charme et enchante

Just back in my flat after six solid hours of walking. A gorgeous sunny day and a charming local tour guide. I will post my own photos when I'm back in the US and don't have to pay roaming charges to upload them off my phone. (okay, I caved~I really wanted to see all my photos.)

We kicked off the tour with a falafal sandwich. Next was another chocolate shop with caramels and chocolat chaud~which was needed. Our guide was full of interesting tidbits about geography, history, architecture, etc. But standing in the briskness of -13, it was hard to absorb all of it.

Since the door was unlocked, our guide took us into the Theatre Rialto which you may want to Google if you're interested in architectual history. Am too lazy to embed links right now.

Then, we had an incredible bagel. I will admit that of the list of foods we were having, I wasn't very excited about this stop. But my mouth was blown away. Montreal bagels are different from New York's variety, but this particular shop bakes them in a wood-fired oven and they have that perfect crust that comes from that.

(This will be far more interesting with photos.) Next up was gnocci with sauce so fresh, you'd think you were eating a tomato in August. We huddled in the factory to eat our treat as it was a kiosk stand.

We then hit a chacuterie where I enjoyed extra cheese instead of meat with some snappy cornichons.

We finished with chocolate bread~which is an item, I would have never chosen out of the boulangerie. It looked like a dinner roll, but it was a party in the mouth.

While I am done with the sliding around on iced-over sidewalks, the charm of Montreal has won me over.  Which is good, because when I win the lottery, I will come to do my doctorate at McGill and live on the divineness of good bread.