Sunday, August 1, 2010

Croissants & café au lait

On Wednesday morning I took a different route to work.

At Sources boulevard I sacrificed the water route for a much more direct but oblique route that took me along the Autoroute 20 service road, to Autoroute 520, to the Décarie traffic circle, and along the Autoroute 40 service road to Rockland Boulevard.  Not by any means a picturesque route, but certainly faster paced.

From there I ambled through tree-lined Town of Mount Royal admiring the massive, and yes, elegant, 1950's bungalows that run along both sides of Rockland.  I then took the overpass that leads into Outremont.

While this route is more complicated, it is much faster.  I left home at 6:50 a.m. and by 7:20 I was nearing my objective: breakfast at one of Montreal's quintessential outdoor café spots.  Croissanterie Figaro at the corner of Faimount and Hutchison ("X" marks the spot on the map above).  Go ahead click here and you too can be virtually there in seconds.

Here you go... your breakfast is served.
There was no parking available, unless you ride a Vespa.  In that case, you can sit, read the morning paper, savour the best café au lait this side of Paris, nibble on the most heavenly croissant, and all the while admire the fine Italian lines of your Vespa, parked right by your table.
As I caught up on the news, my attention was diverted by the unmistakable sound of an approaching Vespa: a really nice black GTS which I admired as it passed by.

Commuting can't get any better than this.  It really can't.

2 comments:

Jason said...

This reminds me of taking my son up to the coffee shop for fresh OJ and a muffin, I'll have to brave the cold on Saturday and head up there with him; it's so easy to get closed up this time of year. I don't know why I feel unable to extend my commute like this in the cage the way I do on the bike! - Jason @ www.ridenorthmn.blogspot.com

David Masse said...

Welcome to Life on two wheels Jason.

Commuting on a bike really changed things for me. I learned more about Montreal than in all the time I lived here. The coffee and croissant at Figaro is just as good in the winter, but parking for cars is hair pullingly frustrating around there.

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