While we had really enjoyed Montreal, the Missus was ready for our next stop; Quebec City. We'd be going by rail, which I really enjoy.
Since our train wouldn't be leaving until 1245 and we were literally 3 blocks from Gare Centrale, we decided to take a morning walk and grab some breakfast. The Missus decided on a place up Rue Saint Denis.
Of course we passed several churches on the way and really enjoyed walking up Saint Denis as it was full of semi-hipster, trendy, and plain funky businesses.
Hmmm….maybe Elvis does live?
Mamie Clafoutis is a bit of a walk up Saint Denis, which I read the street goes all the way to the North side of the island.
While the namesake of he place is the Clafouti; the Missus had read that the Pistachio Croissant here was very good. I saw a sign for a special Ficelle celebrating Montreal's 375 Anniversary (May 17, 2017) and while it was already the end of May, it was still being made and sold. So, I decided on that.
We both got some espresso for our caffeine fix. When our tray was ready, we headed upstairs to the comfortable lounge area.
The ficelle was ice cold, really chewy….I expected a bit more "crunch", but it was more hard. We really enjoyed the combination of flavors from the cornichons, mustard, and for the Missus, especially the smoked meat. This really set the stage for our return trip, where I'd been looking forward to getting some smoked meat.
The croissant was a bit drier than we prefer and lacked that touch of salt that would balance out the very sweet pistachio paste which was too sweet for me. Of course, I'm not much of a dessert person, but there didn't seem to be much pistachio flavor.
Still, the espresso was good and we enjoyed the vibe of the place. We'd notice that folks in this area seemed to speak much more French than on the west side.
Mamie Clafoutis
3660 Rue Saint-Denis
Montreal, Canada
We headed back to the hotel, going down Saint Laurent, then over to Rue Jeanne-Mance. It had started to drizzle. Even though we had umbrellas, it was also getting a bit windy. Luckily, just as it was getting particularly blustery, we reached the Complexe Desjardins. In Montreal, there's a 32 kilometer network of tunnels, passageways, shopping centers, and buildings called RESO, but it's most commonly known as the Underground City. The name evokes a bit of mystery……but for us; it looked basically like a bunch of malls which were, thankfully, interconnected.
I can imagine being able to move along downtown Montreal without being exposed to the elements must be a godsend during the dead of winter. For us wimpy San Diegans…well, we enjoyed being able to cross the street.
We got back to the hotel, freshened up, and checked out of the Courtyard. We headed over a couple of blocks to where I thought Gare Centrale was….because of all the construction, we had a difficult time finding the entrances, but finally made it.
Since we had business class tickets, we were able to use the VIA lounge in the train station. Nothing fancy, but comfortable enough….drinks and coffee provided.
Having easy access to the restrooms, a nice place to sit, and some coffee was worth paying a few bucks more. I got our fares during some kind of "special" where I paid like only $40 more for round trip tickets in business.
And while our train was not nearly as comfortable as riding the Shinkansen, it was fine.
One thing I did enjoy was the service, which was very friendly, and at times oddly funny. They also really pushed the booze! By the time the lunch cart got to us, they'd run out of everything but the vegetarian dish….shells stuffed with portabello mushroom. Which turned out to be perfectly fine.
Notice the white wine? So, I wasn't going to have any wine or drinks with lunch…but the really funny woman; with that wonderful French-Canadian accent told me, "you must…you must have some. It's from Wayne Gretzky Estates!" How could I turn that down? Wayne Gretzky Estates…… Yep this is Canada….and you don't mess with Wayne Gretzky……
Thanks for reading!