Friday I woke to rain and the news that Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize. Don’t get me wrong, I like Obama, and I understand why they gave it to him not for what he’s accomplished (other than not being Bush) but for what he wants to accomplish. Still, it struck me as a bit odd, especially when so many unknown people do so much on a daily basis to help others and are never acknowledged. But that’s the funny thing: most of those people wouldn’t want the recognition, would shy away from that kind of attention. It became a bit of a theme for the weekend as we discussed the nature of awards. I was kind of hoping Obama would decline it. It was interesting to be out of the country when such news hit, to see your home filtered through another country’s lens.
Despite the rain, I walked most of Boulevard Saint-Laurent, enjoying the French signs and the feel of another city,
checking out all the fancy restaurants and bars along the way (where evidently Hollywood types hang) though I kept taking detours down side streets when architecture or parks or pedestrian zones caught my eye. Here are some of the things I saw:
The colors are a but muted here, but I loved the bright touches to the architectural features:
And I passed many rows of homes like this, that were all built in the same style but differentiated by color:
I stumbled upon a park at the end of Rue Prince-Arthur E, Sq St-Louis I think, and found some lovely homes bordering it. The bright vermilion of this house struck me (and if you look to the right, that trailer was the first of four or five labeled with things like “costumes” and “make-up”–must have been shooting a movie):
I loved the flare of red leaves behind the fountain at the park’s center:
Some more houses that I covet. Lots of bikes in Montreal too. I passed many a rack where you could rent one:
Another side street distraction, this time on Rue Rachel E:
An educational center about marijuana. I liked the sign. It’s evidently legal to buy paraphernalia, but not to smoke it:
I wandered up toward the mountain and the beautiful colors of the trees changing and found this cute little corner at Avenue Bloomfield and Avenue Fairmount Quest:
I have a thing for roosters, so I started collecting images of them (there were more than just these guys at this store front; each window had a pair hanging out, but I started getting curious glances, so I moved on…)
Another. They kind of remind me of the Pennsylvania Dutch style barn hexes from back home where I grew up (ignore the random woman; I don’t know who she is):
Le Coq:
I saw more throughout the weekend but refrained from capturing every one. I have a poem in the shape of a rooster. Perhaps it will get published one day and I can post it here for all of you to see. It’s called “Dear Chanticleer,” and yes, it is literally in the shape of a rooster. I kid you not.
I walked all the way up Boulevard Saint-Laurent almost to Little Italy and then worked my way back, winding up at this cute little cafe Cafe-Bistro Bresilien at 8, Rue Rachel Est. There I met a waitress who has only been in Montreal for 7 months and is still working on her French; she was much more confident in English and grateful I spoke it. And I met a fiction writer from Brooklyn, Victoria Cho. I spent most of the rest of my afternoon here, eating and chatting and drinking tea, reading the one lone English paper to see what events were going on that weekend. I gave Victoria advice about MFA programs and we talked shop for a bit. A great way to spend a rainy afternoon. And I had some creative breakthroughs; lots of ideas percolating right now, connections forging in my head. Filled the first few pages of the new notebook I brought along and am ready to undertake some new poem sequences.
I wandered a bit more and then took a brief nap before meeting up with Michael. We ventured down into the very hot subway and made our way to his friend Anne-Marie’s cafe Bistro Toi & Moi. Anne-Marie teaches Spanish at the school where Michael teaches, a language she learned from a former lover. She is also a five star chef and sold her restaurant but now has this cute cafe where her kitchen is literally a kitchen you’d find in your home, no industrial stove, etc. The food and wine were delicious and we were in good company with Michael’s friends Joanna, who also teaches with him, and her friend Val. That’s Joanna in front followed by Val and I think that’s Anne-Marie behind the counter in the back (my eyesight! squinty):
I liked these birds on the wall (I think that’s Michael’s head down on the lower right!):
After dinner Michael took me to one of Montreal’s gay clubs in their Village, Sky, where we danced til 3 in the morning. It was a little crowded in some of the rooms but I fought through my crowd panic and claustrophobia to get down to some fun Madonna mixes and a nice career-spanning mash-up of Whitney’s biggest hits. The hip-hop room unfortunately had a weird vibe to it, but we eventually made ourselves at home on the third floor where we had plenty of room to cut loose. And cut loose we did…
Next post: random sculptures, The Old Port, more great meals, Parc Mont-Royal.