Early November in the City

If I hadn't had access to a calendar, I would never have believed it was November 6th. Perhaps, yes, if I lived south of the border and the weather is naturally warmer, but in my hometown of Mont Tremblant, I could not believe the forecast of a high of 21C (70 degrees). Lorraine (my sister, best friend and publisher) and I had planned a trip into the city. I love to go into Montreal and even though the initial forecast was rain during the morning, we did not let that dampen our planned day. Lorraine lives 1.7 km (1 mile) away from me, and when she leaves her place to come and pick me up, she calls me from the pretty red car so I can make my way down the stairs from my second-floor apartment. It is so nice walking down the stairs pain-free! The cortisone shot in my ankle is successful and proving to be such a simple solution. Being a person who lives in the present and not in the past, I try not to ask, "Why didn't I do this sooner?" I am where I am meant to be. Lorraine drove up and I was already waiting. I placed my raincoat in the back seat of the pretty red car, just in case. After climbing into the passenger seat, the first thing I did was set the air conditioning to low. We could not believe that it was so warm, and the forecasted rain was nowhere in sight. It was going to be a great day. Going into the city is always fun if you can plan the trip around the traffic. We left at 09:30, which meant we would avoid the long morning traffic delays. On the agenda was stopping to get an early Christmas present for myself, which I wanted to take on the ship with me. I hope to work for the month of December and wanted to bring a little present with me that I could use. I also wanted to pick up a few more KIWI knives. I have been using these knives for years and found them in a little store in Chinatown. I often gift my knives when I work with someone and they comment how much they like them. They are not expensive, and I know they are not readily available everywhere, so I gift them, asking only for a penny in return (or nickel now because Canada has stopped minting pennies). -"The Canadian government announced the phasing out of the penny in 2012 to reduce the costs associated with minting low-denomination coins. The decision was also driven by the rising costs of production relative to the face value of the coin and the decline in the penny's purchasing power." - I thought I would share with you what I found on the internet. also, the tradition of giving a knife with a coin/penny. -"The tradition of giving a coin with a knife as a gift is a way to counteract the superstition that giving a knife alone can bring bad luck or sever a relationship." - We stopped first in Laval at a huge kitchen store where I was certain I would find the little paring knives that I wanted to gift myself. They come in beautiful colors, and they are hard to find. Before entering the kitchen store, I said to Lorraine, "I am only getting the paring knives, nothing else!" She knows me well and knew that was my attempt at not making additional impulse purchases. We went directly to the knives and saw the beautiful colored paring knives. I like the short blade. However, they also had longer blades and serrated blades. I encouraged Lorraine to pick out two knives too. Lorraine suggested we walk through the store, and I knew that I would have to practice self-control because a kitchen store is like walking through a candy store. I saw a bamboo flat-edge spatula. I like using wooden spoons and when I pointed it out to Lorraine, she did not discourage me from purchasing it because she would rather, I didn't use plastic. We made our way to the aisle that held multiple versions of spiralizers. I have one which I really like. It does a great job and was not expensive, but it takes up too much room in my suitcase. Lorraine has always used a handheld spiralizer (I gifted her one like mine, but she still uses the handheld one.) She liked the one that I held out for her to look at. There were two models. I ended up choosing the one with the three different blades. I thought it would easily fit into my suitcase. I look forward to using it on the ship. We made it to the counter without picking up any other items, there was a brief hesitation at the Braun emulsifier stick with attachments. I already have two, but Lorraine said if one broke, we could find it at a better price at Canadian Tires. We laid our purchases on the counter and the salesclerk said I am giving you 10% off all of your purchases. Lorraine asked, "Is it a senior discount?" The young man said he never assumes and would never insinuate that a woman was a senior, so he just gives the discount to everyone. We laughed at his response, and I quickly calculated in my head that one of the paring knives was equal to the 10% discount so it was like getting one for free.

I was excited to find so many beautiful colors  of the short blade paring knives I was looking for. 

We continued our drive downtown. We always park in the same place when we go downtown. We have been parking at the Via train station for years! There is always parking available and it's fun to walk through the train station and see all the people on their way to make a trip. Lorraine and I both love people-watching and imagining where they are traveling to. They have a beautiful underground food court attached to the train station. I remember when they painted murals on all the food court walls years ago. It was such a busy place. The murals are still there; however, a lot of the restaurant kiosks have closed, and the security gates are pulled down. The shelving and restaurant equipment that you can see through the steel gates sit empty. I wonder if they closed because of Covid. It was detrimental to many businesses. We sat for a moment, taking in the changes, reminiscing about past trips and talked about where we used to stop and indulge in a treat.

This section of  painted murals  in the train station food court makes you feel like you are eating in a library with bookcases and books painted on every available wall space. 

I bought a little travel clock to take with me on the ship. Sometimes the galley clock is not in a place that is in my line of sight because I set my work-station up so that I can look out the portholes. I had wanted to buy a little clock that I can set up at my station but I was waiting for a special occasion. When I buy something ordinary, like a travel clock, I like to buy it from a place that will carry a memory with it.  I will remember this beautiful day in Montreal when I unpack my clock on my next ship. 

It was too beautiful to stay underground so the next stop was a walk to Old Montreal and a little lunch at Olive et Gourmando. I am obsessed with their potato salad. I checked the GPS, and it was an 18-minute walk. It was fun to walk along St Catherines Street. In the last few years, they removed one lane of traffic to make the sidewalks wider. They did a beautiful job and there are benches all along the street. It is another perfect place for people-watching.

St Catharine Street in Montreal. They made the sidewalks much wider and it’s really nice to walk there. 

It was a beautiful walk into old Montreal. The last time I had the delicious potato salad was in July. It was the busy tourist season and there was a wait to get into the popular restaurant. This time of the year is still busy, but it was after two and the big lunch rush was over. The waitress asked when taking my order, "Just potato salad?" I said yes, "Just potato salad, although it's not just potato salad, it's the best potato salad besides my mother's potato salad. It comes with a price tag of $8.75. It is worth every penny. It is not an overly large amount of potato salad, but it is enough and leaves you with the feeling that you will have to come back to have it again.

The most delicious potato salad, besides my mom’s potato salad. They serve it warm and it always comes with fresh dill. A sprinkle of poppy seeds, chives, green onions. It’s so delicious. 

The Old Port of Montreal has beautiful architecture. 

Christmas decorations were being installed all around the city. 

The streets are narrow in Old Montreal. Many of them are cobblestone streets. 

The next stop was the little store in Chinatown. I have been there multiple times, and it is where I bought my first KIWI knife over 35 years ago. I have purchased expensive knives in the past, but I much prefer the inexpensive square KIWI knife. Not because it is priced under $10. Canadian but because it does a great job. If I drop the knife and bend the tip, which I have done before, I don't cringe and despair as I would if it was an expensive knife. I don't know the store's name and always search for it when I go. I know it's on rue St Laurent, on the left-hand side and I look in each store window until I see the familiar site. I told myself I would take note of the name of the store but in the excitement forgot...again. The bill that accompanied the 7 KIWI knives (four are for Neighbor Susan) that I purchased had the name "HL 33 Montreal" stamped across the top, so I looked it up on the internet and will share some of the photos of the store. I always liked the mystery of whether I could find this store again without knowing its name, but in case you are ever in Montreal, I thought I would share it with you. If you are in Montreal visiting Chinatown, make sure you go for the potato salad, too; it's a short 15-minute walk from Chinatown to the little restaurant Olive et Gourmando.

The entrance to Chinatown in Montreal

The little store in Chinatown where I buy my KIWI knives

The new KIWI knives were wrapped in a Chinese newspaper. 

There were lots of other fun things to discover in this store. 

A trip downtown Montreal is not complete without a trip to the waterfront. After leaving the store in Chinatown it is not far. Montreal has a beautiful waterfront. It is lined with park benches, and normally, a November day may keep you from sitting very long, but this unusually warm day offered the perfect temperature to sit and enjoy. I always revisit the memories of the winter (mid-80's) I spent in the Old Port of Montreal. I did the layup on the Silver Isle and Lorraine's ship the Murray Bay was also there just behind the grain elevator. We had so much fun! So many wonderful memories. It was wonderful to sit there for over an hour. The streetlights that lined the boardwalk came to life giving the harbor a postcard look.

A. The train station where we parked the pretty red car

B. The best potato salad, different but as good as mom’s

C. HL 33 the store in Chinatown where I bought the           KIWI knives

D.  The beautiful waterfront

The Blue X on the right in the photo is St Lambert’s Lock. I have joined and disembarked different ships there. We also pick up pilots there. 

In the top right-hand corner is the FARINE RED ROSES sign that is a part of the Montreal skyline. I always look for the bright red neon sign. 

There are no cars on the road. It’s a beautiful place to walk. It was so pretty when the street lights came on. 

I had such a lovely time sitting along the water, but had to eventually make my way back to the pretty red car. It was a beautiful night. 

The city looks so beautiful at night. Square Victoria was busy with people rushing to the metro. There is a beautiful light installation, and it offered a perfect place to sit and watch people. It was the perfect spot to enjoy the unseasonably warm evening. The CSL (Canada Steamship Lines) office is located downtown Montreal and the walk back to the pretty red car parked at the train station passes by their front door. I always read the plaque and this time I looked through the closed door, the entrance dark after business hours. I imagined that there might be a memo on the desk of a crewing employee. A memo to remind them to place a call to the Union Hall in Thorold asking for a chief cook on one of their ships. I am hopeful to get that call soon.

One of the entrances into the Metro. The Canada Steamship Offices are located across the street. 

I thought this would be such a beautiful place to hold a special event. I imagined sitting at tables under the trees and the lights. It was beautiful. 

It was the perfect evening for a walk.

Leaving the city at the right time is as important as driving into the city. It's best to spend a little extra time downtown and leave after the traffic slows down. I checked in with my GPS, and when it showed the normal time of travel and all the routes that were previously red with backed-up traffic and had returned to blue, I knew it would be a good time to leave. The drive to Tremblant is familiar and before long, the city lights were a distant glow behind. I was thinking of all the lights I had seen in the city and the Christmas decorations that were being put up. Christmas is right around the corner. I am organizing my seabags so that I am ready when the call comes in. I will add a few little Christmas decorations to my already bulging seabags so I can decorate my cabin. I will keep you posted when I get the call. Have a great day.

The Ship to Shore Chef books and Porthole calendar make great Christmas gifts. We are offering a special for Christmas. Buy any two books and receive a signed 2025 Porthole Calendar.

Take advantage of the Christmas special we are offering. We have a limited amount of calendars so order soon. This photo was taken at Lorraine’s place. I love to go to her place. She has such a beautiful colorful apartment.