Tuesday August 15. 2017

We wake up and I go to work at mapping out our entry into Montreal. I also look at some alternate routes to sight see along the way. We also plan to stop in a suburb to do some food shopping as we have a studio apartment with a stove and refrigerator. We figure we can offset our costs somewhat by cooking a few dinners and making our own breakfast. Speaking of breakfast, Carol makes us a two egg and cheese breakfast burrito using her handy dandy microwave egg cooker. She bought this in Utah and it passed the test for usability and no muss no fuss clean up. Our morning chores accomplished, we are travelling by 0930. The drive is easy and we find a grocery store in Terrebonne just outside Montreal. Those of you who know Carol can guess which major chain we are in. We buy some turkey burgers, pierogis, salad ingredients, and eggs.

Oratory of St Joseph

We then drive to Montreal and traffic is heavy but not jammed up too bad. We decide to drive to the Oratory of St Joseph as it is a bit far to walk from where we will be staying. The navigation goes very smoothly and we pull into the parking lot. This is a pilgrimage site and the largest church in Canada. In 1904, Brother Andre Bessette was instrumental in the building of a small chapel dedicated to St Joseph. Brother Andre was believed to possess healing powers through his Josephian devotion with its notable oil ointment given freely to its believers. The congregation grew and a larger church with seating for 1000 was built in 1917.

Heart Reliquary

The Basilica was started in 1924 and not completed until 1967. It is the third largest dome of its kind in the world. We walked through the various parts of the shrine and learned about Brother Andre’s life.  Pope John Paul II deemed his miracles to be authentic and beatified Brother Andre in 1982. In October 2010 Pope Benedict XVI canonized the saint. There is a reliquary in the church museum which contains Brother Andre’s heart, which he requested as a protection for the basilica. We leave the Oratory and navigate to our apartment in Montreal. We drive through Mont Royal Park. This is located on the mountain that overlooks the city of Montreal. We get to the apartments a little after two and I go to check in. Our room is not ready but our parking spot is available. I am told the room will be ready at three. We park in the garage and take the elevator up to the lobby where we figure we will wait. When we exit the elevator, the girl tells us that our room is ready. Good timing. We use the available luggage cart and bring up enough things to fill our little studio apartment. Once we are settled, we call Father Gerry who we met at Father Ron’s 45th ordination in 2015. Father Gerry’s parish is in Montreal. We make plans for him to come meet us tomorrow afternoon.

City Hall

We decide to fast walk a mile to old town where there is a free walking tour at 4:30. We get there with a few minutes to spare. We learn a little history of the city and see a few sites but overall are not too impressed with the tour. It is a 2 hour tour but after an hour we decide to break away and walk back to our place for dinner. We make a quick stop at the supermarket on the way for some rolls and a tomato.

Good Beer, Sour Face

Back at the apartment, I cook dinner which consists of turkey burgers, grilled onions, and a tomato slice on a roll. We also enjoy a beer called Souer Catherine from New Brunswick. After dinner, we notice that the fridge does not seem very cold and the things we put in the freezer including some ice trays had not frozen much. We call and a guy comes right up but says it is working and he can’t do anything about it until the concierge shows up in the morning. He says we can put the stuff in the fridge in the freezer, it will not freeze. He will put a note for the concierge and if we are not satisfied in the morning they will come and take care of it. We will check on things tonight and see what the morning brings.

Expenses                                                                                                                                Groceries 28 CAD                                                                                                                           St Joseph Oratory 5 CAD                                                                                                     Trylon Apartment 104.96 CAD                                                                                           Parking 15 CAD