Celebrating the New Year in Montreal (Part 4)

Index:

Monday, January 2
With a flight that was departing around 3:30pm, I wasn’t going to have much time to do much else in Montreal before I left.  Especially since I wasn’t familiar with the processes for trans-border flights and the US Customs Preclearance, I figured that I would get to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

I really wanted to try to find a little, good place for breakfast and yet so again I found myself wandering the streets of old Montreal.  Eventually I settled on Marché de la Villette, which is just around the corner from Place d’Youville.  It must have been a slow day, because the entire time I was in there I was the only customer that was in there.  Maybe the citizens on Montreal were still hungover from New Year’s and just not willing to venture out so early for breakfast.  For my meal I ordered a plate that came complete with: Omelette Alsacienne, Bacon, Potatoes, Cretons Maison, Fruit, and Salad.  It was a pretty comprehensive meal all together and wasn’t bad by any means.

Morning at Place Jacques-Cartier

Morning at Place Jacques-Cartier

Back Streets of Old Montreal

Back Streets of Old Montreal

After walking off breakfast I made my way to the one place that I had been trying to visit everyday, but failing to each day: Basilique Notre-Dame.  Now’ I’ve been inside a lot of beautiful places of worship across the world, but I found this one to be one of the best in my book.  I think it had something to do with the how the back of the church behind the altar is lit up and the overall darkness of the church inside.  Unlike some churches that are very airy and open, this one felt more dark, and compact.  It’s a bit difficult for someone like myself to describe (plus I’m trying to recall something from January and its now mid-March), so I’ll let some pictures do the talking:

Basilique Notre-Dame

Basilique Notre-Dame

Basilique Notre-Dame

Basilique Notre-Dame

Basilique Notre-Dame

Basilique Notre-Dame

Stained Glass Window - Basilique Notre-Dame

Organ - Basilique Notre-Dame

Basilique Notre-Dame

Interior - Basilique Notre-Dame

Once done inside, I knew it was that time to head back to the hotel, gather up my bags and head to airport.  I think it took around 30 minutes for the 747 Express bus to get me to the airport and from there I made my way through the very uncrowded terminal to the Delta check-in desk.  As usual, I went through the Sky Priority line where I inquired about my upgrade and had my luggage tagged.  There was no upgrade yet, but I was only #2 on the list, so I was crossing my fingers that it would clear at the gate.

One thing I found interesting about the process of going through bag drop off, security inspection, and US Preclearance is how many times they scan your boarding pass.  I would figure that scanned the first time would be enough to validate the pass and the passenger, but at every step?  Perhaps it helps them ultimately track how the line is moving?  It remains a mystery to me.  Once clearing security, I pulled out my customs declaration form to fill out only to discover that I did not have a pen in my bag.  Luckily someone had borrowed one from a local cop which just kept being passed around right before the line for Customs and Immigration.  As a whole, the process really did not take a lot of time.  I suppose that during busy flight periods, security, immigration, etc could all take a very long time, but it was relatively quick and painless.  I wound up in the airside of the terminal with more than enough time to spare.  Unfortunately, Delta does not have a lounge in Montreal, so I was doomed to roam the concourse with nothing to do.

Yet Another Passport Stamp

I did decide though that I should at least get something for lunch before boarding which I finally settled on a place to grab a quick burger.  I wasn’t sure if I would make the upgrade still and the flight this afternoon was outside of the meal window for sub-1500 mile flights in First Class.  The place, whose name escapes me, was a bit on the pricey side, but at least the burger seemed decent.  Once finishing up I headed to the gate to inquire about my position on the upgrade list now that there was an agent there, and to my delight I had cleared!  The best part: I was given seat 1A, which is perhaps my favorite seat on Delta’s CRJ-900 aircraft.  You can’t beat the legroom and having both an aisle and a window.

Boarding commenced slightly there after and I was settled into my seat enjoy a pre-departure beverage as the rest of the plane filed in.  It never really takes that long to board regional jets and soon enough we were up in the air.  I settled in for the almost 3 hour flight to Atlanta, kicking back and relaxing, and enjoying the fact that this aircraft recently had in-flight wifi installed.  For the most part the flight was uneventful, however upon landing in Atlanta, as we approached our gate, it was announced that it was still occupied.  One never gets excited arriving in Atlanta early, because quite frankly there will never be a gate for you to pull into.  After sitting on the ramp for 10 minutes the Pilot finally announced that we would be using a remote stand and would be bused to Concourse E.  All this meant was less time for me to hop around a few Sky Clubs.

It Was Actually Pretty Cold In Atlanta...

My first stop of the evening was to head over to Concourse D where I wanted to try the newest Sky Club in Atlanta that I had yet to visit.  It’s a relatively small one located on the ground level of the concourse.  I don’t know if many people just dont know about it yet or what, but despite it being a peak travel hour, it was hardly packed.  The snack selection (along with most other Sky Clubs) wasn’t exactly the greatest, so I didn’t stay too long after having a drink.  There was still one other Sky Club in the airport that I have never been to, so I headed over to Concourse T.  Since Concourse T has the fewest Delta gates (and overall for the airport), the lounge over here wasn’t very crowded again.  Very quiet and very spacious, but I again I didn’t stay for long.  I had to head back over to Concourse A to catch my flight back home…a flight that I didn’t get the upgrade on.  I found it rather strange that as a Platinum on an award ticket that there were only two other people out of 8 or so total on the list below me waitlisted according to the screens at the gate.  Even on an award ticket I should be above any Gold or Silver Medallion members and I just don’t believe that there were only two of those on the list.  Not exactly the end of the world, it was a relatively light load in coach and the flight is quite short at 39 minutes (usually).

Concourse D Sky Club

Arriving in Panama City I was greeted with rain.  It wasn’t a light rain either; it was coming down pretty good out there.  I had luggage to wait for so inside I was hoping that there would be a break in the storm once I got my luggage so I could get to my car.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.  What did happen was that my priority-tagged luggage was one of the last bags to come out of the conveyor belt.  Actually many priority-tagged bags were nowhere near the beginning which just is not right.  I shouldn’t see a family of 8 get their 12 or 14 or however many incredibly large non-priority suitcases before my one bag gets off.  There were several Diamond and Platinum Medallions around me feeling the same way.  The ground crew at ECP had gotten pretty good at this for a while, but this was just a complete failure.  Perhaps I just shouldn’t have checked my bag…

Anyways, Montreal was a fantastic city and overall I thoroughly enjoyed myself in the city.  I think it was the history and culture that really grabbed me – in just 2.5 hours from Atlanta I can be in a place where everything is in French and almost feel like being in Europe…almost.  I really would like to visit in the warmer months maybe in the late summer and I know that I would definitely like to visit Quebec City as well.  Sitting in the parks reading a book, sitting outside at a cafe, maybe some hiking up there – the possibilities are endless and I’m for certain that I will be back.

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