Rather a striking place when one first walks into it, with a huge atrium right in the middle, flanked by several floors of shops, restaurants and all the rest of it. Part of the underground city which Montrealers use to hang out in in the winter. The centre's web site is presently under reconstruction, but google offers plenty of pictures which give some idea of the place, although not of its size and light, of which the illustration left is one.
Going down the steps from street level to the floor of the atrium, I managed to miss my footing, and very nearly landed on my nose, but actually crashed into a handy bit of hoarding, a bit of hoarding with enough give to absorb the crash. Passers by were both concerned and amused at my misadventure. I observe in passing that Montreal seemed to me to be a town with a great many steps, not least the rather high and sometimes irregular kerbs, and it was not the first time that I had stumbled, although this was far and away the most spectacular.
I also observe in passing that I rather liked the office blocks in the area. Big and flashy yes, but a bit more sober and restrained that some of the vulgarly flashy buildings you find in our City of London. But maybe these were a little older than those and closer inspection would reveal that Montreal does vulgar too.
Shaken but not stirred, we took hot drinks in one of the many cafés and had a modest look around the place before resuming our trek back to Days Inn.
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