Victoria Day in Montréal

The May statutory holiday is perhaps not the jolliest of celebrations in Montréal. What the rest of the country knows as "Victoria Day" is called "Journée nationale des Patriotes" in Québec, and the city's locals (easily recognizable by the wiry physique which results from a diet of cigarettes and rancour) spend it indoors, sulking over the Plains of Abraham. Stan and I and the other tourists had Sherbrooke Street pretty much to ourselves, and as we wandered past the life-sized bronze of Queen Victoria, no birthday cake was visible.

We're in the Museum Quarter here, and this seems to attract unofficial artists of various kinds. Mural-sized graffiti pops up in unlikely places (such as three stories up the sheer side of a semi-demolished building). Here's one of the commoner and more modest examples:



In accordance with the province's stringent language requirements for public signage, I also include the following:



We were eating smoked meat sandwiches in Dunn's Deli during Game 5 with Philadelphia (again, surrounded by other tourists), and it was almost impossible not to get caught up in the enthusiasm of the wait staff. Montréal scored in the first minute of the game, and a jubilant waiter explained that the Habs have never lost a game in which they made the first goal. Alas! for the local urban myths: the Flyers won 4-2, and the mounted riot police patrolling Ste. Catherine Boulevard all went home and got a good night's sleep.