Montreal Adventures: Day 2

I'm here in Montreal, enjoying some after-dinner mints potato chips, reflecting on my day.  It was relaxing with just the right hint of busyness.  This morning we dined on sesame bagels with prosciutto and Swiss cheese, and cream cheese and strawberry preserves (yum) followed by the Argentina vs Germany World Cup soccer game (barf I can't believe Germany won, what a disappointment!).

My Godfather's house 

We then headed about 60 km northwest of Montreal to Saint-Sauveur where we shopped at the Factoreries, or outlets for the non-francophones in the house.  The area boasts several ski resorts in the winter as well as lots of cute restaurants.

We enjoyed a cappuccino followed by shopping and then an early dinner at Le Chalet Grec, a French-infused Greek restaurant in town.

The outlets

My heart is 5575 km from here!

This reminds me of the set from Shop Till You Drop!  Anyone?  Anyone?

The restaurant is quite casual and furnished with plastic picnic tables and chairs

This was not a traditional Greek restaurant, as there were actually many French dishes on the menu, so I guess we can call it Greek-Canadian, eh? We were the first to arrive as it opened for dinner, but by the time we left there was a line at the door.  Mind you there was TONS of seating indoors as well, but on such a gorgeous day, who'd want to sit inside?  This restaurant also features a BYOB policy, and so we brought our own beer wine.  We started with calamari, which wasn't super crispy, but was incredibly tender and NOT chewy at all.  We also had some delicious tzatziki.  My entree choice was the filet de doré amandine, which is Pickerel in English (never heard of it) a fish indigenous to the fresh waters in Quebec (or so Google tells me).  It could have used more seasoning and the almonds should have been toasted, but otherwise it was cooked perfectly, light and not "buttery" as I'd expect, and served with my weight in rice pilaf, fried potato wedges, and salad with a creamy barely-mustardy dressing.  It was very filling and satisfying.  I took a short nap in the car ride home.

Then when we got home I decided to take a swim float around in the shallow end of my Godfather's salt-water swimming pool.

This is quite possibly my favorite warning sign in the history of warning signs... look closely

My translation of this photo: If you dive into the swimming pool, you will violently crash your skull, bleeding profusely from the cranial region, and then shrink into a small underwater handicapped person... or die. 

Too entertaining.  That's all for now, folks!  Have a great 4th of July and I will report more Canadian happenings later!