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I never seem to visit Montréal in good weather. Either it's the rainy season or, more likely, the dead of winter when I'm invited to come

Canada

Hank Shiffman
2003-12-02 20:32:11

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Montréal, Québec

I never seem to visit Montréal in good weather. Either it's the rainy season or, more likely, the dead of winter when I'm invited to come. It's fortunate that the city is such a pretty place, with plenty of interesting neighborhoods to wander around and architecture to admire while my feet freeze. I particularly like the look of the row houses, although I'd think those long exposed stairways would be awfully unpleasant when the wind blows and the ice makes walking such a challenge. (Yes, I am a wimp. A couple of decades in California will do that to a person.)

The building on the right looks particularly forbidding with the snow and the gray sky, very Addams familyish. It's on the way up to Mount Royal, the mountain from which the city takes its name. Funny that it never occurred to me that Montréal comes from Mont Réal; even I remember that much from French class!

Schwartz's deli is a local landmark, a source for Montréal's deservedly famous smoked meat sandwiches (kind of halfway between corned beef and pastrami) and a regular hangout for a late and lamented local author, GQ columnist and general troublemaker by the name of Mordecai Richler. The place is tiny, the menu limited, the ambience completely absent. But the prices are low, the food is good (and so good for you) and it is a worthwhile cultural experience. One can't have too many of those.

Schwartz's was immortalized recently in a 60 Minutes report about the battles over French vs. English in Québec; they're in trouble with the official language police over their signs. The problem isn't the sign outside, which is appropriately lacking in English, but with the menu posted inside. You're allowed to have English, it seems. You just can't have English that's more than half the size of the French. Which is, I assume, what led to the ...