Nous Allons à Montréal, Quatrième Jour (We go to Montréal, Day Four)

In researching what to see, do, and eat in Montréal, everyone talked about the bagels. Different from New York bagels, the bagels in Montréal are thinner with a much larger hole and a sweeter dough. This morning, the children and I strolled down the street to Kettleman's for a taste of Montréal. 

We were somewhat disappointed. The bagels were fine but not extraordinary. 

What was not at all disappointing was our next stop of the day. The Montréal Jardin Botanique was on the docket, including a stop at the Insectarium. Brenda had been to the Insectarium before and was going to take her grandchildren there next week, so she dropped us off and went into the gardens while we went to see the bugs. 

The whole Insectarium experience was amazing! We began by going "underground" to see what insects see. We scrambled through "grass," nestled in small cavities (sort of), and had our eyes open to what bugs see.

Headed underground

Brandt

Not bug sized

Isabella

Bug sized

Katherine

Absolutely not bug sized

There were several small containers with live insects and then an amazing round room with insects lining the walls. Each glass case held many bugs with each case representing something different. There were creepy crawlies, males and females that were very different, all one color but different bugs, and my favorite, bright, metallic beetles. It was all so interesting!

I wanted a puzzle of this case.

We left the round room and entered a space with butterflies and moths flying freely around us, as well as habitats of other insects. We saw a colony of leaf cutter ants that traveled from their food source to their nest, some really fat millipedes, and many different types of beautiful flowers. It was really, really cool.

leaf cutter ant highway

LOTS of activity in both directions

food source for the ants

These flowers are teeming with ants

We left the Insectarium and went into the Botanical Garden. The gardens are divided into different gardens within the larger garden. We first visited the Chinese garden. Brandt wandered around making sick goose noises and quoting Master Yugweh (from Kung Fu Panda). 

We went to the Japanese garden and saw many beautiful bonsai trees.

Brandt continued to quote Master Yugweh.

We wandered through the First Nations Garden,

saw the lily pad covered ponds completed with turtles on logs,

through the flowery brooks to the Alpine Garden.

  

Squirrel!

We finished our stroll through the gardens by passing along

the medicinal, herb, fruit, and vegetable gardens.

Even the veg were planted in artsy patterns.

All very lovely.

The Botanical Garden was just terrific!

We worked up quite an appetite with all the walking through the floral greenery. Brenda said there was a nice little place to get lunch in the Jean Talon Market, so we headed that direction. Brenda let us out and gave us general directions to the bakery she thought we would enjoy. We wandered around for a bit, looking at all the options. There were many shops selling everything from cheese to oysters, with meats, veg, flowers, chocolate, sorbet, and other fun things. If I lived in Montréal, I would go the market weekly for all the tasty things. We somehow missed the place Brenda suggested, but we found a lovely bakery that sold sandwiches and pizza as well as lots of lovely pâtisseries. We all had lunch and then got a sorbet as we wandered around the market some more. I bought some maple syrup, Isabella bought some suckers, and we got some berries for dinner tonight. What a terrific place!

Brandt was interested in eggplant, which he doesn't even like to eat.

We returned to Brendt and Brenda's and everyone had a nap. After all the walking we had done, it felt good to rest and rejuvenate. We had a yummy dinner then Kent and I went with Brent and Brenda to play pickleball at the church. They have a regular group they play with, but we met up with a couple from Italy. He is the Italian ambassador to ICAO, the same position that Brent holds. They are good players and we had very lively games. 

We returned from pickleball in time to have a refreshing swim and soak in the hot tub before the pool area closed. We snacked and chatted until pretty late, then turned in for the night. It was another terrific day in Montréal.