December 2022 – Twenty Steps at a Time

Air fare – check
Four Seasons Hotel – check
Winter coat, hat, boots, gloves, scarf – check
Not looking forward to the cold – check!

A slight change of plans as we have non-refundable airline tickets. We will not be shopping the large Christmas marketas it will not be open on our days in town, but will be perusing the local Christmas shops and Old Town Montreal as well as enjoying Four Seasons Montreal hospitality for a couple of days. Another country, another city, another Four Seasons eperience.

After a short 75-minute flight, we were in overcast Montreal. But thankfully no snow or rain! Just c-c-c-cold! I did ok bundled up but that just made it a little challenging to move! We decided to try using the wheelchair for this trip to see how we could use it for our international cruises coming up in 2023. Karen was happy to push me around Montreal and did a great job of navigating around people, pot holes, water hazards and other challenges. Taking our own wheelchair to the airport was a good experience too. Just gate check it and it will be waiting when you deplane at your arrival airport.

Accessibility Notes
If you are from the United States, you are well aware of ADA and its guidelines. In Canada and other foreign countries, it’s definitely different. Not to discourage you from traveling however! It can be done! It just may require a bit more patience and mobility. We spent the day in Old Town Montreal. The sidewalks are bumpy with divots. There are crosswalk ramps but they can also be problematic with large cracks or holes or water hazards to negotiate around as well as people. Some of the streets are on an incline, so proceed with caution or find an alternate route. Many stores and restaurants have steps to enter, many without handrails. Again, manageable if you are mobile at all and can use a cane to ascend and descend or have someone to lend a steadying hand. We were pleasantly surprised at the helpful folks who held doors for us or patiently waited while I used my cane on the stairs. Also, keep in mind that the restroom facilitioes may not be handicap accessible. Meaning there may be steps to navigate in order to use the restroom. Toilets may be lower and there may or may not be safety rails. Or tucked away in a corner and as small as the airplane restroom! Overall, I found the shop keepers and service staff to be most accommodating and helpful, as well as kind and appreciative of our visit and business.

On our day of arrival, we were pleased that our room was ready for us. We did not request it but were given an accessible room. We are now going to request an accessible room for all future visits. The toilets are adult height. The shower is a walk-ih/roll-in. There is plenty of room to navigate around the beds, chairs and desk area. Once we dropped our bags and bundled up, we headed out to do some local shopping. Unfortunately, Karen’s shopping list was unfulfilled. Still we saw the area around the hotel and scouted out a place for lunch. More about our food experiences below. A late lunch meant a late dinner. Upon our return to our hotel, we had a very nice note and amenity from Karen’s Four Seasons Washington, DC Family. Karen walked to a nearby Italian restuarant and brought back huge portions of lasagna and carbonnara, which of course we could not eat it all. We were in for the night, Karen ran into a former colleague from Four Seasons Orlando in the elevator. Both were surprised to see the other! She enjoyed a drink and catch-up on his travels and job.

Our full day in Montreal dawned bright and early. I had a restless night and kept Karen awake unfortunately. We had pre-ordered local bagels that were being delivered so it was up and at ’em in time to accept our breakfast. Shortly afterward, we bundled up again and headed to Old Town Montreal. First stop, Chateau Ramezay. Built by the governor in 1705, this was the first building to receive historical significance in Montreal as well as a UNESCO Heritage Site. The kind people that I previously mentioned were also at the Chateau, patiently waiting to enter while I navigated inside and Karen brought the wheelchair in as well. In a very generous gesture, they paid for our admission! Kind strangers with holiday spirit. We are looking at ways to pay if forward.

Wreaths on the fence
Door knob adornment
Reflections
Amazing woodwork
Kitchen 1 – the next kitchen has a bread oven
The round cage is for a small dog to walk inside to rotate the rotisserie spit
Toboggan and bike display
Amazing grate work

For more information visit https://www.chateauramezay.qc.ca/fr/

After the Chateau, we walked (well, Karen walked…) We visited the Noel Christmas store. What a great shop from the stained glass poinsettia windows to the many displays inside. Looking for a specific ornament? It’s here! What about Santas? Yes, also here. As well as Department 56 Christmas Villages and accessories. While initially we did not plan on buying any more Christmas items, we did add a candy cane bench for our village and yes, another ornament for our travel tree. If you love Christmas and didn’t get to the Christmas market, you need to stop here!

Staained glass window at Noel Christmas shop
Down to the water and cruise pier
Lots of metal work for the wreath’s backdrop
Park decorations
Love this picture!
Notre-Dame – the other tower was under scaffolding
Old Town Montreal Rooftops
More amazing iron work
Year round garland
Always look up!
Molson’s Bank
Old and new
Bell Canada Manhole Cover
Snow from earlier in the week – glad we missed it!
Not many decorations up yet – they don’t decorate as early as we seem to!
Your cold Red Dress World Tour travelers

We passed by the Molson’s Bank. Not specifically designated a historical site, we still felt it was an interesting building to come across.

Holiday decorations in the Place d’Armes park across from Notre Dame were passed by as we enjoyed our walk back to the hotel through streets filled with historical and beautiful buildings with wonderful olde world architecture.

Montreal Food and Our Choices
First, let me say that there are plenty of options for all types of food. However, let me also say that it’s not inexpensive! Many places that had menu items that we were interested in were either closed or were not open for lunch on our arrival day. Many seemed to open at 5PM. Or only over the weekend. I guess we were not there at a prime visiting time. Our lunch left much to be desired both by the server’s ultimate reaction and the quality of the food that we did not eat. She was not empowered to make the decision to take the uneaten meal off our bill and we had to ask her to check with the manager. Any place else would have automatically done that. The reason we didn’t eat the meal? Big globs of fat in my French Dip. First bite…disgusting. So the sandwich was taken off our bill but we were charged for a side order of fries! Not a very happy dining experience for Montreal Day 1. Later that night our Italian dinner was OK. I would have liked a bit more flavor in the lasagna but I ate it! Next morning we decided to try the much touted Montreal bagels – made special by their use of honey as we were told. Karen and I are definitely both team NY bagel fans. Our Old Town lunch was at an upscale diner with upscale pricing. It probably goes down as the most expensive lunch I’ve ever eaten. Oh! and I must comment that Montreal and Quebec are decidely Pepsi towns which means finding Diet Coke (my preference and what I drink exclusively) any where is difficult. What does a bar do if you order a Rum and Coke? Use Pepsi? We finally had Poutine from the Room Service menu. That ended up being our dinner. We enjoy Basic Poutine but of course there are many variations of it out there. Overall, I have to say I think we were not pleased with our food choices and costs. But, you never know, right?