Montreal on the Quiet.

No frolicking in the cold for us last night so it was a relaxed rise this morning. We had read that many "things"' were closed today, so there was no rush to continue our exploring. A light fall of snow occurred overnight but fortunately it was the crunchy type and walking around was not over-stressful.
Caught the Metro to a station further into downtown hoping to discover the renowned " réseau intérieur"...underground network of passages that connects shopping, Metros, unis, office blocks and entertainment venues so that one can avoid the harshness of winter. 33kms of tunnels apparently. We say apparently, 'cause being NY Day, nearly all of it was closed off. Montréalais take their public holiday seriously and there was very little life in the city centre. Despite our best efforts and the occasional long corridor that lead to a blocked doorway, we can only imagine how 500 000 people use the network daily.
After futile wanderings, that did however reveal more of this town's unique architecture and expose some of the cities unfortunate street-dwellers, we opted for our first coffee. We believed, correctly, that hotels would offer spaces for a drink. Chose an atmospheric boutique item with a totally lovely ambiance...but horrible coffee. Did not even finish drinking it. Availed ourselves of the cosy lounge atmosphere and open-fire look-alike, but then went searching for another alternative. Lucky for us a crépe café was open and had a vacant table at lunchtime.
Suitably re-energised, we walked to Montreal's version of the London Eye and persuaded Heather to join us on the 3 revolution ride. This gave us a better picture of an overhead Montreal than the foggy lookout at the park yesterday. Shared the ride with mum and 2 daughters who had lived in Oz for 2 years.
More wanderings and monuments...even one to Horatio Nelson...later, we caught two Metros to the more commercial end of town.  Still not a lot of life, but a few more cafés open. Watched the world go by for quite a while and the lights of the city emerged, naturally, 'cause it was 4.30pm.
Returned home. Ate our Coquilles St Jacques, previously bought at the market, and also some yummy lentil soup.

Goodbye Montréal and our neighbourhood. Tomorrow Ottawa.

Putting our rubbish out like true locals.

Fun architecture.

A lonely figure. Probably surrounded by office folk in summer!

Cosy lounge, suss coffee. 

Toboggan run for the city folk. 

Adding colour to the Metro. 

Rising to great heights. 

Wandering the bowels of the city. At least  it was warm.