Voici ma nouvelle amie (this is my new friend). I know I am pathetic, but I am so addicted to those Build-a-Bear places. Well, that is what they are called in the states, but this one is actually a new venue in Canada – Atelier Toutou (Plush workshop). You go into the store and find the skin of the animal you want to create, and of course, I headed straight for the cats. Then you step on a pedal and your animal gets filled with stuffing (and if you are me you feel like an idiot because you made the store employee think you could speak french by saying “bonjour”). When your animal passes the “hugability” test, you put a little star inside of it and make a wish. I put a purple star in her, which represents happiness. Then you fill out her birth certificate information and give your new friend a name. I named her “Minou” (pronounced “me-new”), which the store employee informed me was French for kitty. Then I took my picture with Minou for her passport, and made an oath in front of Alejandra, Cristina and the store employee to look after her. It was fun – it made me feel like a little kid again. I just hope Data won’t chew off Minou’s foot like he did to Mr. Poo (Steven’s Build-a-Bear dog).
Making Minou wasn’t the only fun part of the day. We went (as a group) to Pointe-à-Callière, the anthropology museum of Montréal. It sounds boring, but the site has a very interesting history. The new Pointe-à-Callière museum is located on the remains of the original Customs building the French built in 1642. So in the basement of the museum were the original footings of the Custom building, and some of the old sewer and water systems (empty of course). The museum also had a high-tech theater with screens that over layed one another and some that moved throughout the show. I don’t know what kind of projectors they were using, but some of the show looked like it was three-dimensional. I visited a local photographer’s shop across the street, M.I.L.K. Images, and bought the most adorable print. I love to find little shops like this. I feel like I am discovering a well-kept secret. A lot of the shops in that area of Montréal made me feel that way, because they were selling the work of local artists. Everything there was unique. I saw tons of gorgeous hand-crafted jewelry, as well as beautiful frames and vases. Too bad it was all so expensive!
I attended the light show in the Basilique Notre Dame, which was another amazing treat. There were white cloth screens held taut across the interior elevations of the cathedral, along with a large screen in front of the choir. During the show different images would be projected onto the side cloths and front cloths. Towards the end, the cloths pulled themselves away (automatically with electronically controlled wires), and different parts of the cathedral were light with colored lights. It was a gorgeous display. After the show we had were able to walk around the cathedral for it bit, but I would love to go back there before we leave to see the interior during the day.
I have observed that the people of Montréal are very proud of their French history. I suppose I should have figured that out, since the street we are staying on is named after someone who wants Montréal to succeed and become its own french-speaking country (Blvd. René Lévesque). Both of the shows I saw today talked about the French history of Montréal. Everything is in French here – the signs, the menus, the television channels, the operator on the phone… english is the second option, if it is an option at all. It has been a really interesting experience for me, because I do not speak any French. Most people do speak both languages, but we encountered a few who did not. Luckily, Alejandra knows some French, so she did it all the talking, and I just looked like a tourist.
