Montreal is a city where the shit and the chic live cheek by jowl - and that applies to neighbourhoods and people. Today we spent the morning exploring the area known as The Village, which has some fabulous quirky architecture and a faded sleazy charm, especially by day - but it also has its fair share of those who have not and whose alternate lifestyle has taken its toll. It's the centre of Montreal's gay community and nightlife, but although the architecture and the general boho vibe reminded me of Castro in San Francisco, it's nowhere near as vibrant in my view.
We moved on to Sherbrooke, where the properties are large and the people well to do, including as it does McGill University and the very fine Museum des Beaux Arts (we admired the external sculptures, went to the shop, but decided against the Rodin exhibition) . Have got some great pics, but again a slow internet connection means it would be best for me to upload these later.
Instead we paid our dues to visit the small but perfectly-formed McCord Museum, and saw a fabulous photographic exhibition of the work of Horst, the Vogue photographer. We also saw a couple of more localised collections, including one on native American costumes, one on the history of Montreal (the usual North American collection of immigrant nations and settlers) and another on queer ceramics - a bit like Grayson Perry, but very much camper, including some teapots in very rude shapes....disappointing shop though.
Some light shopping followed, though I managed not to spend any money, and we then had dinner at the ridiculously-named Brasserie T! in the Quartier de Spectacles where we sat outside and listened to a nice Aussie band, then went on to a small auditorium for a drink and waited for the act that never came - so packing beckoned and we went home. excited to move on to Boston.
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