I heard that if a guys says, "J'ai deux gosses" in Quebec the standard response is "Tu es normale."
I may be there around 8/3. I have to sell the trip better as she is on the fence at the moment.
Thanks for all the information. I've got the travel plan in shape now. Will certainly check out the Botanic Garden and the parks.
I'm looking at the map. Parc La Fontaine doesn't look far from Mount Royal. I may be able to run at both places. Do people there run on the street (side walk)?
One more question: Are there water fountains in the parks? It's not to hot in Montreal in the summer, right?
Thanks, again.
Thanks for all the information. I've got the travel plan in shape now. Will certainly check out the Botanic Garden and the parks. I'm looking at the map. Parc La Fontaine doesn't look far from Mount Royal. I may be able to run at both places. Do people there run on the street (side walk)? One more question: Are there water fountains in the parks? It's not to hot in Montreal in the summer, right? Thanks, again.
Sky, I have not gotten around to PMing you, yet, but I will.
I agree that the Plateau is a beautiful area for a small hotel. It's the heart of the city for its residents, full of trees and great typical Montreal architecture. Also, what Cyber wrote about the parks is very accurate. You will easily be able to get from one to the other quickly, by bus or metro (subway). You could walk from Park Lafontaine to Mont-Royal, it's a few miles, but probably best to take public transport. Although if you walk a lot, you will see many great neighborhoods, like Mile End (where I used to live), Outremont, Cote-Des-Neiges, etc... There are no unsafe areas in Montreal, so feel free to explore.
Cyber will be able to answer the water fountain question better. I wasn't a runner for the 15+ years I lived in the city, but I remember some fountains. We are having a heat wave at the moment and it is a feel like of about 90F (about 84F plus humidity). It won't last. It should be between 70-80F when you come in August. And we run on sidewalks, yes. Lots of runners. :-)
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
LOL... How can the same slang word have such opposite meanings in two different countries that share the same language?
That's a good point to walk around the neighborhoods. Plan to do a little waking around then.
I used Google map and found the distance between Park Lafontaine and Mont-Royal to be about 1 mile or less . If I stay somewhere nearby I may run from one of these park to the other, then run on the side walk along the street back to the hotel. Will check out the Plateau too.
If you're staying in the vicinity of Park Lafontaine, you can definitely run to Mount Royal, go up and down the mountain and run back.
On the Mount Royal there are water fountains. I don't remember if there is one at the bottom, but there is one for sure about halway up (there's also a place to water your horse, seriously) and one one top. Near the top there is a restaurant with public free washromms, and a few hundred meter later there's a nice point of view with free public restrooms, a place to hang out a bit.
In Parc Lafontaine, in the middle of the park there is also a structure with free public washrooms. I would imagine there are water fountains at some places in the park, but I am not 100% sure of it. I don't remember ever drinking out of a fountain in that park.
I won't repeat everything lily said, as it is true, and I will second the fact that it's perfectly ok to run on the sidewalks.
Return To Racing
Do they still have the Bixie Bikes?
Yes, Bixies, good point. Although they should have gone bankrupt because of poor management, somehow they're still there. I don't remember who's paying for the deficit. Probably me, again
Anyhow, instead of trying to describe it, here's a link
http://montreal.about.com/od/gettingaroundtown/a/public_bikes.htm
I don't use them, have my own bike, but they're very popular.
As for being hot in the summer. It is usually not too hot, but we get maybe two weeks a year that are very hot and humid. We've had 3 days lately, which are over now, and there'll be some more, for sure.
Back to water fountains in Parc Lafontaine, although I'm not 100% sure, I'm 99.99% sure there are some. I just went to fetch my kids in Park Laurier, which is much smaller, and I walked by two water fountains. It wouldn't make sense if there weren't any in Park Lafontaine.
Cyberic,
Thanks for all the useful information.
I was thinking about if Montreal has a city bike program too. A lot of cities in the world now have that. It's very popular among citizens and tourists. But not many cities have run the program well. Some mismanagement for sure.
Is Olympic Stadium a parking lot? I was first there in 77 and loved it. I may have seen 6 games there but didn't like what looked like a pincushion by the end. I used to stay with cousins near Concordia and also was there during Meach Lake which was a fun Victoria Day weekend.
The Olympic Stadium is still standing. Big issues with the roof that is costing us tons of money, probably what you're referring as the pincushion with all these cables trying to hold the thing in place. A few events are held there each year, but not many. Lots of tourists still take pictures of themselves in front of it. I personnally think it's pretty ugly.