Old Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, Au Pied De Cochon

Started at about 9am and went to Old Montreal to have breakfast at the famous Olive and Gourmando cafe.Ordered a small cafe au lait with croissant. The croissant is very fresh, flaky on the outside, soft on the inside, with glazed almond sugar. Not too sweet,very good.

From the cafe, it is off to Pointe-à-Callière. This museum is very cool. It sits on the site of the first house in Montreal. The site has been excavated and the excavation site turned into a museum. One can see how the site has changed during different times in Montreal's history. A beautiful modern clock tower isbuild over the museum with good view of Montreal's skyline.

From Pointe-à-Callière, it is off to Basilique Notre-Dame, the biggest church in Montreal. Celine Dion is married there and the former Prime Minister is buried there. The church is very grand. Took the tour and take some pictures. Then it is off to Chateau Ramezay Museum.

The Museum used to be finest house of Old Montreal,the Governor's Mansion. There are some exhibit on the lifestyle of old Montreal people, but I find the exhibit of crime and punishment in old Montreal more interesting.

From Chateau Ramezay, its off to McCord museum of Canadian history. The museum has a collection showing life of people of Montreal from the 1900's. It shows old winter clothing and toys. There was also a Inuit tapestry exhibit which is quite good.

Final museum stop for the day is the Museum of Fine Arts of Montreal. The museum is open till 9pm from Wednesday to Friday, making this a really good day to visit.

This is the biggest of all the museum I visit. The collect is vast. There are the works of some big name artist like Piccaso, Monet and Miro being exhibited,but overall, I feel that each section is small. While the artist are famous, I think the work did not strike me as much as Museum of Fine Arts in Quebec or the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Dinner is at Au Pied de Cochon. This is the best new restaurant of 2002 according to Air Canada magazine. I have a pickled Venison tongue appetizer.The meat is extremely tender, the flavoring is a little like "white cloud pig hand", but not overpowering. It was best enjoyed with the mustard on the plate. For the main course, I have the Happy Feet Pork Chop. A decent size pork chop is grilled and topped with sauerkraut, sauteed onions and mushroom,served with pan juices. The dish is heated in a wood burning oven to give the onions and mushroom some texture. Simple but good. I enjoyed the meal with a St Ambrose Pale Ale. I tried the maple syrup bread pudding for dessert. The dish is simple but way too sweet.