ange & lauren’s big mtl adventure

this will be forever known as the first post FROM montreal. granted, we have not moved yet, i am merely a guest for an elongated business meeting that started sunday and will end tomorrow night. currently, i am writing this from the 2nd floor lobby of the very modern Sofitel on Sherbrooke, overlooking a side street inhabited by a few very old buildings. quel contraste.

we have dined for the last two evenings at Newtown, Jacques Villeneuve’s resto on Crescent street. very touristy I believe, and unjustifiably expensive, as in 40 dollar entrees and 25 dollar appetizers. last night they flat out forgot my meal. they neglected to bring me my starter salad and then brought my main course 15 minutes after my fellow diners. to add insult to injury, it was the saddest veggie meal i’ve ever had. i ordered the “trio vegetarien” which marketed itself as fresh veg on either israeli couscous (which i sampled the night before and was exquisite) or orzo. I ordered the couscous version and instead they brought the orzo, accompanied by the following vegetables:

1/8 of a red pepper
2 asparagus heads
4 tiny (yet tasty) mushrooms of some sort.

WELL WORTH THE WAIT. ugh. no apologies either!

perhaps this explains why I got a little more tipsy on the abundantly flowing wine than I originally attended. the service was horrible, which i have not experienced in montreal ever. typically we dine well and the level of service you can expect accompanies the elevated cost. at any rate, they tossed the idea out of going there again tonight and i think half the room paled. apparently the experience varied by guest.

picked up the keys to our new place on sunday night, and i am thoroughly pleased. its bigger, and more loudly painted, than i remember. ange and i will have our work cut out for us, but at least we’ll have room to stretch our legs. and by stretch our legs i mean i’ll be able to wake up in the morning and make coffee without it being right outside where she is sleeping.

the other news is i can’t wait to move. t-minus 3.5 days and counting.