The Cirque Journey – Montreal – Day 37 – July 20

What a difference a decent night’s rest can make. My room has a small twin bed and the mattress is super firm but I was so tired from the previous day’s travel that I didn’t care. I show up at 8:30 and get my Cirque ID from Sylvie – who is the person I go to for all of my questions. I also get a tour of the ginourmous facility and my schedule, which is mainly sessions with wardrobe all week long.

Here are some photos of HQ:

This first one is the entrance. You can see the shoe statue and the door is just to the left.

If you’re facing the building, this is the left side then the right side. The entrance area is even further to the right:

I have my first meeting wtih wardrobe at 10 and I end up with plenty of time to grab a chocolate croissant, a cafe au lait and a banana from one of two cafeterias. I eat out in a beautiful courtyard and enjoy the refreshingly good weather. In the 70’s, blue skies – I’m very glad now that I’m not in Vegas.

I find my way to wardrobe, which would be a complicated task in this place if there weren’t signs, and meet the costume people – Mireille, Mario & Tania. Mario assists Mireille, whose main job it is to measure and construct the costume. Tania is in charge of making sure that the original design concept is maintained. Basically, Mireille can have her team do whatever they want to make it fit and be comfortable so long as Tania approves what the final look is.  Though they can speak English, all three of them are natural French speakers and they prattle on about the costume while pinning me. They speak so fast that I’m only able to catch a few words – mainly oui and non. Still, they are reallly nice and I enjoy being with them.

I get a two hour break so I head back to the residence for a quick nap. Here’s a photo of the Artist Residence (it’s the building with the balconies and this is taken from the HQ entrance:

Finally, I feel fully refreshed. When I get back, I am given a chunk of my week’s salary in Canadian dollars. For my week here, I will be paid directly. I can tell that’s going to tempt me greatly to have so much cash handy. I just keep telling myself – MORTGAGE. The second wardrobe session goes just as well as the first and I’m done early.

At the residence, I get detailed instructions on taking the Metro. I buy a weekly pass from a somewhat surly Metro man then navigate the Metro to arrive downtown. Mom and I go to a Mexican restaurant (and it’s fun to see a Mexican menu in French).  Here’s a photo of my Mom holding the menu:

From there, we walk to Vieux Montreal and Vieux Port (Old Montreal and Old Port). Among several stunning buildings we find the replica of Notre Dame. We decide to return tomorrow for the light show. We reach the water and relax on a bench in a park.

The photos are: An old church, some big ass ships in the port and one of the streets in Old Montreal:

While in the park, I spot a couple eating a treat from a paper pocket labeled BeaverTail and I become obsessed with locating where it came from. We find a small shop called Queues de Castor -

A BeaverTail is a slightly puffy rectangular-shaped piece of fried dough topped with any number of sweet choices.  We get it with chocolate, banana and powdered sugar. It tastes a little like funnel cake. We make a mess of ourselves eating it but OMG is it good.

We continue along streets closed off to cars and there are dozens of restaurants with sidewalk seating areas. The menus look so good I wish I was hungry. Ultimately, we discover a rooftop wine bar that overlooks the port. The weather is phenomenal and the view is even better:

We each have a glass of wine and relax. I’m really happy to have someone to share the city with and I’m glad that my schedule is light enough that I’ll really have time to explore. It’s an hour Metro trip back to the residence and I have an early appointment tomorrow but I do have some time to chat with Scott. I really wish he could’ve come on this trip (and I know that my Mom wishes the same of my Dad). It would be amazing if all of us could’ve been here. Still, I’m grateful to be able to have this time with my Mom. It’s probably the most time we’ve had just the two of us since I left for college and it’s nice.