "funiculaire" to the top of the 626-foot inclined tower over the Olympic Stadium. There was a spectacular view. Next, we caught the shuttle bus ("navette") over to the Insectarium and the Botanical Gardens. We couldn't believe the size of some of the mounted insects. There were beetles four inches long, not to mention tarantulas, scorpions, scarabs, spiders, etc. But there were also beautiful butterflies.
The Botanical Gardens were so huge that we decided to limit ourselves to the south one-third. The day was mild, but only partly sunny. We walked through the Japanese Garden, the Chinese Garden, the Rose Garden, and some of the exhibition gardens as we made our way toward the reception center. The first two were especially impressive. It was already after 2:00, so we ate at the reception center ("chicken burgers") at an outdoor table looking out on the gardens. Afterwards, we went through the greenhouses. There were orchids, begonias of surprising varieties, cacti, bonsai trees, and much more.
On leaving the gardens, we walked to Pie IX Metro station and took a train all the way across the downtown area to the east side. There we went to Atwater Market (1933), a popular open air produce market surrounding a building with many stores selling other types of food and drink. This was our first close look at Canadian produce, and we could hardly believe its size and quality. They had the biggest, juiciest blackberries and raspberries we'd ever seen. The broccoli and cauliflower were more than a foot across - every one of them! Since we couldn't take any produce back into the U.S., though, all we bought were a few pears and apples for snacks. By now it was after 3:30. We had planned to stop off in the downtown area on the way back, but we decided to go directly back to the hotel instead. While Jane rested, I went for a walk on rue St. Dennis and picked up stamps for our postcards. I also discovered that there were a lot more restaurants to the north on St. Dennis and, about 6:00, we decided to head up there for dinner. We found a pleasant looking place called L'Academie offering a full pasta dinner for 5,95$. You could have your choice of any pasta, but we both chose the tortellini in red cream sauce. Expecting the portions of pasta to be small at that price, we decided to order an antipasto and split it. When that came, it was obvious that it was intended for two. It included two large, thick lox (smoked salmon), two slices of melon with prosciuto, and a large piece of fondue Parmesan, all very delicious. The meal came with soup (me) or salad (Jane), and a wonderful bread. When the pasta came, we were overwhelmed, and we almost (but not quite) wished we hadn't had the antipasto. The servings were huge! The pasta was excellent, but even I couldn't finish it. That's BIG! We were glad that the meal didn't include dessert. The cost of that huge meal for two, including 14% tax and an 18% tip was 22$, or $16 U.S. We waddled our way back to the hotel, arriving about 8:15. |
