Hookas and broadswords

Montreal in winter is wonderful if you ski or like French food. Neither of us ski but we do happen to eat, so that's what we did pretty much all the time. We'd have breakfast, then go out and have lunch, then we'd go back to the B&B to kill time before dinner. Let's hear it for French food! Seriously, slather enough butter and garlic on anything and it'll taste great. You could cook a turd in butter and garlic and it'd probably taste swell. (Case in point: escargot.) At a restaurant called Laloux I had a meal so sexy I almost stood up and did a little dance. We don't normally eat out but on the few occasions when we've opted for someplace fancy, I inevitably make a beeline for the cheapest thing on the menu. Since the cheapest thing on this menu was calves' brains, I opted for scallop stew. My husband, however, believes in the power of vacation and ordered the big boy - filet mignon at $31. THIRTY-ONE BUCKS. FOR AN ENTREE. $31 is like, 30 cans of catfood. That's more than we spend on most meals. I couldn't believe it. I almost asked for a divorce.

Turns out, there's a reason a cut of beef costs you $31. And that reason is because it is the MOST DELICIOUS THING YOU WILL EVER EAT. That crap they call "filet mignon" at catering? Please. I actually made Matt hand his plate over. I took it out of his grubby little paws and made him eat my scallops. If we hadn't been in public, I would've licked the plate. If you're ever up Montreal's way, I highly recommend.

Other highlights:

- My favorite store ever. A Canadian film and television costume shop went out of business and sold the entire contents of their warehouse to a tiny little man who opened a store right near our B&B. It was all from the 1940's and 50's, all one-of-a-kind (since each piece had been created for a particular film) and all of it PRISTINE. Shoes! (Size 4! People were freaking tiny back then.) Bags! (I know it's cruel but come on, crocodile!) Hats! (PERFECTION!) And racks and racks of dresses and jackets and coats, all reasonably priced. Seriously, I wanted to roll around in the stuff, it was so great.

- Our B&B was lovely, although picking a room with a private bath in the hall wasn't my wisest move. The breakfasts were great but I think the owner was starting to run out of tricks by the time we left. (Croissants followed by waffles covered in Nutella? Oof.)

- For some reason, Montreal is inundated with medieval shops. It must have some huge SCA scene because you couldn't spit without hitting a shop selling hookas and broadswords. And Matt had to go in to every last one.

Mostly we sat around reading and waiting to eat. By the end I was desperate for a treadmill but all in all, not a bad way to spend a few days.

By the way, take a plane. 13 hours on a train sounds romantic until all the toilets get stopped up.