Formidable!

So then...Montréal pour le week-end. Brilliant time had by J. and I, as was to be expected.

Arrived around suppertime on Thursday night; J. met me at the airport with hubby K. and baby A. Trooped back to hers and then spent the evening watching the live concert section of the new Duran DVD and inhaling some wine and cheese.

Friday morning we were up early to see K. off to work and A. off to her daycare (Remembrance Day, surprisingly, is not a public holiday in Quebec). Spent the morning having a bit of a laze, watched the song commentaries section of the Duran DVD, then got cleaned up and headed downtown about 11 am, whereupon we hit the shops. I had planned to do a bit of a shopping recce this trip, and not really buy anything (saving that for my return visit in December), but we hit a couple of brilliant sales. What to do? I ended up buying a lovely new coat and a few sweaters, while J. got a coat and a suit. Good stuff.

Later in the afternoon we headed for the hairdresser so J. could get her hair cut. As we had plans for an evening out, I got a blow dry and the stylist gave me some seriously big hair - a bit of a retro Farrah-esque flick, actually (J. said my hair looked like Madonna's in her new video - heh). Bit of a new look for me - felt I was channelling my inner blonde ditz - but it was kind of fun! Hee. Anyway, after that, we headed for the makeup artist's - J.'s treat. Result was a bit of a mixed bag - the foundation the girl used on me was too dark, but she did an outstanding job on my eyes. I kept trying to see what she was doing, but not sure I'll be able to replicate it myself.

All dolled up, we headed back to J.'s place, got dressed, and then K. drove us back into the city as we had reservations at Bu for 8 pm. Bu is really a stylish wine bar with food ('Bu', of course, meaning 'drink' in French), rather than a restaurant that serves wines. But it was really very good. Over the course of the evening, we tried seven different wines - two whites (a riesling and a costières de nîmes), a flight of three pinot noirs, and two dessert wines (a muscat and a tokaij). In between sips, we had crostini, antipasti and chocolate tart to finish. Very nice.

After dinner, we jumped into a cab and headed to Old Montreal, where we hit the Wunderbar at the W Hotel, hoping that we'd find a slightly older and more stylish crowd. By midnight it was pretty packed, but mostly with twentysomethings (who were nonetheless quite à la mode). Ah well...at least the DJ was great, and the bar itself very chic, though the crowd was younger than we'd have liked and rather attitudinous. But we ended up staying till about two, and had quite a good time in the end.

The saintly K. was up early with the baby the next morning while we had a much-needed lie-in. Around lunchtime, we jumped into the car and headed downtown for round two of serious shopping and strolling. That night, we had reservations at Le Club Chasse et Pêche, one of the smartest new restos in town (coincidentally, I discovered during my flight home that it's been deemed one of the 10 best new restaurants in the country this year - la-di-dah!).

It was a bit of a gastronomic tour de force. We sipped cocktails whilst considering the menu and debating what wines to order (eventually, after consultation with the waiter, we settled on an extremely good bottle of Piedmontese chardonnay, La Spinetta 'Lidia'). I had butternut squash ravioli and suckling pig risotto with foie gras, while J. had the lobster, white truffle and Kobe beef starter, followed by a main course of American snapper. We both partook of the cheese board before moving on to glasses of muscat and dessert - nougat ice cream with crystallised fruit for me, and baklava with honey ice cream for J. Amazing meal. J. quite pickled by the end of it, and for second night in a row. Shocking. ;-)

By Sunday morning we were all feeling kinda wiped. What lightweights we are these days. It was a beautiful morning so we took little Miss A. to the playground and the nearby park for a walk. Then we had lunch and crashed for a bit (A. and K. both disappeared for mid-afternoon naps), while watching the remaining bits of the Duran DVD. And then it was time for me to head to the airport.

Great weekend. And the best part is that I'll be back there again in less than three weeks, cos J. and I are going to see Depeche Mode and the Bravery at the Bell Centre on 4 December. SWEET!