You say it's your birthday...

Yesterday was my birthday...Also, as it turns out, Viggo Mortensen's. (Though Mr.Q didn't seem nearly as interested in that tidbit as I was!) Anyway, I had a perfectly lovely day. I slept in a bit (trying for late nights & lie-abed mornings, to ease the jet lag when I go home.) I met up with a friend whom I haven't seen in a couple of years - she's been abroad, and just moved to Montreal last week - perfect timing! We met at the Atwater Market, where I had a divine pastry, and a really good cup of coffee (in all honesty, the first good cup since I left Vancouver a week ago!)

From outside the market - Oh my gourds!



After a great visit - much talk about music, I'd forgotten that we shared that love! - she went off into her day, and I went to Ariadne Knits. Where I stupidly forgot to take any pictures...but the proprietress was most friendly, and I may have bought myself a few skeins of "souvenir" yarn. Ahem. I didn't stay and chat as long as I would have liked, as I was so hungry for lunch at that point that I was about to start eating the yarn, or the small children in the store. Neither of which would have been very palatable, I'm sure: the former due to the eventual furballs, and the latter due to the absence of ketchup.

So I went back to the market, on a whim, and got myself some kind of Mediterranean bread with lots of olive oil; a round of soft cheese; and a fresh, ginormous honey crisp apple. (And a tarte au sucre for later!) Then I took my treats down to the canal, and ate lunch on a bench overlooking the water, here:

Mural spotted on the way back to the Metro:

Then back to the hotel to drop off my yarn, give my feet a bit of a rest, and figure out what to do with the rest of my day. I finally decided to do a walk up Rue St. Denis in the Quartier Latin, reputed to be a cultural hub...and very cool it was! Definitely a very European feel to the city.

And one for Mr.Q!

Birthday dinner was a mango-chicken salad with a glass of kir. Then a walk up to Juliette & Chocolat, which is far too close to my hotel for comfort! I got a cup of chocolate to bring back to my room, and didn't realize till I got here that I should have accepted the spoon I was offered...So much drinking chocolate left at the bottom of the cup, I should have stirred it into the milk...oops! I guess I'll just have to get another cup while I'm here.

Anyway, it was a fabulous birthday. And two more days of Montreal adventures ahead of me! I think I'm falling in love..