Montréal: VanRamblings Explores The City By Bixi

View from Montréal's Avenue Du Parc, facing south

First thing in the morning, all VanRamblings wants is un café and a bit of breakfast. But where to do that cheaply and well in Montréal? Turns out that one can find your not-so-run-of-the-mill greasy spoon breakfast on Rue Milton, west of Avenue du Parc, a charming little bistro called Le Place Milton (a photo of the interior included in tomorrow’s Flickr slideshow).
Following a great bacon and eggs petit-dejeuner, we hopped back on our Bixi, planning to head up to Mont Royal, when a thunderous rain storm came out of nowhere and just drenched us. Soaking wet (but warm), we made our way to our residence, changed and shot the following video …

Soon enough, though, the weather changed back to the expected hot and sunny conditions, and off we were on our Bixi to explore Montréal.
We headed over to Mont Royal (almost all up hill), but thought better of hiking up the mountain to see the sights, so - as our vacation wends to a satisfactory close - we decided to simply spend the late morning / afternoon riding around town, down the backstreets, the neighbourhoods and main thoroughfares, from Mont Royal in the north through to all the streets south to Rue Sherbrooke, from Rue Saint Denis to the quieter Rue Saint Urbain, to the bustling Rue Saint-Laurent, and finally ‘home’.
Of course, we stopped off for a cooling raspberry frappé, surfed the ‘Net on our iPhone, took in the sights, and enjoyed a momentary rest.
Late afternoon saw VanRamblings headed towards downtown, riding our Bixi south and west towards old Montréal. Early evening found us, once again, at Dunn’s Famous, where we supped on a smoked meat sandwich (they’re succulent and delicious). The remainder of our day, prior to taking to bed at night, was spent making preparations for our triumphant return to the west coast where, of course, convivial plans are already in the works for VanRamblings to be fêted by our many friends and supporters.
Come on back tomorrow for a preliminary Flickr slideshow presentation, with more than 70 photos, covering everywhere from old Montréal and Chinatown, to Schwarz’s Deli and Dunn’s Famous, and a great deal more.