A weeks skiing followed by a weekend in montreal

It was fantastic - we stayed for a week in a resort town called Tremblant about 90 minutes from Montreal. The facilities were excellent and a damn sight quieter than what you would expect in Europe...also there was snow - crucial when you intend to ski.

J and A - the Gimps

The temperature was a problem - so cold your snot could freeze! So no exposed flesh, otherwise it got a bit sore.

Alastair looking good!

On the last day the temperature did reach about -10, so the face masks could come off.

Treacle the Mercedes Bear in a moment of quiet reflection

Treacle came as Zippy was too busy to attend - something about a Rainbow reunion show.

Tremblant RC Church

Expect to see Tremblant's RC Church on certain Christmas cards in 2006!

Tremblant Views

When it was "warm" enough for you to stop without incurring frost bite, the views were quite stunning - even from such a low altitude, as most of the hills were sub-3000 feet.

Nice Beaver

And on to Montreal....note to diary...when it is minus twenty degrees it is NOT a good idea to follow the Lonely Planet Guide "Romantic Old Town" Walk as it is not. Montreal has made good use of some former Olympic buildings and made one of them in to a "Bio Dome" - basically a building with four different habitats - including rain forest, arctic, temperate and something else. The beaver was in the temperate - quite cute really.

View from the Fairmont Hotel, Montreal

We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel in Montreal - its the one where John Lennon had one of his love ins. J loved the place and A had to concede that he couldn't fault the service. We ate in a vast array of places, including a restaurant called "The Globe", <rant> according to the guide book this was one of the less pretentious eateries in the city...I really hate to think what a pretentious one would be like. The cloak room attendant swanned around the place like a madam. The waiting staff were excellent, though the manager's choice of uniform re-enforced the boudoir effect that the cloak room attendant put in motion. The males wore black trousers, black and white stripped shirts and slicked back hair. The females, short skirts and high length high heeled boots. On a more pertinent point they didn't keep Warre's Otima Port in the fridge!!(A getting his priorties right) </rant>