K-Fry's Follies: I scream, you scream, we all scream for poutine?!

Day Five: Montreal 255.1 km

While on PEI I visited a shop called The Dunes, where I got to chatting with the sales girl who was from Montreal. When I mentioned that I would be heading to the city she wrote down the TOP TEN list of places to visit, and the most important thing I "just had to do" was eat the Quebec national dish of poutine at this place called La Banquise.

Montreal is the second largest city in Canada and the second largest francophone city outside of Paris. In Quebec the moment I would attempt my tres mal french, people would immediately switch to English, probably to save themselves from my butchering of the beautiful language. People would switch back and forth between languages, in Montreal people spoke French. It was very interesting to see the differences between the two cities. While Quebec seemed like a European city, Montreal seems like a modern city with an old section, Vieux Montreal.

I did not stay inside the city rather a little outside in the suburb of Laval and took the subway in, and thus began the Great Poutine Hunt. When I got off at Mont Royal I ended up spending the next hour trying to find this place and meeting half the population of the city.

Eventually...success!!!

Poutine was invented as a sort of comfort food in lean times in the province of Quebec. Poutine is french fries, brown gravy and cheese curd... doesn't the word curd just scream "YUM!"?

Doesn't it just look yum?! Actually it wasn't that bad!

You will notice the lack of gravy...gluten! I have come to the conclusion that like in the South the French are simply unable to comprehend gluten free. When I asked for a burger without a bun in Quebec the server asked me if I had brought my own? In Montreal I got the same quizzical looks and disbelief, it was like I was offending some fundamental part of being French!

I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Vieux Montreal...