Montreal: August 2002

I read about the Botanical Garden in Montreal in the AAA auto club magazine. The photos were so beautiful that I decided I wanted to go.

My hotel was just a Quality Inn near the Dorval Airport, but it served its purpose because it had a shuttle to the subway and the airport. The lobby had an Asian motif, with little mini-pagodas, a swing, and little foot tall statues of Chinese people in traditional costumes. There was a little pool with pennies and fish. The restaurant had tapestries and panels. I had awakened very early, 4:15 a.m., to take the bus to Boston and fly up. I was surprised at how busy the bus station was at 6:00 a.m. - the bus was almost full. The flight was at 10:55 a.m. and was only 47 minutes.

This was the first time I flew on one of those little regional jets, an Air Canada CRJ-100 Bombardier. It has one aisle with two seats on each side and seats 32 passengers. The engines were pretty quiet and it was a smooth flight all the way. I had the usual stress that I always get when descending, but I actually looked out the window a lot this time, even while descending. I could see the places I planned to go the next day – the Olympic Stadium with its 500+ foot tower, the Biodome and the Botanical Garden. The stadium and tower are unusual looking. The tower is narrower in the middle than it is on top and bottom and it isn't vertical but goes up at maybe a 45 degree angle. They really stand out from the air.

Upon landing, I took the shuttle to the hotel, and had gone back out by 2:30 p.m. The hotel shuttle takes guests to the Du College Metro Station, about a 10 minute drive and very convenient. Most people speak English in Montreal. Even though Quebec is entirely French speaking, in Montreal it is truly a bilingual city. Everything is in both English and French – advertisements, menus, signs. Every person I spoke to, except one, spoke English so it was easy for me to travel there.

I took the train to the Place D'Armes station which is the stop for the Basilica of Notre Dame. It wasn't hard to find; it stands right out on the top of a hill. It has two towers on each side. Across the street is a little square with a big fountain and a statue of the first Governor/founder of Montreal. There are benches all around the perimeter, so it was a good place to sit and rest and view and appreciate the church. The church is stone on the outside. Inside, it was very, very hot. I traveled to Montreal during a great heat wave for Maine and Canada. It was around 100 degrees the whole week. On this day, at noon it was about 86 degrees but it felt warmer. Later, it got even hotter and inside the church and the subway, the sweat was just pouring off me. I have never drank so much water as I did on this trip, bottle after bottle but I rarely had to visit a bathroom because I was just barely keeping myself hydrated.


Notre Dame, Montreal

Anyway, inside the church it was brutally hot, but it was very beautiful inside. The first impressive thing is the altar, a lot of gold and ornate carving, and blue sky, statues of the Gospel writers and Peter and Paul, stained glass, paintings. But as I got closer to it all, I realized – it is all wood! The statues are wood; all the carving is wood and it is all painted. I was amazed that it was all painted wood. None of it is marble. I have seen a lot of churches in Italy – who can do churches better? But this one certainly compares as far as beauty and then just the incredible surprise that it is all wood. (What popped into my mind was the story of Pinocchio – "I can be a real church, Geppetto!) The ceiling is blue with gold stars and stained glass. The pulpit is gorgeous, spiraling up to two levels of balconies that surround the perimeter. The organ has over 7000 pipes. The altar had a sky with clouds, some Bible scenes. There are paintings of scenes from the lives of local saints and holy heroes, and of course the Stations of the Cross. Behind is the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, also beautiful and all wood. For some reason, it was air conditioned back there.

After the church, I returned to the Metro and went to the McGill station. Here begins the underground city. It is like a huge mall underground. I just kept walking and walking, tons and tons of stores. Just never ending. I think there are four floors. What I liked about this, because it's Canada and not the US, it has stores I hadn't seen before. Everywhere I go in the US, it's the same stores. Now here, they had Pay Less Shoes and Burger King and McDonalds, sure, but they also had multitudes of stores that I have never heard of. There were lots of clothing stores, shoes, food, video and DVD, a lot of little boutiques like in Italy, small and selling primarily one thing – a watch store, candles, night clothes, chocolates, teen clothing stores, etc.

I decided to eat around 5:30 p.m. I found a pretty good meal for $7.50 Canadian which, at that time, was round $5.00 American. I got a grilled paninni of chicken, lettuce, sun-dried tomato and swiss cheese on really good bread, with some macaroni salad and fruit salad and juice. It was delicious. Maybe because Montreal gets so cold in the winter, this may be why they have built this underground city. It is 18 miles of underground shopping plus also there are movie theaters, hotels, even an ice rink.I thought that the trains there rode very smoothly and I noticed when I rode them and when they pulled into the station there was none of the usual screeching that you hear from the wheels. While I was waiting at one stop, I noticed a train that pulled in on the other side – the wheels are rubber! They're not metal like other train wheels I have seen. So that's why they don't screech. I wonder if they hold up as well. They do give a nice ride. The trains in Montreal are easy to use. They are also by color. McGill, for shopping, is on the green. Notre Dame is on the orange. After walking around for about four hours, I decided to head back to the hotel. I think I was tired from getting up at 4:00 a.m.

Saturday, 8/17/02: I slept very well, and got up at 7:00 a.m., had breakfast, and hit the road by 9:00 a.m. It was already 72 degrees. I took the Metro to the Biodome, stop Lionel Groulx on the metro where you switch to the green line and go to Viau. Lucky me – the Biodome and the Botanical Gardens were free admission all day. One day each summer they decide it's Kid's Day and all admissions are free. But unlucky if they were all going to be overrun with children. But it didn't work out badly at all. I was early enough at the Biodome to beat the crowd, and it turned out that kids don't get excited about going to the Botanical Garden all day so it wasn't overrun.

In the Biodome, they have created four ecosystems under a dome. First is the tropical rainforest. As soon as you walk in, you feel the heat, moisture and humidity, heavy smells, the sounds of animals. The leaves on the plants are so big and the tree trunks huge, and animals live in there. I saw black furry monkeys, something that looked like a crocodile, pink and orange birds, colored parrot-like birds, and strange fish, including piranhas. There were two caves full of bats, tons of them flying around and some hanging from the ceiling. There were birds flying around – had to watch out for the pooping!


Rainforest, in the Biodome

After the tropical rainforest comes the Laurentian Forest, in Canada. I thought this was similar to what is at home in Maine. There were a lot of trees, spruce, firs, balsams. There was a beaver dam that you could view from under the water. The trout in Canada re huge! There were ducks and ducklings, and a porcupine. There were two lynx, two otters. Their faces are so adorable.

Next is the St. Lawrence river ecosystem where there were lots of large fish and strange water creatures. Some look like plants but they are actually animals - anemones. And puffins. There were also arctic and Antarctic penguins in the Polar World exhibits. The penguins are colored as they are – white bellies and black backs – because when the are in the water you won't notice them so much if you are looking up at their white bellies, and if you are above the water looking down you won't see them as well because of their black backs. After the four ecosystems, there is also a room of fossils and a room full of real stuffed animals – not toys, taxidermy. So real stuffed ones. Kinda creepy actually. Reminds me of what we do to dead people – embalming and wakes. Maybe that's why that whole thing creeps me out – like being on display in a museum.

After the Biodome, I went to the Montreal Tower next door. You ride this car, called a funicular (below), up the tower. It goes up on rails, pretty high. In the observatory, which is the highest point in the city, you get a 360 degree panoramic view of the city. I could see the Botanical Garden, and the Chinese Garden within it, from there.


Funicular, at the Montreal Tower

From the Tower I was able to walk to the Botanical Garden. I entered where the first stop was the Insectarium. It is full of insects, most dead and mounted but some live. Behind glass. There are insects from all over the world so I would (happily) never see them otherwise. They had very large scarab beetles, some with big pinchers coming out of their heads. There was this other insect, don't remember the name, but it picks a fight with a tarantula and stings it. It is instantly paralyzed. The insect drags the tarantula back to its lair where it lays eggs on it. Then the larvae hatch and they have a ready meal of an entire live paralyzed tarantula. And they eat it. Insects are really horrifying sometimes. Think about actually living in that world. There were tons and tons of butterflies in the Butterfly House, all flying around in a greenhouse.

After that, I went for lunch at the Fuji Pavilion. This is just an outdoor tent really. I had a turkey sandwich and some chocolate and more water. By this time, it was getting very hot outside and I needed more and more water.

After this was the Japanese Garden. There was a Zen Garden where people were sitting meditating. There was a Bonsai Garden. I love the Bonsai. They are so cute, tiny real trees. They have elaborate root systems and are just like real trees, except in miniature. Most were several decades old. There was a nice pond with a waterfall. The Japanese Garden was very peaceful.

There was also a very large Chinese Garden. This is the largest outside of China. What is nice about visiting these gardens is that they have plants I would not see in my own home environment. The Chinese Garden had pagodas, bridges, a stone mountain, waterfall, lots of bamboo growing. The lake was called Dream Lake.

The Alpine Garden had plants from various parts of the world. The Lilac Garden had already bloomed so I was disappointed. The lilac is my favorite flower. The Rose Garden was gorgeous. You must try to imagine, as well, the smells of the Botanical Garden. Obviously, so many plants give off fragrances. There are also the vegetable gardens, and some vegetables are surprisingly pretty when they are growing. Lettuce and cabbage actually are pretty. The Reception Garden at the front is so full of color and fountains, and it is a popular spot for wedding photos. There is a Turkish Garden with big plants and mosaic tile. There is a little courtyard called Courtyard of the Senses which is for the visually impaired. It has plants of interesting textures and strong scents. There are all kinds of places to sit and rest and admire the scenery and breathe in the scents. I felt like I was really in paradise.


Tulips, with Montreal Tower behind

There are also several greenhouses. There was one with Chinese Penjing and Japanese Bonsai. There was one with a lot of cactus, and an Arid Greenhouse with plants that grow in deserts despite the lack of water. And a greenhouse entirely of orchids. I spent a total of six hours at the Botanical Garden! Finally, I just could walk no more and decided to head back. On the way to the Metro, I met a family of Japanese tourists who asked me to take a picture of them in front of the Montreal Tower. I was impressed with my brief visit to Montreal, and would love to return again some day.